ART MEETS SCIENCE: REACTION

At the beginning of this assignment, just two months ago, eleven printmaking students were paired with seventeen chemistry students. We were told to create a piece of work that was inspired by the concept of “reaction”. From this prompt a multitude of ideas and conversations have occurred, and from these discussions, compositions have come to fruition. The artworks created address issues such as global warming, carcinogens, mental illness, heartbreak, and the evolution of knowledge.

What we’ve created for this project exemplifies the vital importance of collaboration and the sharing of information between separate disciplines. Therefore, it could be argued that if our goal as a society is to create a healthier and happier world for future generations, and ourselves then we must combine aspects of the creative process and the scientific method.
BFA assistant curator and project collaborator, Bailey Seeley

The grandfather of modern art, Joseph Beuys, believed that all beings are creative thinkers and that the education of the artist is the education of the entire being. To dissolve the boundaries between the arts and sciences, is to acknowledge the parallels between the creative process and the scientific method; they both search for solutions and answers to the worlds more difficult questions. Interdisciplinary collaboration has the greatest potential in not only resolving the problems, but in raising awareness to a broader audience of potential participants.
Professor of Art, Exhibition Curator, Stephanie Kolpy