An afternoon of collaboration Nov. 8 at the Rhode Island School of Design revealed that the distance between the disciplines of science and art is not as far as some might think.
The Day of Science at RISD, one of nine institutions that comprise Rhode Island NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), drew about 30 participants from the consortium’s partners.
In addition to sharing RISD’s past studio-based work, the event promoted discussion of new possibilities and engaged participants in activities at RISD’s Edna Lawrence Nature Lab.
Lab Director Neal Overstrom said, “The goal was to facilitate discussion among potential new collaborators from multiple institutions, and provide colleagues with a sense of how art and design can open a window to new ways of thinking about problems and research in the sciences.”
The group activities, including how to classify a broad range of nature lab items, provoked thoughtful discussion and new approaches, and allowed for common interests to emerge. Overstrom said the process served as a catalyst to reveal how difficult it can be to set aside professional training and prior knowledge to look at objects and phenomena from multiple perspectives.
Some of the observations offered by participants included comments such as: “Science and art both use codes and visual language to understand information,” “Phenomena and our perception of it are not the same,” and “Visualization—yes, scientists are open to this, but we are wary of distortion.”
“At the end, we had a thoughtful conversation about the day’s events and shared perspectives on artistic and scientific inquiry and the meaning of concepts such as critical thinking and creativity,” Overstrom said. “A major goal at RISD is facilitating successful interdisciplinary research among artists, designers, and scientists.
Overstrom added that the ideas shared during the Day of Science would be incorporated into the design of new studio collaborations between the EPSCoR partner institutions in 2014-15.
By Amy Dunkle
Rhode Island EPSCoR is funded by the National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Award #OIA-1655221. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.