Art & Science

Art & Science

• Problem: connected or opposed?• C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures (1959)

• Lecture:1. Origins ideas about connection/opposition2. Actual relations Art/Science3. Our perspective as students of science

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Middle Ages:

• Art as science:e.g. medieval universities: seven liberal arts

• Art als skill:e.g. “mechanical arts”

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Renaissance:

• Artist-engineers:

Albrecht DürerGiambattista della PortaLeonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Early modern period (17th century):

• still merged in thesis Svetlana Alpers• criticism Alpers• vanitas in science

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Early modern period (17th century):

• still merged in thesis Svetlana Alpers• criticism Alpers• vanitas in science

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Romanticism (late 18th - 19th century)

• Origins opposition Art vs. Science:– Science destroys beauty, meaning, value– Art displays beauty, meaning, value

Thomas Campbell, ‘To the Rainbow’ (1820):

When Science from Creation’s faceEnchantment’s veil withdraws,What lovely visions yield their

placeTo cold material laws!

1. History terms“art” and “science”

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Romanticism (late 18th - 19th century)

• Raymond Williams, Culture and Society (1958)– terms (industry, culture, etc.)

change meaning– “art” becomes “fine art”

1. History terms“art” and “science”

Modernism (20th century)

• anti-romantic• avant-garde artists embrace science:

– Italian futurists– Russian constructivists

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Futuristist Manifesto (1909):

“We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.”

1. History terms“art” and “science”

20th century to our time:

• Modernism + Romantic opposition• see e.g. C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures (1959)

1. History terms“art” and “science”

20th century to our time:

• All positions summed up in The Challenge of Our Time:– Arthur Koestler– J.D. Bernal– C.H. Waddington– Michael Polanyi

2. Actual relations Art/Science

• besides conceptions• also actual connections/cooperations artists

and scientists• in both directions

2. Actual relations Art/Science

science for art:

• as subject matter• as model• as source of knowledge• as inspiration

2. Actual relations Art/Science

science for art:

• as subject matter• as model• as source of knowledge• as inspiration

Jacques-Louis David, M. Lavoisier et son Épouse (1788)

2. Actual relations Art/Science

science for art:

• as subject matter• as model• as source of knowledge• as inspiration

Panamarenko

2. Actual relations Art/Science

science for art:

• as subject matter• as model• as source of knowledge• as inspiration

Claude Monet, Klaprozen bij Argenteuil (1873)

2. Actual relations Art/Science

science for art:

• as subject matter• as model• as source of knowledge• as inspiration

2. science & art

Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur (1899-1904)

René Binet, Porte Monumentale, World Exposition, Paris (1900)

2. Actual relations Art/Science

art for science:

• for illustrations

Henry Thomas de la Beche, Duria Antiquor (1830)

2. Actual relations Art/Science

art for science:

• illustrations as ‘virtual witnessing’• potentially weak link – cf. Hevelius• transition to ‘mechanical objectivity’ (Daston

& Galison, Objectivity (2007))• gap art and science practices

3. Our perspective as students of science

• difference between ideal picture of science and actual practice

• practice:– no method but skills– no Logic of Scientific Discovery (Popper),

but Art of Scientific Discovery (Polanyi)

• no categoric difference

3. Our perspective as students of scienceart/science projects:

• NWO Co-ops: http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOA_6VZCHZ

http://www.co-ops.nl/• MoonzooM:

http://www.co-ops.nl/site/co-ops/coops-agenda/item/88• Discovery07: http://www.picnicnetwork.org/page/7263/en

3. Our perspective as students of scienceart/science projects:

• NWO Co-ops: http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOA_6VZCHZ

http://www.co-ops.nl/• MoonzooM:

http://www.co-ops.nl/site/co-ops/coops-agenda/item/88• Discovery07: http://www.picnicnetwork.org/page/7263/en

3. Our perspective as students of science

art/science projects - enthousiastic responses among:

• artist/technician

• museums• educators• popularisers