The Intersections of Science, Creativity, and Infrastructure in Remote Settings

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

Abstract

Many critical scientific discoveries come from long-term fieldwork conducted in remote settings adverse to humans ranging from the icy poles to equatorial rainforests, from volcanic summits to the ocean floor, from deep caverns to the ISS, and with the help of rovers and probes, to other planets within our solar system and beyond to interstellar space. Despite the importance of these locations to scientific knowledge production, a surprisingly small amount of research, particularly in situ fieldwork, has been devoted to how science actually functions in remote settings. Through interviews with scientists and support personnel who work in remote locations along with two-and-a-half months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a polar research station, this research explores the intersections of science, creative work, and infrastructure in remote settings with an emphasis on the crucial role of creativity—both practical and aesthetic—to scientific knowledge production in these locations. Of particular interest: (1) what material, technical, and social infrastructures best promote scientific knowledge production and creative work in remote settings; (2) how these infrastructures enable and constrain scientific and creative work; (3) how individuals may utilize creative work to push back against atypical infrastructures and domesticate an otherwise strictly utilitarian environment; and (4) how personnel innovate and “make-do” when resources are scarce. A nuanced understanding of the contributions creative work makes to scientific knowledge production in remote environments may not only expand the notion of STEM but also inform the creation of efficient, sustainable, and successful infrastructures for settings beyond our planet.

Author

• Luke Bohanon, UCLA