Media Art Histories 2013: RENEW .

The 5th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology, October 811, 2013, Riga, Latvia
Jonathan Zilberg, Ph.D. Visiting Research Associate, Department of Transtechnology, University of Plymouth ([email protected]) Session: The Art-Sci Paradigm Shift. Chair, Nina Czegledy Presentation: Cautionary Notes for Media Artists Engaging the Art-Sci Paradigm Shift My points, to be as brief as possible for the purposes of this session and the break out discussion, are simply three: The First Point in the art-sci paradigm shift, media-arts practitioners interested in engaging the art-sci nexus must necessarily first return critically to the foundational text systematically referred to in this emerging paradigm, C. P. Snows Two Cultures.1 My point here is that without a critical and historically informed reading and thus questioning of the original basis for this paradigm shift, scholars and practitioners are being unnecessarily drawn into a divisive view of the sciences and humanities which often does not apply to scientists interested in and engaged with the arts. In both reports noted here, Snows legacy is clearly systemic. In this context of an art-sci paradigm shift, there are amongst other foundational documents, three of particular importance for anyone working in media arts interested in this art-sci nexus: 1. The 2007 UK SciArt Report, Paul Ginkowki and Anne Bamford, Insight and Exchange: An evaluation of the UK Sciart programme (1997).2 As the independent evaluators of the Wellcome Trusts decade long art-sci program from 1996 through 2006, the authors note that The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution continued to provide an essential element in the debates over the relationship between the arts and the sciences and thus informed the artists collaborations with scientists (Ginkowski and Bamford 2009, p. 7). This is so much the case that Chapter Seven is titled: What happens when two cultures come together? Simply put, I would challenge media artists and media art critics to first question this original assumption by carefully reading Levis and Yudkins response to Snow at Cambridge and only then to proceed after a thorough understanding of the critiques.3 This will allow them to more effectively avoid the pitfalls of taking for granted and working from a basic axiom which in my view is seriously flawed. I provide an extended critique of the continuing systemic problem of the largely

See C. P. Snow. Snow, C. P. 1963. The Two Cultures: And a Second Look. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press which followed the earlier publication of the 1959 Rede Lecture as The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution. 2 Paul Ginkowki and Anne Bamford. Insight and Exchange: An evaluation of the UK Sciart programme. London: Wellcome Trust, 1997. Accessible at: www.wellcome.ac.uk/sciartevolution. 3 F. R. Leavis. Two Cultures? The Significance of C. P. Snow, 1962. London: Chatto and Windus. Also see herein, Michael Yudkins additional comments, Sir Charles Snows Rede Lecture, pp. 33-45.

unquestioned Snow dogma in my meta-analysis of the NSF SEAD White Paper report referred to further below (Zilberg 2013).4 2. The 1962 National Endowment for the Humanities Report.5 This report is elementally important for assessing the art-sci paradigm shift as it shows considerable interdisciplinary activity in the arts, sciences and humanities in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 3. See Steps to an Ecology of Networked Knowledge and Innovation: Enabling New Forms of Collaboration among Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Design, Volume 1: Synthesis Report, Volume 11: Meta-analysis, abstracts, and White Papers.6 This report is critical for media-arts engagement in art-sci, specifically in the US in terms of the STEM to STEAM educational policy debate. Globaly however, the SEAD NSF White Papers are a vital resource for gaining a sense of activities underway in the art-sci field today. In my view the strongest paper there, one which should set the foundation for future art-sci practices by media-artists is the paper by Robert Root-Bernstein,namelyThe Importance of Early and Persistent Arts and Crafts Education for Future Scientists and Engineers.7 Its important lies in demonstrating the creative and analytic relevance of the persistent practice of the arts by scientists as will be commented upon in the final version of this conference paper. The Second Point My second point is to emphasize further the elemental importance of the Root-Bernstein SEAD White Paper.8 At the same time, my hope is to have drawn the audiences attention to the YASMIN list serve where for instance this paper is under discussion this week.9 Towards potential collaborations and outcomes of this session, by noting this context, I hope to expand the audience for this discussion and bring any potential points in this session and in the break out groups into alignment with the critical issues and points made by RootBernstein available on-line. In addition, I seek to introduce the importance and potential of engaging media artists in one of the most personally interesting art-sci interaction spheres, that is, in the conjunction of dance, music and science education, thus the third point below. The Third Point
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Jonathan Zilberg, Art and Science: A SEAD White Paper Working Group Meta-Analysis

Science and Culture, Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Winter 1965. In particular, see Gyorgy Kepes, The Visual Arts and the Sciences: A Proposal for Collaboration, pp. 17134.
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Prepared by Roger Malina, Carol Storhecker, Carol LaFayette, and Amy Ione on behalf of the SEAD Network White Papers Steering Group and 200 White Paper Contributors.. See http://seadnetwork.wordpress.com/draft-overview-of-a-report-on-the-sead-white-papers/ 7 Robert Root-Bernstein, See: http://seadnetwork.wordpress.com/white-paper-abstracts/final-white-papers/theimportance-of-early-and-persistent-arts-and-crafts-education-for-future-scientists-and-engineers/
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http://yasminlist.blogspot.com/

My personal interest is in the potential use of media arts is for teaching biochemistry to the widest possible audience through multi-media embodied learning practices. The full explanation of this hypothetical project is given in my collaborative SEAD White Paper with Kitto, Kostis, Long and Trenshaw (2013).10 In this context of the REVIEW conference at Riga, I had hoped to meet media artists and museum science educators potentially interested in engaging the proposal for The Dance of Life which was designed to teach a complex biochemical process across the disciplines and as a form of educational reform and outreach. Should anyone be potentially interested, please contact me directly. Conclusion In conclusion, the three points I have made here are: 1. Historical, 2. Developmental and 3. Practical. They are historical in that first I urge all those interested in media-arts and the art-sci paradigm shift to return to C. P. Snows original text with a more critical perspective than systemically exists. I extend this applied critique by drawing to this audiences attention three critical documents for appreciating the development of the art-sci nexus since the 1950s. I have drawn attention to the practical and analytic potentials at hand as given in the RootBernstein SEAD paper in discussion this week on Yasmin. The purpose of introducing the Yasmin list serve in this way is to emphasize the evolving interactive potential of using social and electronic media to discuss and drive potential future collaborations, specifically for European environments. Such forums allow for the outcomes of sessions such as this one in this conference to be productively shared with the emerging larger art-sci community towards the open-ended engagement of those working with and in media-arts. To conclude I would like to draw this sessions attention to particular to the use of dance in science education.11 In that context, I do so towards noting that my own proposed Dance of Life project prepared as an NSF SEAD White Paper was specifically designed as a proposal towards collaborating with media-artists interested in digital image environments involving music, dance and embodiment in science education and experimental museum exhibition. Lastly, I emphasize that my intention is in no way to diminish the importance of the contribution of C. P. Snow and its subsequent inspirational effect on the UK Sciart program for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary practices in the art-sci field. My goal is simply to encourage a more historically informed perspective on the issue of Two Cultures and by
10

See Jonathan Zilberg, Barrie Kitto, Helen-Nicole Kostis, Linda Long and Kathryn Trenshaw. Originally titled The Dance of Life: A Biochemistry Learning Machine it was subsequently published on line in modified form at: http://seadnetwork.wordpress.com/white-paper-abstracts/final-white-papers/can-art-advance-science-ahypothetical-sead-experiment/. 11 See the National dance Education Organization report, Evidence: A Report on the Impact of Dance on Learning at http://malina.diatrope.com/2013/09/29/evidence-a-report-on-the-impact-of-dance-on-learning/

doing so to enhance both the potential art-sci practices by media artists and the analysis of such work by media art critics.