Synopsis
Fascinating essays and evocative imagery illustrate a diverse collection of projects where artists and scientists have begun to explore each other's ideas, materials and working methods. Art and science...an unlikely affair? Embraced by some and dismissed by others, collaboration between these two highly divergent cultures is now a dynamic area of practice. Increasing numbers of artists and scientists are beginning to explore each other's ideas, materials and working methods. Experiment showcases some of this groundbreaking activity. Fascinating essays and evocative imagery illustrate a diverse collection of projects representing fields such as jellyfish, malaria, surgical procedures, inaudible sound, cognitive behavioural therapy and spatio-temporal awareness in the disabled. Each topic is manifested artistically by media that include photography, video, performance art, music recital and juggling. All testify to the remarkable energy and imagination that can be achieved by fusing cultures once thought incompatible.
The Wellcome Trust has been at the forefront of sciart, a consortium-funded initiative* providing resources and encouragement for individuals from different disciplines to meet in fruitful and sometimes turbulent exchanges. To date thirty-three research projects have been awarded sciart grants, resulting in an extraordinary range of partnerships and outcomes.
