Ruminations on Art and Science

The arts and sciences both have been described as the search for beauty and truth. Artists seek to understand the human condition (truth) and explore the boundaries of beauty, constantly moving the previously established target. Scientists seek understanding about the human body, while mathematicians throughout history have sought “beautiful” equations to answer questions and apply order to a chaotic world. As an art curator at an academic medical center, I’ve straddled the line between the worlds of art and science and I have observed parallels between them that I had not previously considered. The following are my decidedly non-scientific observations of the commonalities between the art and science communities.

Curiosity and Creativity

What drives scientific research? Fundamentally, scientists must be curious about the mysteries of the natural world. They pose questions and seek answers, adding one more piece of knowledge to the ever-expanding realm of the unknown. Though artists seek answers to different questions, they too are driven by curiosity of the world around them. In both cases, expanding human understanding is the driving motivation behind their work.

At the heart of both art and science is the creative mind. Without creativity, curiosity cannot be sated and problems become more difficult (in some cases, impossible) to solve. The creative mind steps outside the circle of known methods to develop new methods, new perspectives that lead to solutions. As the scientist designs a new method of experimentation, the artist develops a new way of expressing an idea.

Experimentation and Failure

Failure is inevitable in science. As scientists, you know that we all learn from failure, even if they aren’t the lessons we want to learn. So constant experimentation (and frequent failure) is fundamental to the scientific process.

Similarly, artistic practice requires experimentation and frequent failure prior to breakthrough. Great artists—the ones everyone learned about in middle school—became great due in part to their brilliance, but also because of their willingness to experiment and fail and to do it over and over again until they found success. Artists experiment with medium: Is painting or printing the best way to communicate what I want to say? What are the limits of this medium and how can I push those boundaries even further? They experiment with ideas, often reacting to contemporary culture and drawing attention to achievements, disparities, and injustices.

Observation

Scientists observe as part of the experimental process. Advanced technology and modeling allow observation at the cellular or even molecular level. 3D modeling offers the opportunity to observe biological forms from all perspectives. The act of looking and seeing leads to discovery.

Naturally, observation is critical to understanding visual art. Art historians and art consumers spend hours looking at and analyzing works of art, leading to discovery and understanding of the work and its message. For artists themselves, observation is critical in a different way—artists observe nature, human experience, and interaction, or community dynamics prior to executing their interpretation of the subject.

Creating Order through Insight

The tradition of scientific discovery includes an impulse to apply order to chaos, particularly in historically observational fields such as geology and archaeology (for an interesting discussion of the “cabinet of curiosities” click here), but I would argue that this is true of many researchers in the basic sciences as well. If the natural world is a puzzle, each discovery sets a puzzle piece in place (though the puzzle may never be complete as each new discovery leads to more questions). There is comfort in order, and order may be derived from knowledge.

Similarly, the tradition of art features an impulse to apply order. For artists, the act of creating a work of art may represent their struggle to make sense of the senseless, to apply order to chaos. For some art collectors (and “collecting” in general), acquiring artwork is a process of putting together pieces to create a “whole,” a comprehensive survey of the period, region, style, movement, or other collecting focus.

Passion

Passion is not generally associated with science. While that may be true of the scientific method, where reason reigns above all, I have met many scientists who are driven by passion in their research, often ignited by personal experiences that instilled a desire to cure human disease. Many scientists become animated when talking about their work—recognizing the wondrous nature of the unknown, exalting in the excitement of discovery, relishing the value of that discovery to human understanding. It’s inspiring to witness and, frankly, not at all different from the passion traditionally attributed to artists. This passion— of both the scientist and the artist—is a reflection of their humanity and a characteristic to be encouraged and celebrated.

Final Thoughts

Highlighting the above commonalities is not an effort to equate artists and scientists—their pursuits are different. Rather, it’s an attempt to explain why I have met so many scientists who are art hobbyists and so many artists who are fascinated by science (and even utilize scientific principles or methods in their art production).

Given the commonalities, it is not surprising that artists and scientists are collaborating more and more, and it is interesting to consider what the value of these partnerships may be and whether discovery may be hastened by introducing different modes of thought.

Examples of Art/Science Collaborations

http://viewingspace.com/

http://www.insilicov1.org/

http://www.c-lab.co.uk/

http://www.science-practice.com/projects/sequence-bundles/ in partnership with https://www.ebi.ac.uk/about

http://www.sanger.ac.uk/news/view/2013-06-27-relentless-killer-captured-by-art

http://www.artscatalyst.org/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nri1730

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are the views of the author(s) and do not represent the official policy or position of ASCB.

 

About the Author:


As the Art Curator at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Courtney K. Crothers has been able to merge her passion for the arts with her interest in health and wellness. In this role, she is responsible for recommending art for new clinical spaces and managing a collection of more than 5,000 pieces of art, as well as developing arts programming to enhance the UT Southwestern environment.