BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Making sense of art and science - Charlotte Sleigh (University of 
 Kent)
DTSTART:20180118T153000Z
DTEND:20180118T170000Z
UID:TALK98515@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Agnes Bolinska
DESCRIPTION:Historian of science Charlotte Sleigh has been working with sc
 ience-artists since 2013\, and in this talk she presents her reflections o
 n hoped-for and actual relations between the two disciplines. A brief hist
 ory of the field of A&S (art and science) will highlight the different pur
 poses that art-science hybrids have fulfilled in different contexts\, with
  particular emphasis on the past twenty years in the UK. Key concepts that
  have been marshalled to mediate between the two fields are subjected to c
 ritical analysis.\n\nA second part of the talk draws on Charlotte's partic
 ular experience in two A&S projects of her own: _Chain Reaction!_ (2013) a
 nd _Biological Hermeneutics_ (2017). In it\, she reflects on some of the d
 ifficult and even embarrassing realities involved\, drawing on Shapin's no
 tion of 'lowering the tone' to help highlight some of the political tensio
 ns between art and science. Institutionalisation\, money and space emerge 
 amongst the categories in urgent need of more honest appraisal. Finally\, 
 related questions of research and critique are raised. There is a failure 
 on the part of many scientists (just as there is amongst the general publi
 c) to understand and hence respect the research and critical practice that
  underpins contemporary art practice. What appears in galleries and elsewh
 ere is the top tenth of the iceberg\; research and critical practice are t
 he nine-tenths that lie beneath. A&S collaborations may be improved\, Slei
 gh argues\, by an improved communication of this little-appreciated featur
 e of contemporary art. Additionally she suggests that contemporary artists
  (as well as scientists) may have their research enhanced through an engag
 ement with STS\, which may be considered as the 'out-sourced' critical pra
 ctice element of science.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR