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Summary
Summary
In the 21st century, some of the most dynamic works of art are now being produced not in the studio but in the laboratory, where artists probe cultural, philosophical and social questions connected with cutting-edge scientific and technological research. Their work ranges across disciplines - microbiology, the physical sciences, information technologies, human biology and living systems, kinetics and robotics - taking in everything from eugenics and climate change to virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
Art + Science Now provides a dazzling overview of this new strand of contemporary art, showcasing the best international work produced since 2000. Featuring around 250 artists from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the US, Japan, Australia and elsewhere, it presents a broad range of fascinating projects, from body art to bioengineering, from music, dance and computer-controlled video performances to large-scale visual and sound installations, all of which challenge our assumptions about our relations with science, technology and the world around us.
Stephen Wilson, a leading authority in the field, neatly summarizes the latest scientific research for the lay reader, and supplements his text with a reading list and extensive online resources, highlighting the museums, festivals, research centres and educational programmes that support this new work.
Presenting a comprehensive guide to contemporary art inspired or driven by scientific and technological innovation, Art + Science Now points to intriguing new directions for the visual arts and traces a key strand in 21st-century aesthetics.
Author Notes
Stephen Wilson (1945 - 2011) was Professor of Conceptual and Information Arts, at San Francisco State University. He was co editor of Leonardo , the international journal of art and science.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wilson (Information Arts), Professor of Conceptual and Information Arts at San Francisco University, presents a fascinating collection of art involving molecular and macro-biology, physical sciences (pure and applied), kinetics, robotics, processing-and-sorting algorithms, and other scientific fields in ways that "confront the problem of definitional boundaries head-on." Though works sometimes "do not look like either art or science," they all involve a creative celebration or critique of science; some artists even invent "totally new technologies" out of their own labs. With color photographs of works from more than 200 artists world-wide, accompanied by brief explanations and chapter introductions, this is a volume that provokes much thought with a minimum of text, by turns mind-expanding (like Ken Rinaldo's Augmented Fish Reality, based on research into fish intelligence), fun (a virtual reality dance floor from Josephine Anstey, Dave Pape and Dan Neveu), provocative (Wim Delvoye's working robotic recreation of the human digestive system), and educational (like projects involving atomic force microscopy, functional MRI, and galvanic skin response). As Wilson points out, "[m]uch of the experimental work described in this book has not yet been assimilated into mainstream institutions," making this an excellent introduction to the art world's growing class of cutting-edge scientific commentators. (Apr.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Review
This cross-disciplinary survey of contemporary art focuses on current artists who have engaged scientific and technological research at some point in the creation of visual art. Wilson (conceptual and information arts, San Francisco State) brings together diverse artists from around the world who are using (co-opting?) research in fields such as biology, ecology, medical research, physics, geology, robotics, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, information visualization, and body sensing computer interfaces (picture a work of art that alters its form based on the emotional state of the viewer). The author has helped to codify an important and growing subset of contemporary art, that which bridges modern science and technology. Each of the nearly 250 entries includes a full-color image and a lucid summation of the technology employed (no easy task). The survey lacks biographical data about the artists but does include a bibliography and full listing of online resources. Verdict A very informative resource that will be most appreciated by students and faculty of academic institutions.-Kraig Binkowski, Yale Ctr. for British Art, New Haven, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.