Taking artists on a boat to a remote island in the South Pacific so they can work with marine biologists, environmental specialists, filmmakers and activists, in the middle of nowhere and with unexpected materials around them. This is the project developed by TBA21 Academy, a part of Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza’s TBA21 Foundation, which adds to artistic production, research into this confluence of art and science so that art becomes an integral part of the process of critical thinking and seeking solutions related to the climate crisis, more specifically, in relation to the defence and conservation of the oceans.
The idea of putting artists and scientists to work together is not new. In the late 1960s, Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) emerged, a non-profit initiative with the aim of developing collaborations between artists and engineers. In this way, artists expanded their role in society, contributing to exploring the limits of technological innovations and their impact on the individual. John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg and Öyvind Fahlström were some of the artists who participated in this programme, which reached its climax in the Pepsi Pavilion at the Osaka Fair in 1970.
A more recent example was seen in recent months at the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, where ten artistic projects emerged in the context of Art at CERN, a programme of residencies and production by artists at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Geneva. The exhibition Quantum presents a theme that is as fascinating as it is overwhelming, because it explores that which is invisible, not the reality that we see based on the information we have about it, but that which opens up several possibilities simultaneously. Quantum presents two itineraries, one artistic (with 10 proposals) and the other scientific (as an introduction to nine aspects derived from the research carried out at CERN), which intersect and complement each other.
Artistic and scientific methodologies share some aspects. Rigor and research, but also intuition and experimentation, are an essential part. They also share a less pleasant side: too often they tend to be identified, by the public opinion, with cryptic and inaccessible discourses and languages. A fact that is not without curiosity because, a priori, both explore crucial aspects for our present (and future!). Perhaps this is related to the fact that both practices have to do with the field of uncertainty and that the expansion of research is directly proportional to the number of new questions that are opened.
“Art and science are inextricably linked; both are ways of exploring existence, what it is to be human and what is our place in the universe,” said Rolf Hauer, director of CIERNE, recently, “both require technical mastery, and both try to explore the limits of human potential.”
[Article published in Bonart, 2019]
