Many organizations and movements in the realm of research and/or academics today have involved the collaboration of arts and science. Have you thought about why it's such a common idea for collaboration?
Upon initial contemplation, the arts and sciences appear to have polar opposite identities - you know, the whole "right brain," "left brain" thing? While it is true that they are different in how they are approached, the foundational ideas that flow through arts and sciences are pretty similar. Both artists and scientists ask questions, aim to discover, desire to explore, and seek to convey a message to the public. A scientist finds his or her haven in a lab and an artist finds his or her haven in the studio. Both are dedicated, passionate, and want to enrich others and be enriched.
Because artists and scientists have such similar underlying ideas, it only makes sense that they should collaborate. When a creative mind works with an analytical mind, well-rounded and innovative discoveries can be made because the topic is being approached from multiple perspectives.
In the post"Why Art and Science?" from the blog At the Interface, Johanna Kieniewicz speaks about artists becoming more involved in science, "Well known for their reading of philosophers such as Proust, Foucault, and Deleuze, should art students not read Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin as well? I am not saying they need to become scientists themselves or ditch the philosophy (quite the opposite). Rather, by immersing themselves in the ideas of science, artists expose themselves to the big questions of life from a different perspective and add new and exciting set of media to the toolbox with which they are able to explore these ‘big questions’ (Kieniewicz)." Kieniewicz provides an excellent point - when we think of arts and science collaborations, we might first think of how scientific data can be presented as an art.
Leonardo DaVinci, Studies of the Shoulder and Neck, c. 1509-1510
However, artists should be willing to not only just convey scientific discoveries artistically, but also make an effort to understand what they are trying to convey so that their message is much stronger. By the same token, scientists should work with artists while in research; they should communicate ideas with one another. Creatives will often ask questions that analytics may not.
To continue the discussion of arts and science, join us for a panel with biologist Jamie Gillooly and Birmingham artist Merrilee Challiss at the Arts& Science salon in Project Space (ground floor of Humanities bldg, 900 13th St. South) from 6:00-7:30pm on Wednesday, September 14th. UAB student and alumni artworks will also be presented and refreshments will be provided.
For a great resource of arts and science collaborations, check out the Synapse database here.
Citation:
Kieniewicz, Johanna. "Why Art and Science?" Web log post. Plos Blogs. N.p., 19 June 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2016.
