Images and illustrations — from Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketches to drawings in 18th- and 19th-century honzō gaku monographs — have long had an important scientific role. But the burgeoning “SciArt” movement is trying to move researchers’ gaze from the lab to the gallery and beyond in a bid to not just increase public engagement, but to shape research itself.
For centuries, scientific images, like those Da Vinci drawings, have been recognized for their artistic qualities, and more recently photos of space and the insect world have been just as, if not more likely to inspire feelings of wonder and awe as a painting or sculpture. But SciArt is also art directly influenced by the scientific process and its findings, and increasingly practitioners are emphasizing the value of collaboration between scientists and artists, two professions that have long been seen as distinct.
Imperial College London, for example, holds an annual competition called Dance Your PhD, while the Fundamentalz Program associated with the Japan Association of Communication for Science and Technology seeks to reconnect science, art and society by bringing together people from the two fields. At their heart, many of these SciArt projects are about harnessing the same wonder, intrigue and creativity that lies behind both art and science.
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