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Visions and Imagination: Advanced ICT in Art and Science Symposium Report

Report by Gordana Novakovic

Background of the Event

The history of computer art/media art already covers a period of almost half a century, so it is clear that the use of ICT in art practice has a long tradition. However, although the field of art and science applies ICT in a novel, challenging and often controversial manner, it has never received the attention than many feel it deserves in this context. ICT is not only a major facilitator and catalyst in the process of amalgamating art with science; it is also capable of linking the two fields in a truly exploratory way. In addition, many contemporary art and science projects use ICT methodologies in ways similar to those used in the latest scientific and technological research.

As the original proposal noted:

‘The symposium is intended to establish and define a new interface between the different stakeholders engaged in the further development of art and science through the use of advanced ICT. It will be the first time the various members of this new community have been brought together, and one of the key drivers for the symposium is the identification and development of the new research themes that will support and shape this development [...] Of course, the background against which the symposium is set is the field of art and science, which is itself rich in unresolved research questions. For example, its status within both of the source disciplines continues to be questioned. Is this because there are some real problems in the hybridisation of art with science and technology? If so, what is the nature and origin of the problems? Does it lie in art, or in science, or in the space between them? Similar questions have been asked before, by artists, scientists, critics, funding bodies, and others, but satisfactory answers do not seem to have appeared.

We believe this is because the questions have been posed from particular points of view, often very different from the positions from which the proposed answers come. It would be unrealistic to expect a brief symposium such as this to address all of these issues, let alone to resolve them; however, we believe that by narrowing the focus to the consideration of work at the confluence of art, science, and advanced ICT, it may be possible for the communities involved to identify appropriate evaluative criteria that may guide research, theory, production, exhibition, and criticism.'

Read the report...