The Unquantifiable Measurement – Negotiations Between Science & Art (4/9)

"The Unquantifiable Measurement – Negotiations Between Science and Art"
a talk by by Jan-Henrik Andersen

Monday April 9th 2007, 4:10pm
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
112 S. Michigan Building, room 1307

The lecture seeks to identify and discuss how to access the workspace between art and science. Which possibilities lie in this space, which approaches are available to artists and designers, and how to negotiate the very premises that supports both terms? Each aspires to their own version of truth about the human condition – whether we’re talking about ecologies, identities or the space we’re bound to share. The lecture will discuss the possibility of creating connections between the two terms, and how to retain the very premises of each without violating for example the logic and verifiability of science, and the creative freedom of art.

Prior to the “scientific revolution” following the renaissance, there were few factors to distinguish one from the other – the truth was kept by religion. Today we’re faced with quite a different reality, and we’re perhaps more than ever actively engaged in bringing truth to the public. More frequently than just a few decades ago, art and science are bringing forth ethical dilemmas that beg to be processed and find their rightful place in our value driven systems without compromising the quality of neither art nor science.

The lecture will be illustrated with works from a wide variety of art/science projects and artists, as well as works from the author’s own portfolio, including a 3-year collaboration with physicists to create a visual nomenclature and representation of subatomic particle energy and matter, which has been widely published and presented.