Art and science have long been regarded as distinct realms of human endeavour, yet both seek to understand and represent the world around us. From Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical sketches that bridged the gap between art and medicine, to contemporary artists using data visualization to explore climate change, the collaboration between art and science has yielded profound insights and innovative creations. This project seeks to continue that tradition, encouraging dialogue and collaboration.
We asked for a creative response that illustrated scientific concepts through artistic expression, or data in the creation of art, or explored the aesthetic dimensions of scientific discovery or reflected the historical relationship between art and science or future possibilities at the intersection of these fields.
Artist: Annabelle Keyes
instagram: @annabellekeyes
Description: Initiated with research at the Ganges River in Varanasi, this work explores feminine water deities, intersections between altar spaces, religious iconography and ecological research, and a “female gaze” of science in response to ideas about women and science as described by Vandana Shiva in her book Ecofeminism. The project is interested in the contradictions and conflicts that arise between science, spirituality and art, and the ambiguous, futuristic mysticism that forms in their merging.
Artist: Karyn Easton
Instagram: @secret.shutter
Website: www.onlyhere.co.uk/blog
Description: The Balance of Power Mobile is a 3m high kinetic mobile that is made of elements that represent binary code. The binary code actually says ‘unity in Bits’ The mobile questions whether or not our unity is in tatters (in bits) due to the rise in computing power - or can our unity be found in the bits and bytes of computer code - there is an accompanying book that explains all about the project. Both the book and the mobile have a layer of augmented reality. The hidden layer of augmented reality attached to the physical mobile comprises a number of famous artists giving their perspectives on AI art. There is also an accompanying film that questions whether we should resolve to turn away from AI or if we should choose to evolve with it.
As Written in the Stones
Artist: Michael Leetham-Cooper
Description: Stones on the ground - a small section of the shoreline of Derwentwater - depicted superimposed by a linear square. The painting references sampling and quantitative surveying for geological, biological, ecological, archeological and for exploitative/ economic purposes, etc. The title reflects the conception of the piece as a close examination of something mundane - trodden underfoot and easily overlooked. The painting is in oils on canvas and measures 600x500mm (615x515mm including thin frame).
Artist: Holly Louise Tomlinson
Instagram: @seemsevergreen
https://hollytomlinson28.wixsite.com/hollytomlinson
Description: In the psycho-surreal ‘Salmon Wrestlers’, fish are merged with humanity in direct influence on the evolutionary theory of the fish as the ancestor. Having emerged from the water, the tiktaalik spouted legs, and became man – allowing for the humorous declarative of ‘humans are fish’ in the face of the absurdity of life. Inspired by the physicality and animalistic brutality of sport, ‘Salmon Wrestlers’ is a satirical titillation on what we consider a highly advanced sophisticated society, displaying these salmon-athletes with the human capacity to engage in behaviours we otherwise see as strange, unrestrained when removed from our sophistication. Embracing our evolutionary history, life becomes a strange and surreal experience, yet ultimately humorous and celebratory of the absurdity of being a human.
Artist : Lewis Andrews
Instagram: @lewis_andrews_art
Website: www.lewisandrewsartwork.com
Description: Lewis’s work acts as a conduit between the realms of art and science. The supply of information from science fuels the production of visual material which in turn communicates the knowledge of a scientific endeavour. In short, Lewis’s work focuses on dealing with complex thoughts, ideas and facts within nature and science. Some explore those in which we seem to be overshadowed and overpowered in comparison by the vast distances, size or quantities. Others investigate moments of extreme power, creation and rebirth on a molecular scale or on a scale comparable to that of the universe. Questioning our relationships, place and role within the universe, environment and natural spaces.
‘SMBH’ connects the distant monsters hiding in the cosmos with the delicate paradise of our pale blue dot. Astronomers managed to photograph not one but two shadows of black holes in recent years. It is a great achievement of not only science but humanity. For humanity, to photograph a black hole is not only a quest for the actual photograph. It’s a quest to travel to the edge of the unknown at the event horizon and to stare face to face with an object that currently turns our understanding of physics upside down. 'SMBH' differs from the 'Singularity' works as they attempt to look at the true titans of the cosmos hiding within the centres of galaxies. Their size becomes just as mindboggling as attempting to explain them with our understanding of physics.
Breaking down the distance between these colossal gravitational machines and the viewer, 'SMBH' has been created with the use of gravity on a much smaller scale. Created using a careful setup of light, water, and gravity, and then through various digital editing, the work attempts to open a window that is close and personal to some of the true titans of the cosmos. Somewhere even light cannot escape if it strays too close.
Artist: Mark Butler
Website: https://www.msbutlersculptor.co.uk/
Description: This drawing is part of a series of drawings based on brain neurons and the electrical impulses which pass between them to recall memories.
The inspiration came from looking at images of mouse brain neurons obtained using the Golgi's method, a silver staining technique for light microscopy. Golgi's method stains a limited number of cells at random, enabling them to be seen more clearly, as the cells are so densely packed they would be hard to make sense of otherwise.
I drew my design onto a painted steel sheet and used a scribe to scratch the lines down to the metal below. Using heavyweight paper, I soaked it in rusting solution and placed it on top of the steel sheet and covered it up in plastic for several days. The scratched lines rust which then prints onto the paper surface.
After washing and drying the paper, I then added piles of gunpowder to these and set fire to it. This burns quickly and produces random speckled burnt areas which I saw as depicting the electrical impulses passing between the neurons.
Watercolour was added to finish off the pieces and they were then float mounted.
Artist: Annie Trevorah
Description: Delving into an imagined world where plants have evolved into futuristic beings, Trevorah challenges the prevailing human-centered narrative of the Anthropocene and explores themes of bio-morphism, eco-feminism, sci-fi and ecological harmony. Using natural materials, such as found seed pods, ostrich quills and wasp hive casings, her sculptures exist in a dichotomy, blending natural and synthetic elements in a playful yet meaningful way.
Nature is a Cyborg is a collection of work that takes the form of 5 interactive eco-morph characters
each equipped with super-powers. Triggered by visitor proximity features include light, wind,
scent, water and viscous fluid, exploring the connections between nature, humans, sci-fi and
technology.
Artist: Cameron Lings
Instagram: @cameron_lings_
Description: His work consists of translating bodies of information into visual works of art. This piece highlights the probability of rolling a dice. Other investigations have included the rise in global sea levels, domestic violence statistics, success rates of treating depression through new technologies, and mapping Pi to its 100th digit.
Artist: Susannah Goulding
Description: Title: Inside Me - 4 Min Stop Frame Animation film.
This stop-frame animated film shows what I imagine happening ‘Inside Me.’
Living with incurable metastatic cancer widespread in my spine, bones and liver inspired this stop-frame animated film.
My oncologist did not want to show me my scans because it would ‘upset me’ I felt a deep need to own and explore my own experience, so I turned to my creative practice to imagine.
The film uses scientific methods as its source. I used X-rays, scans, and microscopic images of cancers, and then, through painting, drawing, mono-prints, linocuts, and animation, I re-imagined what was happening within my own body.
This film explores the aesthetics of cancer, which are rarely considered within our culture. It is the inspiring drive behind my current artistic practice, which aims to re-address, change, and challenge the way that we talk, see, share, and feel about cancer.
For me, it brings my personal emotional experience of living with cancer to life.
Artist: Orsina Pasargiklian
“Flicker”. magnetic and iron powder, iron oxide, crushed rocks on mdf panels, 20x20cm each, 2023
Flicker represents the “breathing pattern” of the earth through volcanic activity.
I researched the numbers of eruptions from the most active volcanoes in the world over the last 100 years and used the data to create a timeline. The timeline shows what has been “earth’s breathing pattern” during that time. The intensity of the light in each panel corresponds to the quantity of eruptions in a period of time.
The light grows more intense because climate change is causing more volcanoes to erupt.
Artist: Gaelle Chassery
https://www.gaellechassery.com/
Description: Meet Filomena the Woolly Brain! In French, “fil” means “thread” or “wire” and the expression “donner du fil à retordre” means something is particularly challenging… so Filomena is very aptly named: making her was a bit of a headache at times, but mostly it was a pleasure and I genuinely feel that I rewired my own brain with each stitch/cell I added. Filomena is a hyperbolic structure crocheted with just over a kilogram of yarn. That’s over 2 kilometres (2300m), which is mindblowing. Although it is a simple structure, it was not an easy one to make… supremely complex and delightfully challenging, especially on my poor hands! Why a brain: living at the intersection of neurological illness, autism and c-PTSD, developing an interest in the brain and neuroscience was a no-brainer. I am fascinated by neuroplasticity, brain rewiring and neural pathways. I am routinely frustrated by the limitations my brain conditions impose on me, but equally marvel at what my brain can do. On the whole we have a great relationship in rather trying circumstances. Making a huge woolly brain is a wink to the myriad symptoms I have to manage on a daily basis, and it is also a cosy presence that is lovely to rest with. Having that visual representation of such a mighty and mysterious organ means a lot and invites me to take even greater care. I find it’s also a great conversation starter and a great tool for advocacy.
Made with Harris wool.
Artist: 'convergence' (Sara Dudman & Mathilde Braddock collaboration)
@saradudman1 @stepsinstone.bristol
www.saradudman.com www.stepsinstone.co.uk
Description: Can a collaborative art and science interpretation of the geology of a place bring us into deepened connection with the Earth? This question drives our collaborative practice.
We combine the intergenerational and interdisciplinary perspectives of two women to blur boundaries and explore our convergent and divergent approaches to interpreting the land, with care and attention for the planet, each other and ourselves as a central principle in all aspects of our work.
“Flat rocks” layers photographs of microscopic ‘thin sections’ together with painted interpretations of the original rock forms, using earth pigment paints created from the same rocks. It explores the parallels between our artistic and scientific approaches to analysis, each resulting in a flattened version of the original rock. Sara processes earths to create paints, which are layered onto 2D surfaces, revealing the texture, colour and nature of the materials. Mathilde mechanically grinds rocks until they are only 30 micrometres thick, creating blocky, geometric, ‘thin sections’ to explore the microscopic components and character of the rocks. This work explores what is revealed in these flattening processes. A deepened sense of empathy for the earth arises in the art studio, from the mindful, tactile processing of earths and aesthetic considerations of the paint application, in contrast to the disturbingly violent machine cutting of rock forms in the science lab, resulting in a disconnected, manufactured and distanced view of the natural world seen through an electronic microscope. Our collaboration explores how this connected artistic approach can infuse into, interpret and soften scientific practice.
Artist: Anthony Carr
Description: Observing A Baker's Dozen: A Lunar Study in Variations of Size and Shape is a timelapse animation taking the viewer on an explorative journey through fictional crater-filled landscapes. The film was inspired by NASA’s Exploring the Lunar Surface: Educator’s Instructional Guide and Maggie Aderin-Pocock’s Book Of The Moon, which describe simple ways to create ‘lunar craters’ using faux regolith recipes made from household ingredients. These seemingly frivolous activities were born from serious investigation dating back to the mid-19th century and geologist Carl Althans’ experiments replicating craters, testing the impact theory. Dr Alfred Wegener improved upon Althans’ results by using cement powder (rather than the film’s flour and sugar), although it took until the Apollo project to validate Wegener’s impact hypotheses.
Another source of inspiration was the 1874 publication, The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite by James Nasmyth and astronomer James Carpenter. Their photographs of table-top models imitating the lunar surface fooled many into believing they were close-up images of the moon. This combination of the rigorous and the playful, the scientific and the imaginative, underpins the entire film. Originally commissioned by Lumen in 2020 for The Desert Festival in Australia, the film was made in response to the thirteen craters in the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve near Alice Springs. The reddish tint applied to the film reflects the red soil of the Arrente lands in which the Reserve sits. Other elements pay homage to the photographs and videos taken by the Apollo astronauts; the square format and transparent Reseau plate mimic the Hasselblad camera, while the moments of shakiness and blurriness imitate a loss of signal.
With NASA and private companies seeking to harness the Moon’s potential, for science or profit, this film is an expression of our continuing captivation with our nearest celestial neighbour.
Artist: Catherine McColgan
These works were developed in a project exploring the nature of mold fungi colonising spaces they inhabit. The spores digest their landscape within a confined space slowly transforming the living sculpture, the work is decorated with beads and glitter glamorising this performance. This work aims to convince the audience that decomposition is a magnificent and detailed process that occurs constantly around us. When recontextualised and removed from our fridges, we may be able to appreciate this beauty in its own right.
Artist: Ellen Harrold
@ellenharroldart and twitter: @ellen_harrold
Description: This piece looks at anatomical art and how art and dissection have been intertwined throughout history. From the similarities between the seal and human hand anatomy to the bio-mechanics of spider legs, observation is a fundamental part of both art and science. Both practices specialize in breaking down information and using what they've learned to create something new. I wanted to evoke both the distinctive colour styles of textbooks and the repetitive nature of the scientific method. Each piece was made with ink and watercolour. Muscle Structure: This is a watercolor on paper that depicts a seal fin and the layers of muscle and bone. Of particular note are the five sets of finger bones, which resemble that of humans.
Artist: Pamela Schilderman
http://www.pamelaschilderman.com
Description: EcologyNOW is the result of a Sci/Art collaboration between the University of Birmingham, the Lapworth Museum of Geology and me. Through sculpture, it explores links between human Forensics and animal species to challenge the position of humans at the top of the classic evolution chain: - Cymatina sapiora - I paired my tooth with a granite limpet, a type of sea snail. I discovered they have over a thousand teeth and their teeth are the strongest biological substance on earth.