Post on 03-Jan-2016
Creative Futures 2004
Introduction by Tom ShakespeareUniversity of Newcastle
www.peals.ncl.ac.uk
Where can we find creativity?
• “Knowledge economy” – demands creativity and innovation in all sectors
• Danger of “two cultures” – science denigrated, culturally marginalised
• Areas of overlap e.g. creative industries: digital, games etce.g. psychology: minds and brains
• Meeting point of art and science offers richest opportunities?
• Creativity is a potential for all, not the privilege of a few
Science and art parallels
• Genius – prickly, obsessive, difficult• Hard work – tedious, technical• Asking fundamental questions – why, how,
what• Peer community sets criteria, ascribes
value• Public may not understand or appreciate• Need to open up to wider scrutiny and
involvement
Prof. Lewis Wolpert distinguishes science and art
• One correct answer• Science is collective
and objective• No room for feelings• Genius only speeds
up discovery• “Art has contributed
virtually nothing to science”
• No correct answer• Art is individualist and
subjective• Personal viewpoints• Genius is central to
achievement• Can be influenced by
science
BUT
“Most of the leaps forward in science are profoundly creative”
Professor David Eastwood (AHRB CEO)
• Identifying new problems• Seeing things in a new way• Making connections• Using metaphors and symbols• Thinking out of the box• Breaking the rules• Taking risks• Inspiration
“I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gambolling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly to the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by repeated vision of this kind, could not distinguish larger structures, of manifold conformation; long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snakelike motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lighting I awoke... Let us learn to dream…”
FriedrichAugustKekule (1829-1896)discovers the atomic structure of Benzene in 1865
Sci-art initiatives
• New research questions• Artists have specific expertise and knowledge• Raising deeper questions – ethics, society• Symbols, models and representations• New audiences for science, new awareness of
value of science• More equal relationship between expert and lay
person• Good for art and good for science – connects to
wider public
Memory and Forgetting (2003)
• Four artists and four scientists exploring colour memory; childhood amnesia; autobiographical memory; dementia
• Research, production, touring exhibition, workshops and talks
• PEALS, NPS, Hatton Gallery
• Funded by Wellcome Trust and Arts Council
Critical debate
• Need to discuss quality – in art as well as science
• Encouragement needs to be followed by assessment and feedback
• Does it succeed? Is it good? Does it communicate? Is it true? Is it important?
• Relies on having a community in dialogue• Openness and honesty, not self-indulgence and
elitism• Both science and art are part of wider society
Final thought…
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Pablo Picasso