Art and Science: Similarities, Differences and Interactions

e 19941SAST INTRODUCTION ART AND SCIENCE: SIMILARITIES, DIFFERENCES AND INTERACTIONS Wile many past articles (and several special issues) of Leonardodescribe applications of new technologies to the visual arts, a far smaller number have dealt with the interaction of art and science, as this special issue does. This is not surprising, since the links between art and science are less apparent than those between art and technology; however, they are no less important, since science provides us with insight about our world and how we relate to it. This insight is based not only on scientific results or concepts but also on the way science is made. Both art and science allow us to confront or grasp reality, and it is enlightening to compare the ways in which they make it possible (see, for example, the articles in the first section of this issue). Whether the end result is a work of art or science, the act of creating has many similarities. At the same time, the differences between the two disciplines can reveal much about the nature of both. It is obviously as difficult for an artist to "step inside" the mind of a scientist as it is for a scientist to fully understand the artist. However, descriptions of the creative work of artists and scientists themselves-first-hand accounts of the thoughts and feelings that guide or accompany the work-can be illuminating to practitioners of both disciplines . Creative work can also be analyzed from a philosophical point of view or from that of neuroscience. Scientific concepts themselves can also be used to describe and aid the understanding of some aspects of art (see, for example, the articles in the second section of this issue). These concepts can also influence or inspire artists who use science as the subject matter or basis of their work (see the articles in the third section of this issue). When scientists want to describe or understand a reality that is beyond what we can see with our eyes-for example, the infinitely small, the cosmos or extremely high speeds-they cannot refer to our usual intuition, which is formed during our experience with objects on our own scale. Scientists have to acquire a new intuition, to discover or invent new concepts (which often can only be correctly expressed mathematically) or find new ways of thinking that perhaps are not specific to science but that science has brought to light [1]. New scientific concepts, in addition to their poetic appeal, have the capacity to enlarge the imagination and the artistic vocabulary of an artist. An example of such a "new" concept is that of the "wave-particle," which sometimes behaves like a traditional wave and sometimes like a traditional particle but is different from both. The subtle image this concept conveys is used to describe matter on the atomic scale. Although scientific concepts are valid subjects, it would be naive to think that their mere use as a theme or even a structure on which to base a work of art automatically insures the artistic interest of this work (in the same manner that the use of new technology does not insure that an artist will create a contemporary work of art). The aim of art is not to illustrate science any more than Cezanne's apple was intended to illustrate horticultural catalogues. An artist can also "include his experience (of science) as part of his total human experience," according to L. Alcopley [2], thereby expressing scientific culture instead of using isolated scientific concepts [3]. Alcopley does just this with the two wide brush strokes shown on the front cover of this special issue, creating a painting as clear as scientific reasoning by retaining only relevant elements. In the scientific and technological world in which we live today, it is as important to situate art with respect to science as it was to situate art with respect to religion in the Middle Ages. Indeed, the comparison of art and science can lead to a better understanding of both. LEONARDO, Vol. 27, No.3, pp. 179-180, 1994 179 Considerations similar to these led to a call for papers on the subject from L. Alcopley...