RE/SEARCH: Art, Science, and Information Technology

NSF and NEA

Why Here and Why Now ? Why ? How ? Here Where ?

Roger F Malina

Director Observatory Marseille Provence

My Perspective, Biases• Astronomer, Physics, Instrumentation

– Director Observatoire de Marseille Provence– PI NASA Explorer Satellite, IT Testbed– Cosmology Group , Dark Energy Observatory (JDEM)

• Editor, Organiser « Art/Science/Technology »– Founder of the 2 Leonardo non profits– Executive Editor Leonardo Publications MIT PRESS since

1982

• Co-Director of Art-Science Residency Programs– Institut Mediterraneen de Recherches Avancees– Established by the CNRS and the three Universities in

Marseille.

Leonardo ISAST/OLATS :43 years, 5000 authors

Arts & New Technologies………&Sciences…..In Historical and Theoretical Perspective

Evolution of the Leonardo Knowledge Network over >40 years

cf Leyeserdorf and Salah• Maps on the basis of

the Arts & Humanities Citation Index: The journals Leonardo and Art Journal, and ‘Digital Humanities’ as a topic,”

• (Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 61(4) (2010)

787-801

TOP 10 2010 LEONARDO Author

New Criteria for New Media Jon Ippolito, Joline Blais, et al

The Shiraz Arts Festival: Western Avant-Garde Arts in 1970s Iran Robert Gluck

Architecture as Nature: A Biodigital Hypothesis Dennis Dollens

Midas: A Nanotechnological Exploration of Touch Paul Thomas

Marina Abramović's Seven Easy Pieces: Critical Documentation Strategies for Preserving Art's History Jessica Santone

An Information Sublime: Knowledge after The Postmodern Condition Robert Pepperell

From Router to Front Row: Lubricious Transfer and the Aesthetics of Telematic Performance Bob Giges, Edward C. Warburton

Why Now• Cf Goldberg and Davidsen: Future of

Learning Institutions in the Digital Age– Computers and Humanities to….– Digital Humanities to….Networked Knowledge

• Critical Mass of Art-Science Practice– Exemplars– Art-Science vs Art-Technology

• Maturity of new media field, « born digital »

• Societal Urgency: Arts as Hard Humanities

networking humanities ( from D Goldberg)

Mobilizingmobile humanities

- ResponsiveResponsible

- inter-activity

- problems and themes,

not disciplines

Institut Pytheas in Aix Marseille University

• Will bring together four « observational disciplines » – Astronomy– Ecology and Biodiversity– GeoSciences/Environmental Sciences– Oceanography

• It is really really difficult: – Data, IP, Methods, Societal Contexts, Funding Cultures

• There are good reasons why we have disciplines• Science is in-homogeneous

Why should astronomers work with ecologists ?

• 03HP Climate Change Observatory

• Installed at Observatoire de Haute Provence

• Long term monitoring of ecological drift

• Controlled experiment on reduced rain fall

• Data Base Management• H Vasselin: Artist in

Residence

Why should Astronomers work with Ecologists

• ANTARES under sea neutrino observatory

• Bioluminescence proved to be dominant source of noise in physics signal

• Underwater marine ecology observatory established using same infrastructure

• COSMOPHONE sound art project at CPPM

Why Should Astronomers work with Ecologists ?

• Detection of Vegetation in the Spectrum of Earthshine off the moon

• Measurements of total earth albedo for climate models

• Education outreach projects at Observatory drawing on public interest in astronomy and ecology

• International Year of Astronomy

• International Year of Biodiversity

Why promote art-science-technology interaction

• Creativity Arguments

• Innovation Arguments

• Cultural Embedding and Appropriation

• The Ethics of Curiosity : – The Values Problem

« Types » of Art-Science Practice

• Type I: Mutual Influence, Dual Outputs– Teams– Dual Career Scientist-Artists. Engineer-Artists

• Type II: Artistic Creativity as a domain for

scientific inquiry

• Type III: Culturally transformative

technological developments

• Type IV: Cultural Appropriation

• Type V: STEM and STEAM

Exemplar:The Sound of Trees Growing

• David Dunn (composer, sound artist)

• Jim Crutchfield ( complexity scientist)

• Artist driven recording of sounds of trees growing led to research project in the coupling of ultrasound from trees, beetles, forest fire system dynamics

Ethos of Scientific Curiositycf Bunge 2006, Morton

• Intellectual Honesty

• Integrity

• Epistemic Communism

• Organized skepticism

• Dis-interestedness

• Impersonality

• Universality

Towards an Ethics of Curiositycf Sundar Sarukkai: Science and the Ethics of Curiosity 2009

• Curiosity is embodied• Curiosity is enacted• Curiosity is cultural• Curiosity is social• Curiosity is collective

• The claimed distinction between “pure” and “applied” science is not sustainable

• In some cultures, eg some Indian traditions, doubt rather than curiosity is a dominant driver ( cf Descartes)

• “Beware of binary oppositions” !

But Curiosity is embodied: Char Davies: Ephemere

• Varela:

• All knowledge is conditioned by the structure of the knower

We underestimate how our nature impacts ontology and epistemology

• Einstein:”

• “The universe of ideas is just as independent of the nature of our experience as clothes are of the form of the human body”

• Stelarc and his “third arm”

Curiosity is enactedeg Marcel.li Antunez Rocain Zero Gravity performance

• Physicst Richard Feynman:

• “What I cannot create, I cannot understand”

• Empathy

Curiosity is SocialMarco Peljham and MakrolabBuddhist Proverb (Nishitani): “the nature of the task of the “ought’ is the other-directedness of the “is”

Curiosity is Cultural                                                 

• Saint Augustine: It was curiosity led me along the false trails before submitting to christian baptisms

• Francis Bacon: It is Charity that must motivate the knower, not curiosity

• Brandon Ballengee

Hard Humanities

• Anthropogenic impact driving global change on time scale commensurate with generations.

• Culture has always in the past adapted to changing conditions– Winners and losers

• But Culture now becomes a design problem– Eg What is a sustainable city

Caveats

• Arts and Sciences are Heterogeneous social practices

• Science and the Arts have evolving methodologies

• Multi-disciplinary continua, Institutional Contexts– Arts and Design– Arts and Humanities– Science and Technology: IT…Biology…Physical

Sciences..– Education

Caveats

• Epistemological Distinctions– Observational and Experimental Sciences– Theory and Praxis– Sensory Modalities

• It is really difficult– Metrics, Success Criteria

• Is inter-disciplinarity a discipline ?

The Basic Linear Model of Research Innovation circa 1970

Basic Research Applied Research

CommercialDevelopment

1

1 This “works” just often enough to say “it works”

Patent Services

Patent Licensing

But what about the Arts and Humanities ?

« Triple Helix of Innovation Theory » cf Gerald Barnett : 3rd Gen Innovation

Theory• Innovation theory seeks to cross

link:– Universities– Corporations– Government

• Missing Strands– Cultural Imaginary drivers

• Artists and designers as Inventors and Researchers

– Social Innovation– Philanthropy 2.0– New Locii of Innovation In Social Context

• Non Profit , Non Governmental Sector• Temporary Autonomous Zones• Learning Institutions in Digital Age

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L’IMéRA : Institut MÉditerranéen de Rechechers Avancees

• La Condition Humaine des Sciences

• The Human Condition of the Sciences

• International Residency program for scientists, engineers, artists, humanities scholars

• Bridge Physical/Social Sciences, Arts/Humanities

• Pôle Méditerranée• Pôle Arts-Sciences-

Instrumentation-Langages

IMERA• 5 year « endowment »

Ministry of Research/Educ• Network of 4 French Social

Science and Humanities

Institutes of Advanced Study• Operated by CNRS and 3 Universities in Aix Marseille• Arts-Sciences-Instrumentation-Language

– Artists in Residence, Scientists in Residence– Group Residencies Artists and Scientists. Social/Physical– 3 month, 9 month and 3 month/year for 3 years

• Overcoming asymmetries of discourse and practice

IMERA resident:Nano Scientist James Gimzewski

• Physical Intelligence (DARPA)• When do collections of atoms

begin to exhibit behaviours we interpret as intelligent.

• Philosophers, artists, nano scientists

• « Inter-facial » Intelligence• « Scale »

• Image Right: Fireworks artist Pierre Alain Hubert

IMERA resident: artist Rachel Mayeri

• « Cinéma for Primates », ..retirement home for primates…• Will work with Primatology and Neurobiology labs,

President University Ethics Committee• Human/non human cognition• Animal models for medical research• Wellcome Trust Funding through ArtsCatalyst UK

Ciro Cattuto and team (Turin)

• Modeling complex network phenomena in systems that entangle technological and social factors

• Hospitals, Schools..• Mixed team of

scientists, designer , multi media artist

• Social to Physical Sciences

HOW: Mecanisms for “Socially Robust” Science and Technology

cf Helga Nowotny and : Mode 2 Science and Technology

• Artists in Labs• Scientists and Engineers in

Studios• Town Scientists• Micro Science, Citizen’s

Science • Open sourcing of data about

your own world• Developing the ‘hard

humanities’ to change the content and direction of science and technology

• Left: Ruth West ‘Atlas in Silico’

ArtsActive Network Artists in R and D Labs Programs

• Art in Labs, Switzerland, Jill Scott

• ANAT/Synapse, • Symbiotica Australia• Dissonancias, :• Laboral, Spain• Art and Genomics: Holland• ECTOPIA; Portugal• ZERO ONE: Climate Clock• UK ITEM, ArtsCatalyst, FACT/

Blue Sky Residencies • Leonardo – • IMERA , France• TRANSGENESIS; Czech rep

• Observers: James Leach, Emmanuel Mahe (Orange), Bronac Ferran, Sammuelle Carlson

• List of patents filed by artists• Exchange of Intellectual Property

approaches• Jurying systems• Announcements• Scientists in cultural organisations ?

• www.artsactive.net

See review article by Peter Denning, September 2010 issue of American Scientist

• Fourth « domain » of science with physical, life and social sciences

• « Computing: Study of Information Processes, Natural and Artificial »

Denning’s « Principles of Computing » 2010• Computation

• Communication

• Coordination

• Recollection

• Automation

• Evaluation

• Design

• What can and cannot be computed

• Reliably moving information between places

• Effectively using many computers

• Representing, storing and retrieving information from media

• Discovering algorithms for information processes

• Predicting performance of complex systems

• Structuring software systems for

reliability

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WHEREHERE ?

• .

Science and Emerging Technologies as a Cultural Terrain• Intimate Science

• Creating intuition on mediated sensory data, Information Aesthetics,

• Designing/Interacting with simulated

systems• Making sense/meaning of dense data/

petabyte era

• Hard Humanities• Applied Humanities• High Throughput Humanities• Peoples Science, Citizen’s Science,

Micro Science• Social Innovation, Philanthropy 2.0

• Image Right: Frank Malina: Cosmos IV

Thanks for your Attention