Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Dear Yasminers,

Reflecting on Natasha's reflection and regarding the Sciences & Arts &
Humanities (S.A.H) discussion, maybe studying Yasmin might be a great
way to start organizing knowledge around these topics. The social
network of its members might be well inclined to the humanities in
addition to be composed of artists and scientists (or both, or the
three). Starting from this terrain might be fruitful...

I remember that the Mailing List empyre (http://www.subtle.net/
empyre/ ) social network was visualised by Marcos Weskamp ( Social
Circles http://blog.mememapper.com/?p=17 ). I am not sure it is the
best approach (SNA itself i useless) but a systematic enquiry of the
content spinned by Yasmin and its contributors/inhabitants could be a
good start (and maybe also of interest for Yasminers:)). For instance,
archiving in an organised website, public place some references
concerning art, sciences, humanities conferences, projects, ressources
in say Creative Commons or better Free licensing and why not with some
kind of a feed to share the content in a structured manner (for people
interested in doing visualisation, computational analysis of this
corpus) could be of great interest.

Mailing lists are mines and like their physical counterpart,
excavation is often difficult. For instance, I recall the netiquette
of my young internet days in the 90's where I would risk kick/ban for
not looking into the archives of a list when commenting on topic that
was already discussed. Two decades of entropy later, I feel that
already so much things are accumulated but now the problem is to be
able to find it, a challenge that Human Scientists (!) are so good at,
this is why artists and scientists and their friends designers,
engineers and architects need humanities, to celebrate their works,
not only to criticize it - a french delight i must admit :]

I feel that sociologists, ethnologists, ethnographs, historians,
ethnomethodologists, philosophers, anthropologists, epistemologists,
wissenshafttheorists, documentarists, sustain a complex relationship
with their terrain and the people that live there. This emotional,
counter-transferential and reflective stance in the systematic context
of their methods and practices give an opportunity to artists and
scientists to see in return their posture from a renewed perspective.
As an apprentice humanist, I follow with interest the current crisis
in antagonistic research ( Latour, Mouffe, Stengers, etc) and the many
invitations by its proponents to invent new models for understanding
and representing complex practices such as Art+Sci collaborations
(composition, heteronomy, dissensus). I am specifically interested in
how new epistemological practices ( i try to cultivate an intellectual
practice so i decided not to write papers nor books but only to meet
researchers ) could lead to new forms of documentation and sharing of
research practices in any field, especially when this field is
different than mine, in its otherness, or to borrow a Levinas concept,
in its alterity.

Maybe mailinglists are a terrain for alterity this since they usually
invite to go further than tolerance of the arguments of others, and to
embrace the other in its limitations, conceptual and cultural trends,
and posture (usually the one of the lurker, more rarely the lurker-
participant, even more seldom the mailinglist creator like Trebor
Scholtz, Geert Lovink, Roger Malina, etc). Celebrating Yasmin content
would be superb, maybe through re-presenting it, performing it with
incarnated bodies and not only techno-enhanced or techno-mediated
enhanced bodies... Yasmin conference/performance around S.A.H somebody ?

In addition, Arts & Sciences invites us also to think of Aesthetics &
Epistemology, a philosophic duo that show how much even in the
Humanities things are specialized (philosophy of sciences and
philosophy of arts like history of art and history of sciences are in
different departments, buildings, cities ((like ministries of sciences
and ministries of art btw)). Yasmin, the Imera, Medialab Prado,
Mediamatic and some rare places sustain a discussion that bridges
these distant territories, any other places that I missed ? Where is
the Sciences & Art & Humanities discussion embodied ? I want to meet
it :]

Cheers,
Jb

--
Some traces of recent meetings to share and remix (in CC-SH-BY) http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeanbaptisteparis/sets/

On Jun 2, 2010, at 5:51 PM, natasha@natasha.cc wrote:

> Reflecting on this thread, and agreeing with much of what has been
> discussed, I thought about behaviors/personalities of artists and
> scientists and others in the humanities. It is true that sometimes
> I personally am not as rigorous as a scientist in scientific
> pursuits, but not always. Having collaborated with scientists and
> philosophers for a while now, I'll say that I simply do not have a
> problem. In fact, I have found more emotional and logic-based gaps
> in working with technologists. But putting that aside, I'd like to
> mention a smart project called "Arts & Sciences" which brought
> together artists and scientists for a week-long collaboration. It
> was a surprising and enormously satisfying affair:
>
> "Arts & Sciences: Telluride
>
> In September 1979, I [Richard Lowenberg] organized a ten day "Arts &
> Sciences" workshop/retreat in Telluride and Alta Lakes, Colorado.
> The program was supported in part by the National Endowment for the
> Arts, the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities and the
> Zoline Foundation.
>
> The invited participants and presentations included Ed Bryant
> (science fiction); Harold Cohen, UCSD (artificial intelligence and
> the arts; Aaron drawing system); August Coppola, SFSU (thermographic
> film); Margaret Fisher and Robert Hughes (music/dance performance,
> "Gli Insetti"); Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz (satellite arts
> projects); John Lifton and Pamela Zoline (computer music and
> Mountain Village planning); Stephen Gregory, MIT (Aspen interactive
> video disc); Peter Crown, Hampshire College (physiological
> psychology and video art); Will Walter, Polaroid Research Labs
> (large 'pleine aire' holography); Elliott Levinthal, Stanford U.
> ("Mars in 3D", film produced by the Viking Lander and JPL); Jim
> Wiseman (video synthesis), William Fetter, Boeing Aerospace (digital
> human figure rendering and motion studies); Natasha Vita-More (Art
> Concepts); Richard Lowenberg (Bio-Arts projects); Grant Johnson
> (video documentation).
>
> The programs presentations, set amid the colorful Fall splendor of
> surrounding 13,000' peaks, group hikes, and hot spring soaks, were a
> catalyst for wide ranging discussions, some arguments, and a number
> of resulting arts, sciences and technology collaborations over the
> following years."
>
> Natasha Vita-More
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
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> mail address, name, and password in the fields found further down
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>
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>

--
http://web.media.mit.edu/~labrune/

Jean-Baptiste LABRUNE
Tangible Media Group
MIT Media Lab
20 Ames St E14-464C
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA


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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying InternationalCollaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Hi Ernest,

How can an artist who is working in the field of robotics, programming HCI,
wearables, etc not ask scientific questions? How can a biological artist?
Let's bring painters into this as well. When an oil painter is producing
his/her materials, should not the materials be able to perform the same
rigorous testing over an over again in addressing whether or not the canvas
is able to appropriate stretch over the frame, or the paint particles,
linseed oil and Damar varnish to produce color and protect color and to
adhere to the canvas and to last more than a few days or months? And
performance? Ought not a dancer be able to perform the same arabesque over
and over gain?

My PhD, while not in the sciences, is based on research which cannot be
proved scientifically because it pertains to NBIC technologies for building
future human enhancements. Nevertheless, I cannot just make it up in my
mind. It has to be based on provable knowledge which is developed in the
fields that I tap into. Not just an Eric Drexler of nanotechnology, for
example, but diverse sources within that domain of nano-knowledge and also
molecular engineering and how rigorous the research is. Yes, this is still
hypothetical because we do not have nanotechnology. The same goes for AGI.
However, another area of my research is biotechnology, and its substance is
provable in certain genetic engineering protocols. The scientific theory
but what can be proved is that the body ages and cells mutate. Without this
particular knowledge, I would not be able to develop a PhD.

Perhaps I am vowing this thread from a different perspective, but it seems
to me that it all depends on what the artist's practice is based on and that
would determine whether or not scientific questions are necessary.


Natasha Vita-More
MSc, MPhil
PhD Researcher, University of Plymouth
Board of Directors: Humanity+
Fellow: Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Visiting Scholar: 21st Century Medicine
Advisor: Singularity University


-----Original Message-----
From: yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr
[mailto:yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr] On Behalf Of Ernest
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 4:51 PM
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying
InternationalCollaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Hi Stewart

Just to add to that. You describe an old poor model of the scientific PhD. I
know many Americans who did not suffer this. I can also assure you that it
is not the norm in Australia and the UK (where I know
most) where, also, the practice-based art PhD is more common than in the
USA. Artists doing such PhDs certainly ask questions and sometimes draw from
science or technology (or humanities come to that) but have no need to ask
scientific questions. I also know artist who would claim that the PhD
certainly advanced their practice.

Sorry that you have had such a bad experience. I know that it happens.
You may not be sympathetic to the 'scientific' - or rather philosophical -
remark that you can't draw a general conclusion from one or two instances.
Not all PhD programs are so bad!

Best of luck for what follows

Ernest

On 02/06/2010, at 9:44 PM, Simon Biggs wrote:

> Hi Stewart
>
> Sounds like you had a bad experience. Not all PhD's have to be as you
> describe them. Yes, they demand rigour and hard work, but they do not
> have to be the nightmare scenario your describe. As for PhD candidates
> being their supervisor's underlings - that is a perversion of what a
> PhD is about.
> The supervisors' role is to support the candidate with their knowledge
> and resources and ensure they are part of a culture in which they can
> thrive.
> The student's role is to undertake the programme of work they agree
> with their supervisors and engage and contribute to the culture they
> are being offered to be part of. Without the PhD students that culture
> cannot exist.
>
> Note I say supervisors. It is good practice to have a supervisory
> team, with regular external oversight as well, so as to ensure
> transparency and equitability in the research environment. This is now
> the default approach in the UK. Also, we have had artist's practice
> based PhD's for some
> 15 years
> and they continue to grow in popularity and have contributed to a
> paradigm shift in how artists engage academia and research. Artists
> are not just surviving but thriving. Of course, artists do not do
> PhD's to help them be better artists, just as doing a PhD will not
> make you a smarter scientist.
> They do the PhD because they want to engage a certain kind of research
> culture, both during the PhD and afterwards, as they then move through
> the academic jungle.
>
> Institutions are shit and this is what Fuller might have been thinking
> when he cast this aspersion on the PhD. However, not all institutions
> are equally shit. Universities are arguably the least of our worries.
>
> Best
>
> Simon
>
>
> Simon Biggs
> s.biggs@eca.ac.uk simon@littlepig.org.uk Skype: simonbiggsuk
> http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ Research Professor edinburgh college of
> art http://www.eca.ac.uk/ Creative Interdisciplinary Research into
> CoLlaborative Environments http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ Electronic
> Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice
> http://www.elmcip.net/ Centre for Film, Performance and Media Arts
> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/film-performance-media-arts
>
>
>
> From: Stewart Dickson <MathArt@emsh.calarts.edu>
> Reply-To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:44:59 -0500
> To: <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International
> Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities
>
> It causes me considerable pain to write this. These issues are
> still a
> bit emotionally raw for me. I believe in Science as a core
> foundation
> for philosophy.
>
> Richard Buckminster Fuller was fired from his job at Southern Illinois
> University, Carbondale for general misbehavior.
> Among other things to generally enrage enrage his co-workers, he once
> addressed an assembly by saying that anyone who had a Ph.D was
> basically
> full of shit. From my experience in Academia, I have come to agree
> with
> Bucky.
>
> It appears to me that the cost/benefit ratio for a Scientific Ph.D
> degree in the United States is far too high.
> What a Ph.D candidate must endure within a scientific discipline
> consists to a great extent of academic hazing. The degree
> programme is
> too much about eliminating those who cannot endure its demands.
>
> Anyone who has succeeded in obtaining a Scientific Ph.D degree has
> been
> groomed for a particular research track by his or her Advisor. The
> role of a graduate student is basically slave labour for the benefit
> of
> the Advisor. The Post-Doc
> carries this experience and attitude with them through the remainder
> of
> their careers. A research organization, even outside of the
> University
> will develop the same caste structure as the University. It makes
> those working within it profoundly bitter and mean-spirited.
>
> An artist cannot survive within this environment, because his
> technical
> aptitude is constantly under attack. An artist is not qualified to
> ask
> questions of a scientific nature.
>
> A Scientist cannot investigate a question which lies beyond that which
> can be funded. A project proposal cannot be funded without a person
> holding a Ph.D as its Principal Investigator. Scientific Research has
> justification in hard terms of innovation in application as return on
> investment, but its chances of return are extremely low compared to
> most
> investments. Fine art is even worse.
>
> A Scientist is wasting his time and jeopardizing his career by
> considering questions outside of his field of research.
> Art runs counter to all of the principles guiding the practice of
> science.
> To a scientist, the creative process is wildly out of control and
> dangerous.
> I have never been a brilliant student, therefore, I have been found
> unfit to dwell within a scientific Institution.
>
> -Stewart, http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stewart+Dickson
> http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/~sdickson
> http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/MathArt_siteMap.html
> http://delicious.com/MathArtSPD
> http://digg.com/users/MathArtSPD
> http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/author.html?author=Stewart+Dickson
>
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1daf63080a8b20a9f060a0514
> ee7cc36&prevstart=0&esrc=dg
> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=700072487
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartdickson
> http://www.myspace.com/vedictantra
>
http://www.plaxo.com/profile/viewPhotosInAlbum/60130237993?album_id=14178&pk
> =c83684a23289cb279942a7c27d61a09c4da16552
> http://vedic-tantra.daportfolio.com/
> http://picasaweb.google.com/MathArtSPD
> http://siggrapharts.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://artosphere.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://community.ovationtv.com/MathArtSPD
> http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/Tactile_Math.html
> http://www.ifp.illinois.edu/~sdickson/Tactile_Math.html
> http://community.moove.com/cs/as.dll??MathArtSPD
> http://mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=229302
> http://rapidmfg.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://bostoncyberarts.org/apropos/apropos_artist_detail.php?artistcode=48
>
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Stewart+Dickson/
> 114855.html
> http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mathartspd
> http://www.pool.org.au/users/vedictantra
> http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/8Kb9ZRuu
>
> On 5/17/10 4:32 PM, roger malina wrote:
>> Yasminers
>>
>> For our collaboration topic, here is a underlying question: do
>> artists
>> and scientists share
>> the same cultures of inquiry ? Sundar Sarukkai in his article
>> on Science and the Ethics of Curiosity which I have quoted several
>> times on yasmin:
>>
>> http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep252009/756.pdf
>>
>> Points out that scientific curiosity is often framed within
>> the following ethos:
>>
>> Intellectual Honesty, Integrity, Epistemic Communism
>> Organized skepticism,Dis-interestedness
>> Impersonality, Universality
>>
>> It seems to me that many artists do not share all these values,
>> and that when artists and scientists seek to collaborate
>> these cultural difference can create friction, sometimes productive
>> sometimes not.
>>
>> in my talks i like to insist that artistic curiosity is often;
>>
>> non universal : a work can be loaded with meaning in one
>> context and meaningless in another. There is a large discussion
>> against "universals" in art. In science there is no concept of
>> locally
>> meaningful science.
>>
>> Impersonal: whereas scientists seek to remove the personality
>> of the scientist from their work, artists often seem to ground the
>> work in their embodied specificity.
>>
>> Disinterested: basic scientists like to have an intellectual
>> distance between
>> their work and the sponsor of their work (how succesful they are is
>> another
>> matter)
>>
>> Many artists work on commissions where indeed the work is intended
>> to be
>> situated within the framing of the institution or sponsor that
>> funds the work.
>> eg the Bilbau museum is inseparable as a building from the ethos of
>> the
>> Guggenheim Foundation. ( but of course scientists working on
>> applications
>> are sponsor contextualised)
>>
>> I know that I am over-generalising here, but there is much discussion
>> about the need for a "third culture' that somehow melds the
>> scientific
>> and the artistic ( or even E O Wilson's concept of conscilience). I
>> often
>> get very uncomfortable with these discussions, because it seems to me
>> there are valuable differences between the goals, values and methods
>> of scientists
>> and those of artists - and that often these implicit cultural
>> differences between
>> artists and scientists are not made explicit.
>>
>> There is a large literature in the business world on what are
>> called strategic
>> alliances= most collaborations between businesses fail, often
>> because so
>> many implicit values are not made explicit before a collaboration is
>> entered into.
>>
>> In the case of art science collaborations, many of them fail to be
>> successful
>> from the point of view of one or both the art and science
>> participants.
>>
>> Roger
>> _______________________________________________
>> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
>> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
>> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>>
>> Yasmin URL:http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>>
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>> subscribe to. In
> the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> and
> password in the fields found further down the page.
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> the
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> Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
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>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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> Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland,
> number SC009201
>
>
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__________________________
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Friday, June 4, 2010

Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Hi Stewart

Just to add to that. You describe an old poor model of the scientific
PhD. I know many Americans who did not suffer this. I can also assure
you that it is not the norm in Australia and the UK (where I know
most) where, also, the practice-based art PhD is more common than in
the USA. Artists doing such PhDs certainly ask questions and sometimes
draw from science or technology (or humanities come to that) but have
no need to ask scientific questions. I also know artist who would
claim that the PhD certainly advanced their practice.

Sorry that you have had such a bad experience. I know that it happens.
You may not be sympathetic to the 'scientific' - or rather
philosophical - remark that you can't draw a general conclusion from
one or two instances. Not all PhD programs are so bad!

Best of luck for what follows

Ernest

On 02/06/2010, at 9:44 PM, Simon Biggs wrote:

> Hi Stewart
>
> Sounds like you had a bad experience. Not all PhD's have to be as you
> describe them. Yes, they demand rigour and hard work, but they do
> not have
> to be the nightmare scenario your describe. As for PhD candidates
> being
> their supervisor's underlings – that is a perversion of what a PhD
> is about.
> The supervisors' role is to support the candidate with their
> knowledge and
> resources and ensure they are part of a culture in which they can
> thrive.
> The student's role is to undertake the programme of work they agree
> with
> their supervisors and engage and contribute to the culture they are
> being
> offered to be part of. Without the PhD students that culture cannot
> exist.
>
> Note I say supervisors. It is good practice to have a supervisory
> team, with
> regular external oversight as well, so as to ensure transparency and
> equitability in the research environment. This is now the default
> approach
> in the UK. Also, we have had artist's practice based PhD's for some
> 15 years
> and they continue to grow in popularity and have contributed to a
> paradigm
> shift in how artists engage academia and research. Artists are not
> just
> surviving but thriving. Of course, artists do not do PhD's to help
> them be
> better artists, just as doing a PhD will not make you a smarter
> scientist.
> They do the PhD because they want to engage a certain kind of research
> culture, both during the PhD and afterwards, as they then move
> through the
> academic jungle.
>
> Institutions are shit and this is what Fuller might have been
> thinking when
> he cast this aspersion on the PhD. However, not all institutions are
> equally
> shit. Universities are arguably the least of our worries.
>
> Best
>
> Simon
>
>
> Simon Biggs
> s.biggs@eca.ac.uk simon@littlepig.org.uk Skype: simonbiggsuk
> http://www.littlepig.org.uk/
> Research Professor edinburgh college of art http://www.eca.ac.uk/
> Creative Interdisciplinary Research into CoLlaborative Environments
> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/
> Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in
> Practice
> http://www.elmcip.net/
> Centre for Film, Performance and Media Arts
> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/film-performance-media-arts
>
>
>
> From: Stewart Dickson <MathArt@emsh.calarts.edu>
> Reply-To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:44:59 -0500
> To: <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International
> Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities
>
> It causes me considerable pain to write this. These issues are
> still a
> bit emotionally raw for me. I believe in Science as a core
> foundation
> for philosophy.
>
> Richard Buckminster Fuller was fired from his job at Southern Illinois
> University, Carbondale for general misbehavior.
> Among other things to generally enrage enrage his co-workers, he once
> addressed an assembly by saying that anyone who had a Ph.D was
> basically
> full of shit. From my experience in Academia, I have come to agree
> with
> Bucky.
>
> It appears to me that the cost/benefit ratio for a Scientific Ph.D
> degree in the United States is far too high.
> What a Ph.D candidate must endure within a scientific discipline
> consists to a great extent of academic hazing. The degree
> programme is
> too much about eliminating those who cannot endure its demands.
>
> Anyone who has succeeded in obtaining a Scientific Ph.D degree has
> been
> groomed for a particular research track by his or her Advisor. The
> role of a graduate student is basically slave labour for the benefit
> of
> the Advisor. The Post-Doc
> carries this experience and attitude with them through the remainder
> of
> their careers. A research organization, even outside of the
> University
> will develop the same caste structure as the University. It makes
> those working within it profoundly bitter and mean-spirited.
>
> An artist cannot survive within this environment, because his
> technical
> aptitude is constantly under attack. An artist is not qualified to
> ask
> questions of a scientific nature.
>
> A Scientist cannot investigate a question which lies beyond that which
> can be funded. A project proposal cannot be funded without a person
> holding a Ph.D as its Principal Investigator. Scientific Research has
> justification in hard terms of innovation in application as return on
> investment, but its chances of return are extremely low compared to
> most
> investments. Fine art is even worse.
>
> A Scientist is wasting his time and jeopardizing his career by
> considering questions outside of his field of research.
> Art runs counter to all of the principles guiding the practice of
> science.
> To a scientist, the creative process is wildly out of control and
> dangerous.
> I have never been a brilliant student, therefore, I have been found
> unfit to dwell within a scientific Institution.
>
> -Stewart, http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stewart+Dickson
> http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/~sdickson
> http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/MathArt_siteMap.html
> http://delicious.com/MathArtSPD
> http://digg.com/users/MathArtSPD
> http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/author.html?author=Stewart+Dickson
> http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1daf63080a8b20a9f060a0514
> ee7cc36&prevstart=0&esrc=dg
> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=700072487
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartdickson
> http://www.myspace.com/vedictantra
> http://www.plaxo.com/profile/viewPhotosInAlbum/60130237993?album_id=14178&pk
> =c83684a23289cb279942a7c27d61a09c4da16552
> http://vedic-tantra.daportfolio.com/
> http://picasaweb.google.com/MathArtSPD
> http://siggrapharts.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://artosphere.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://community.ovationtv.com/MathArtSPD
> http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/Tactile_Math.html
> http://www.ifp.illinois.edu/~sdickson/Tactile_Math.html
> http://community.moove.com/cs/as.dll??MathArtSPD
> http://mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=229302
> http://rapidmfg.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
> http://bostoncyberarts.org/apropos/apropos_artist_detail.php?artistcode=48
> http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Stewart+Dickson/
> 114855.html
> http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mathartspd
> http://www.pool.org.au/users/vedictantra
> http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/8Kb9ZRuu
>
> On 5/17/10 4:32 PM, roger malina wrote:
>> Yasminers
>>
>> For our collaboration topic, here is a underlying question: do
>> artists
>> and scientists share
>> the same cultures of inquiry ? Sundar Sarukkai in his article
>> on Science and the Ethics of Curiosity which I have quoted several
>> times on yasmin:
>>
>> http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep252009/756.pdf
>>
>> Points out that scientific curiosity is often framed within
>> the following ethos:
>>
>> Intellectual Honesty, Integrity, Epistemic Communism
>> Organized skepticism,Dis-interestedness
>> Impersonality, Universality
>>
>> It seems to me that many artists do not share all these values,
>> and that when artists and scientists seek to collaborate
>> these cultural difference can create friction, sometimes productive
>> sometimes not.
>>
>> in my talks i like to insist that artistic curiosity is often;
>>
>> non universal : a work can be loaded with meaning in one
>> context and meaningless in another. There is a large discussion
>> against "universals" in art. In science there is no concept of
>> locally
>> meaningful science.
>>
>> Impersonal: whereas scientists seek to remove the personality
>> of the scientist from their work, artists often seem to ground the
>> work in their embodied specificity.
>>
>> Disinterested: basic scientists like to have an intellectual
>> distance between
>> their work and the sponsor of their work (how succesful they are is
>> another
>> matter)
>>
>> Many artists work on commissions where indeed the work is intended
>> to be
>> situated within the framing of the institution or sponsor that
>> funds the work.
>> eg the Bilbau museum is inseparable as a building from the ethos of
>> the
>> Guggenheim Foundation. ( but of course scientists working on
>> applications
>> are sponsor contextualised)
>>
>> I know that I am over-generalising here, but there is much discussion
>> about the need for a "third culture' that somehow melds the
>> scientific
>> and the artistic ( or even E O Wilson's concept of conscilience). I
>> often
>> get very uncomfortable with these discussions, because it seems to me
>> there are valuable differences between the goals, values and methods
>> of scientists
>> and those of artists - and that often these implicit cultural
>> differences between
>> artists and scientists are not made explicit.
>>
>> There is a large literature in the business world on what are
>> called strategic
>> alliances= most collaborations between businesses fail, often
>> because so
>> many implicit values are not made explicit before a collaboration is
>> entered into.
>>
>> In the case of art science collaborations, many of them fail to be
>> successful
>> from the point of view of one or both the art and science
>> participants.
>>
>> Roger
>> _______________________________________________
>> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
>> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
>> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>>
>> Yasmin URL:http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>>
>> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to
>> subscribe to. In
> the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> and
> password in the fields found further down the page.
>>
>> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and
>> enter your
> e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on
> the
> unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
>>
>> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the
>> "Set Digest
> Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
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>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to
> subscribe to. In
> the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> and
> password in the fields found further down the page.
>
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and
> enter your
> e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on
> the
> unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
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> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the
> "Set
> Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
>
>
> Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland,
> number SC009201
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
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> mail address, name, and password in the fields found further down
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__________________________
http://www.ernestedmonds.com


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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] Expanding scientific data with gesture and line

Dear All,

Relevant to this discussion is that the senses play an essential role
in the accurate communication of scientific information (including data sets).

This is a premise of my recently submitted thesis, 'Antarctic
animation: expanding perceptions with gesture and line.

See Abstract:
http://www.antarcticanimation.com/content/thesis/thesis.php

If anyone would like me to send them the whole thesis, and provide me
with some comment, I am most interested to hear from you.


Best wishes,

Lisa


---------------------------

Lisa Roberts

www.lisaroberts.com.au
www.antarcticanimation.com

Post:-
Suite 326,
353 King Street
Newtown, NSW, 2042
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[Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Reflecting on this thread, and agreeing with much of what has been
discussed, I thought about behaviors/personalities of artists and
scientists and others in the humanities. It is true that sometimes I
personally am not as rigorous as a scientist in scientific pursuits,
but not always. Having collaborated with scientists and philosophers
for a while now, I'll say that I simply do not have a problem. In
fact, I have found more emotional and logic-based gaps in working with
technologists. But putting that aside, I'd like to mention a smart
project called "Arts & Sciences" which brought together artists and
scientists for a week-long collaboration. It was a surprising and
enormously satisfying affair:

"Arts & Sciences: Telluride

In September 1979, I [Richard Lowenberg] organized a ten day "Arts &
Sciences" workshop/retreat in Telluride and Alta Lakes, Colorado. The
program was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities and the Zoline
Foundation.

The invited participants and presentations included Ed Bryant (science
fiction); Harold Cohen, UCSD (artificial intelligence and the arts;
Aaron drawing system); August Coppola, SFSU (thermographic film);
Margaret Fisher and Robert Hughes (music/dance performance, "Gli
Insetti"); Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz (satellite arts
projects); John Lifton and Pamela Zoline (computer music and Mountain
Village planning); Stephen Gregory, MIT (Aspen interactive video
disc); Peter Crown, Hampshire College (physiological psychology and
video art); Will Walter, Polaroid Research Labs (large 'pleine aire'
holography); Elliott Levinthal, Stanford U. ("Mars in 3D", film
produced by the Viking Lander and JPL); Jim Wiseman (video synthesis),
William Fetter, Boeing Aerospace (digital human figure rendering and
motion studies); Natasha Vita-More (Art Concepts); Richard Lowenberg
(Bio-Arts projects); Grant Johnson (video documentation).

The programs presentations, set amid the colorful Fall splendor of
surrounding 13,000' peaks, group hikes, and hot spring soaks, were a
catalyst for wide ranging discussions, some arguments, and a number of
resulting arts, sciences and technology collaborations over the
following years."

Natasha Vita-More


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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Hi Stewart

Sounds like you had a bad experience. Not all PhD¹s have to be as you
describe them. Yes, they demand rigour and hard work, but they do not have
to be the nightmare scenario your describe. As for PhD candidates being
their supervisor¹s underlings ­ that is a perversion of what a PhD is about.
The supervisors¹ role is to support the candidate with their knowledge and
resources and ensure they are part of a culture in which they can thrive.
The student¹s role is to undertake the programme of work they agree with
their supervisors and engage and contribute to the culture they are being
offered to be part of. Without the PhD students that culture cannot exist.

Note I say supervisors. It is good practice to have a supervisory team, with
regular external oversight as well, so as to ensure transparency and
equitability in the research environment. This is now the default approach
in the UK. Also, we have had artist¹s practice based PhD¹s for some 15 years
and they continue to grow in popularity and have contributed to a paradigm
shift in how artists engage academia and research. Artists are not just
surviving but thriving. Of course, artists do not do PhD¹s to help them be
better artists, just as doing a PhD will not make you a smarter scientist.
They do the PhD because they want to engage a certain kind of research
culture, both during the PhD and afterwards, as they then move through the
academic jungle.

Institutions are shit and this is what Fuller might have been thinking when
he cast this aspersion on the PhD. However, not all institutions are equally
shit. Universities are arguably the least of our worries.

Best

Simon


Simon Biggs
s.biggs@eca.ac.uk simon@littlepig.org.uk Skype: simonbiggsuk
http://www.littlepig.org.uk/
Research Professor edinburgh college of art http://www.eca.ac.uk/
Creative Interdisciplinary Research into CoLlaborative Environments
http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/
Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice
http://www.elmcip.net/
Centre for Film, Performance and Media Arts
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/film-performance-media-arts

From: Stewart Dickson <MathArt@emsh.calarts.edu>
Reply-To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:44:59 -0500
To: <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International
Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

It causes me considerable pain to write this. These issues are still a
bit emotionally raw for me. I believe in Science as a core foundation
for philosophy.

Richard Buckminster Fuller was fired from his job at Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale for general misbehavior.
Among other things to generally enrage enrage his co-workers, he once
addressed an assembly by saying that anyone who had a Ph.D was basically
full of shit. From my experience in Academia, I have come to agree with
Bucky.

It appears to me that the cost/benefit ratio for a Scientific Ph.D
degree in the United States is far too high.
What a Ph.D candidate must endure within a scientific discipline
consists to a great extent of academic hazing. The degree programme is
too much about eliminating those who cannot endure its demands.

Anyone who has succeeded in obtaining a Scientific Ph.D degree has been
groomed for a particular research track by his or her Advisor. The
role of a graduate student is basically slave labour for the benefit of
the Advisor. The Post-Doc
carries this experience and attitude with them through the remainder of
their careers. A research organization, even outside of the University
will develop the same caste structure as the University. It makes
those working within it profoundly bitter and mean-spirited.

An artist cannot survive within this environment, because his technical
aptitude is constantly under attack. An artist is not qualified to ask
questions of a scientific nature.

A Scientist cannot investigate a question which lies beyond that which
can be funded. A project proposal cannot be funded without a person
holding a Ph.D as its Principal Investigator. Scientific Research has
justification in hard terms of innovation in application as return on
investment, but its chances of return are extremely low compared to most
investments. Fine art is even worse.

A Scientist is wasting his time and jeopardizing his career by
considering questions outside of his field of research.
Art runs counter to all of the principles guiding the practice of science.
To a scientist, the creative process is wildly out of control and dangerous.
I have never been a brilliant student, therefore, I have been found
unfit to dwell within a scientific Institution.

-Stewart, http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stewart+Dickson
http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/~sdickson
http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/MathArt_siteMap.html
http://delicious.com/MathArtSPD
http://digg.com/users/MathArtSPD
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/author.html?author=Stewart+Dickson
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1daf63080a8b20a9f060a0514
ee7cc36&prevstart=0&esrc=dg

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=700072487
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartdickson
http://www.myspace.com/vedictantra
http://www.plaxo.com/profile/viewPhotosInAlbum/60130237993?album_id=14178&pk
=c83684a23289cb279942a7c27d61a09c4da16552

http://vedic-tantra.daportfolio.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/MathArtSPD
http://siggrapharts.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://artosphere.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://community.ovationtv.com/MathArtSPD
http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/Tactile_Math.html
http://www.ifp.illinois.edu/~sdickson/Tactile_Math.html
http://community.moove.com/cs/as.dll??MathArtSPD
http://mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=229302
http://rapidmfg.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://bostoncyberarts.org/apropos/apropos_artist_detail.php?artistcode=48
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Stewart+Dickson/
114855.html

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mathartspd
http://www.pool.org.au/users/vedictantra
http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/8Kb9ZRuu

On 5/17/10 4:32 PM, roger malina wrote:
> Yasminers
>
> For our collaboration topic, here is a underlying question: do artists
> and scientists share
> the same cultures of inquiry ? Sundar Sarukkai in his article
> on Science and the Ethics of Curiosity which I have quoted several
> times on yasmin:
>
> http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep252009/756.pdf
>
> Points out that scientific curiosity is often framed within
> the following ethos:
>
> Intellectual Honesty, Integrity, Epistemic Communism
> Organized skepticism,Dis-interestedness
> Impersonality, Universality
>
> It seems to me that many artists do not share all these values,
> and that when artists and scientists seek to collaborate
> these cultural difference can create friction, sometimes productive
> sometimes not.
>
> in my talks i like to insist that artistic curiosity is often;
>
> non universal : a work can be loaded with meaning in one
> context and meaningless in another. There is a large discussion
> against "universals" in art. In science there is no concept of locally
> meaningful science.
>
> Impersonal: whereas scientists seek to remove the personality
> of the scientist from their work, artists often seem to ground the
> work in their embodied specificity.
>
> Disinterested: basic scientists like to have an intellectual distance between
> their work and the sponsor of their work (how succesful they are is another
> matter)
>
> Many artists work on commissions where indeed the work is intended to be
> situated within the framing of the institution or sponsor that funds the work.
> eg the Bilbau museum is inseparable as a building from the ethos of the
> Guggenheim Foundation. ( but of course scientists working on applications
> are sponsor contextualised)
>
> I know that I am over-generalising here, but there is much discussion
> about the need for a "third culture' that somehow melds the scientific
> and the artistic ( or even E O Wilson's concept of conscilience). I often
> get very uncomfortable with these discussions, because it seems to me
> there are valuable differences between the goals, values and methods
> of scientists
> and those of artists - and that often these implicit cultural
> differences between
> artists and scientists are not made explicit.
>
> There is a large literature in the business world on what are called strategic
> alliances= most collaborations between businesses fail, often because so
> many implicit values are not made explicit before a collaboration is
> entered into.
>
> In the case of art science collaborations, many of them fail to be successful
> from the point of view of one or both the art and science participants.
>
> Roger
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL:http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to. In
the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and
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>
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter your
e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on the
unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
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> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set Digest
Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
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>

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Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC009201


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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

It causes me considerable pain to write this. These issues are still a
bit emotionally raw for me. I believe in Science as a core foundation
for philosophy.

Richard Buckminster Fuller was fired from his job at Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale for general misbehavior.
Among other things to generally enrage enrage his co-workers, he once
addressed an assembly by saying that anyone who had a Ph.D was basically
full of shit. From my experience in Academia, I have come to agree with
Bucky.

It appears to me that the cost/benefit ratio for a Scientific Ph.D
degree in the United States is far too high.
What a Ph.D candidate must endure within a scientific discipline
consists to a great extent of academic hazing. The degree programme is
too much about eliminating those who cannot endure its demands.

Anyone who has succeeded in obtaining a Scientific Ph.D degree has been
groomed for a particular research track by his or her Advisor. The
role of a graduate student is basically slave labour for the benefit of
the Advisor. The Post-Doc
carries this experience and attitude with them through the remainder of
their careers. A research organization, even outside of the University
will develop the same caste structure as the University. It makes
those working within it profoundly bitter and mean-spirited.

An artist cannot survive within this environment, because his technical
aptitude is constantly under attack. An artist is not qualified to ask
questions of a scientific nature.

A Scientist cannot investigate a question which lies beyond that which
can be funded. A project proposal cannot be funded without a person
holding a Ph.D as its Principal Investigator. Scientific Research has
justification in hard terms of innovation in application as return on
investment, but its chances of return are extremely low compared to most
investments. Fine art is even worse.

A Scientist is wasting his time and jeopardizing his career by
considering questions outside of his field of research.
Art runs counter to all of the principles guiding the practice of science.
To a scientist, the creative process is wildly out of control and dangerous.
I have never been a brilliant student, therefore, I have been found
unfit to dwell within a scientific Institution.

-Stewart, http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stewart+Dickson
http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/~sdickson
http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/MathArt_siteMap.html
http://delicious.com/MathArtSPD
http://digg.com/users/MathArtSPD
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/author.html?author=Stewart+Dickson
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1daf63080a8b20a9f060a0514ee7cc36&prevstart=0&esrc=dg
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=700072487
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartdickson
http://www.myspace.com/vedictantra
http://www.plaxo.com/profile/viewPhotosInAlbum/60130237993?album_id=14178&pk=c83684a23289cb279942a7c27d61a09c4da16552
http://vedic-tantra.daportfolio.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/MathArtSPD
http://siggrapharts.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://artosphere.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://community.ovationtv.com/MathArtSPD
http://emsh.calarts.edu/~mathart/Tactile_Math.html
http://www.ifp.illinois.edu/~sdickson/Tactile_Math.html
http://community.moove.com/cs/as.dll??MathArtSPD
http://mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=229302
http://rapidmfg.ning.com/profile/StewartDickson
http://bostoncyberarts.org/apropos/apropos_artist_detail.php?artistcode=48
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Stewart+Dickson/114855.html
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mathartspd
http://www.pool.org.au/users/vedictantra
http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/8Kb9ZRuu

On 5/17/10 4:32 PM, roger malina wrote:
> Yasminers
>
> For our collaboration topic, here is a underlying question: do artists
> and scientists share
> the same cultures of inquiry ? Sundar Sarukkai in his article
> on Science and the Ethics of Curiosity which I have quoted several
> times on yasmin:
>
> http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep252009/756.pdf
>
> Points out that scientific curiosity is often framed within
> the following ethos:
>
> Intellectual Honesty, Integrity, Epistemic Communism
> Organized skepticism,Dis-interestedness
> Impersonality, Universality
>
> It seems to me that many artists do not share all these values,
> and that when artists and scientists seek to collaborate
> these cultural difference can create friction, sometimes productive
> sometimes not.
>
> in my talks i like to insist that artistic curiosity is often;
>
> non universal : a work can be loaded with meaning in one
> context and meaningless in another. There is a large discussion
> against "universals" in art. In science there is no concept of locally
> meaningful science.
>
> Impersonal: whereas scientists seek to remove the personality
> of the scientist from their work, artists often seem to ground the
> work in their embodied specificity.
>
> Disinterested: basic scientists like to have an intellectual distance between
> their work and the sponsor of their work (how succesful they are is another
> matter)
>
> Many artists work on commissions where indeed the work is intended to be
> situated within the framing of the institution or sponsor that funds the work.
> eg the Bilbau museum is inseparable as a building from the ethos of the
> Guggenheim Foundation. ( but of course scientists working on applications
> are sponsor contextualised)
>
> I know that I am over-generalising here, but there is much discussion
> about the need for a "third culture' that somehow melds the scientific
> and the artistic ( or even E O Wilson's concept of conscilience). I often
> get very uncomfortable with these discussions, because it seems to me
> there are valuable differences between the goals, values and methods
> of scientists
> and those of artists - and that often these implicit cultural
> differences between
> artists and scientists are not made explicit.
>
> There is a large literature in the business world on what are called strategic
> alliances= most collaborations between businesses fail, often because so
> many implicit values are not made explicit before a collaboration is
> entered into.
>
> In the case of art science collaborations, many of them fail to be successful
> from the point of view of one or both the art and science participants.
>
> Roger
> _______________________________________________
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> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
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>
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>
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>

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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] Data Visualization - Terrain for ArtSci Collaborations

hi everyone

i wanted to respond to a post roger made asking for any information on
art/science collaborations in the field of data visualization.

there's a great article by sara diamond just posted to ctheory.net which
brings together the ethics and aesthetics of data visualization and will
be pertinent for artists, designers, and scientists alike:

http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=651

in her conclusion diamond writes:

"The use of natural metaphors (tree-like, floral, etc.) occurred in
artist, designer and programmer-created [data visualization] works,
regardless of whether the source of the data was natural or artificial.
The prominence of natural metaphors may indicate the merging of scientific
and information visualization; it may represent mystification -- the
correlation of sublime nature and sublime data -- or an ironic stance
towards mystification; it may suggest a growing sense of concern about the
biological world, its extraction into data and the need for an ethos of
responsibility towards the empirical world. It is in the interaction of
computer code and genetic code that new forms, virtual and physical, come
into being. Rather than eliciting a fear of the unknown, in which data are
sublime or become a simple deconstruction, the summoning of a new hybrid
world could be placed within a sense of responsibility to both human and
non-human life. Issues of aesthetics and ethics are present, if not
visible, in the tools we build and use."


i think you will enjoy her survey of works from the mid-90s through the
present on this crucial topic.


best,
carrie paterson

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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Gavin,

I couldn't agree more!

Success factors:
1st point that contributes to success is the emphasis on productive educational structures for future art-(hum)sci collaborations.
- education that incorporates collaboration as a method
- education that incorporates new approaches of art and science

2nd point is the physical infrastructures

- function of gallery space, the role of Museums, conferences, labs. The knowledge development and the knowledge presentations
- in this time is indeed an aspect. Check out this recent call for collaboration...http://www.crresidency.net/ yet it is only one month...

3rd point is the financial structures! that carry such research.

- One example could be the recent collaboration betwen the NWO, which is the highest science funder in The Netherlands and the FondsBKVB which is the highest Art funding in The Netherlands. 225.000 euro for two artistic research positions http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_7XWF89_Eng Hopefully in the future they will have positions for collaborative
research PhD's.

In this I believe the artist, has to be an informed artist!, and
function as a second person empathic resonator between first-person
methodologies (subjective) and third person methodologies (objective)
(Varela) in new artistic approaches and disciplines

One example of a Skype conversation I remember having recently with an
art-sci community of Toronto is the issue of simulation of the human
body. We were talking about the simulation of bloodvessels with a
biologist, when it struck me how much of the human aspect of blood, its
meaning etc, was missing in these simulations. Let me clarify with a
traditional example. When we make a mold of somebody's face (or
bloodvessel) and use it as a model it is a simulation of that person
(bloodvessel). An artist when they make a portret, they do not just
simulate what a person looks like, but how a person feels. If an artist
was to portray a bloodvessel, it takes into account objective aspects as well as subjective aspects. What I am saying is that in the simulation
of the bloodvessel, the focus was on objective facts, but not on a
possible character of the bloodvessel. It's preferences, it's quirks.
What does the bloodvessel 'feel' like. The social aspects of the
bloodvessel. The humanities of the bloodvessel. It's human interface on
all levels. When we aim to simulate life,consciousness, we need to take
into account both the subjective as well as the objective. An informed
artist could aid in a way that takes into account how chemicals bring
subjectivity to the bloodvessel...Am I making any sense?


Jennifer

________________________________
From: Gavin Artz <ceo@anat.org.au>
To: yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
Sent: Tue, June 1, 2010 2:40:21 AM
Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] Doing and Studying International Collaboration in the Sciences, Arts and the Humanities

Hello all,

I have been a bit slow to post as I had to do some admin updates on my
subscription, but all working now - (I hope).

ANAT has been involved in art/science research collaboration for over ten
years, five of which as a part of the Synapse initiative between ANAT and
the Australia Council for the Arts.

Recently ANAT and the Australia Council for the Arts got together those who
have been involved in the residencies to initiate, what we hope, will be a
research process that will tell us much more about these collaborations and
also initiate the building of a strong art/science community. The discussion
we had was wide ranging, but one point that really struck me was the concept
that we need to redefine what is an artistic career and for that matter what
is a science career. The inherent interdisciplinary nature of successful art
science collaboration creates a different discipline and it seems worth, as
we enter this dialogue, to suspend what we expect from these separate areas
and envision what the new practice might be. This will mean both the arts
and science each being willing to give some of their turf.

To pick on robotics research as an example where the technology has gone
beyond the technical basics to where deeper questions of what it is to be
human need to be answered if the technology is to advance. The research is
no longer pure technology research, it is about interfaces with people -
where engineering, psychology, aesthetics and art meet. From an arts
perspective robotics is a broad and responsive creative dialogue involving
what it means to be human now and into the future. This is an artistic
practice not destined for the gallery, but rather destined to have a much
broader impact on how we live.

So we may have students who want to have a career in robotics so they study
art and students interested in art studying robotics - the point being the
interdisciplinary nature that will be needed for successful creative,
cultural and research out comes, will become the same. In the arts we still
suffer under the weighty concept of the heroic individual as artist, when at
the same time, we are moving into an era that relies increasingly on
interdisciplinary collaboration where the results will be more diffuse and
more difficult to attribute to a single creator.

Gavin Artz | CEO

Australian Network for Art and Technology [ANAT]
e: ceo@anat.org.au | ph: 61 8 8231 9037
www.anat.org.au | www.filter.org.au | www.synapse.net.au
Twitter: __ANAT | Facebook: http://bit.ly/bF9fXl

The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) is supported by the
Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and
Territory Governments; the Australian Government through the Australia
Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the South Australian
Government through Arts SA.


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