Dear all
I have been reading with interest and to follow up Simons concern with
instrumentalism would like to make a couple of points from the perspective
of an artist who works with scientific ideas and collaborates with
scientists at a generally lo-tech level. Using the latest technology to my
mind does not confer a priori cogency or value to an art science
collaboration or practice. In fact I worry that too much technology can
swamp the clarity of the enquiry. We need to be clear whether we are talking
about industry led design/technology collaborations for an instrumental end
as in the Knowledge Triangle paper link sent by Bronac which seems to
largely address issues of national prestige and ranking in a sort of global
technological league table or more autonomous, self-generated (less likely
to be funded) science art practice and collaborations that are motivated
purely by wonder, by a restless questioning, that seek new ways of
apprehending and understanding the world (knowledge, beauty for their own
sake).
Is not the real value of science art alliances in the development of shared
modes of enquiry into the big issues; speculations into the structure of
reality and attendant issues of knowledge, language and science as a way of
knowing the world? Questions that come up in my practice and that i have
been discussing with other artists, philosophers and scientists include:
do artists working with scientists on research projects affect the outcome
of any science being done?
Could it be said that generally science and the arts are reintegrating,
realigning into a shared enquiry?
Can art be a contribution to knowledge? Can science contribute to meaning in
a way similar to the humanities? What is the nature of discovery in art and
science? Do scientists discover or invent the laws of nature? Do artists
discover or invent new ways of seeing the world?
Apologies if this is not entirely germane to this thread but i felt I had to
make the strongest possible case for art science enquiry unclouded by
commercial/industry needs. I am not an anti-instrumentalist by the way, I
think that collaborative metaphysical enquiry between art and science can be
a very positive thing for humanity and the planet! I am working on an art
and cosmology conference and summer school in Poland that may be of interest
when it occurs. A symposium on this topic was co-convened by me last summer
and a brief outline can be seen at
http://www.skyway09.eu/program.php?e=04-01
best wishes
Simeon
Simeon Nelson
Professor of Sculpture
Head of Visual Art
University of Hertfordshire
www.simeon-nelson.com
on 2/11/09 6:23 PM, Bronac Ferran <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> HI
>
> Responding again to Simon's prompt, yes - the ACEACE/AHRC Research Art
and
> Science Fellowships programme - did try to learn from and build on
previous
> UK and other international models including the New Technology Artists
> Fellowships scheme which was set up by Alan Blackwell of Crucible and
Lizzie
> Muller then of the Junction in Cambridge around 2002 and responded also to
> Steve Wilson's book and the report from the National Academy of Science in
> the States and the UK Office of Science and Technology report by Emma
> Rothschild in 2001 which argued that having different educational strands
> for art and science was anachronistic in this day and age..
>
> So we designed a new programme - which also sought to extend the rather
> limited R&D possibilities available through Wellcome Trust sciart awards -
> and did quite a lot of work with our partner agency based on what we had
> learnt to optimise the guidelines rather than starting from scratch
> ....(however we didn't have any detailed insights into the Australian
> programmes and it is rather fine to find out now). The story of the
> programme we ran can be read at
> http://www.leonardo.info/isast/journal/toc395.html
>
> and then yet again building on this we ran a programme of Artists
Placements
> in Research and Industry contexts and a report on this (written by a
social
> anthropologist from Cambridge who was attached observer) can be viewed at:
> http://www.interact.mmu.ac.uk/resources/BuildingOnUncommonGrounds
>
> The report was also published in a book called (Un)Common Ground (2007)
> edited by David Garcia, Cathy Brickwood, Tim Puttnam and myself - which
> looks at different case studies of artists and designers working across
> sectors and disciplines. More about this at:
> [log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]
>
> Happy to say more about any of this....much of it was inspired also by
doing
> the CODE conference in 2001 which yes addressed many art and science
issues
> but went quite far beyond
> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/CODE/
>
> look forward to hearing more
>
> all best
> Bronac
>
>
>
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