Mirroring and Irritant Synthesis

• In Event: Shaping the Art/Science Field: A Preview of the Handbook for Art, Science & Technology Studies - I

Abstract

Artistic practices are increasingly of interest to sciences and corporations. The effect of such engagements with artists has often been to promote visions of scientific rationality or commercial innovation. However, it has not been clear how artists can use aesthetic approaches to accomplish these instrumental aims of the collaboration, or more broadly what is the potential of harnessing and making operational these practices to open up structures in order to build new worlds within them and develop alternative paths for action. Without clearer understanding, artists in these engagements are often taking on a role or performing work that was previously carried out by existing roles within corporations, NGOs or governmental agencies, such as science communication, public engagement or strategy. This paper discusses artist-designed long-term strategies to engage with different disciplinary contexts, and speculates what kinds of transformative change might result. Two case studies of ‘mirroring’ and ‘irritant synthesis’ are presented and analysed outlining how these strategies function. It argues that aesthetic strategies can highlight problems of knowledge production in scientific and technological governance without being reduced to simply a critically opposition. Calvert and Schyfter (2017) categorise adaptation of artistic approaches as being framed first as a ‘logic of accountability’ to help sciences engage with the publics and be thus more accountable to society, or as a ‘logic of innovation’ to shoehorn artistic interdisciplinarity into generating economic growth. The case studies projects are examined through the third lens of ‘logic of ontology’ that generates “something that would not have happened otherwise.” (ibid)

Authors

• Karolina Sobecka, fhnw

• Christian Nold, University College London