introduction to scientific experimental methods for artists: how science and art can intersect by...

8/10/2019 Introduction to Scientific Experimental Methods for Artists: How Science and Art Can Intersect by Rick Doble

1/5

Introduction to Scientific ExperimentalMethods for Artists:

How Science and Art Can IntersectFirst printed in 2011 atHASTAC

(Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory)

!T"# This is the $irst o$ a continuing series o$ articles about art, science and e%perimentation by me, &ic' oble, the author

o$ and photographer $or the boo' Experimental Digital Photography

Science and art o$ten in*ol*e a similar point o$ *ie+ "%perimenting is one o$ those areas"ach discipline can learn $rom the other

SCIENCE AND EXPEIMEN!A!I"N

n -lato.s ialogues, Socrates is as'ed# /How will you look for it, Socrates, when you do notknow at all what it is? How will you aim to search for something you do not know at all? If youshould meet with it, how will you know that this is the thing that you did not know? / AndSocrates agrees +ith the uestioner

hile -lato.s logic is impeccable, his argument is $la+ed Scientists and artists do disco*erthings that they did not 'no+ !$ten using intuition and not logic, e%periments ha*e shed lighton the un'no+n and brought +hat +as $ormerly unclear +ithin the grasp o$ human'no+ledge

The intuitie mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful serant!"e hae created a society that honors the serant and has forgotten the gift!

Albert "instein

ust a $e+ years a$ter -lato +rote the ialogues, the 3ree' "ratosthenes per$ormed one o$the$irst e%perimentsin +hich he sho+ed the "arth +as a globe and calculated thecircum$erence +ithin 200 miles o$ today.s measurements And starting +ith 3alileo, +ho manybelie*e pioneered the modern methods o$ e%perimenting, much o$ the modern +orld has beenconstructed due to e%perimentshile e%perimenting is o$ten thought o$ as primarily a logical scienti$ic tool, it is $reuently alltoo human 44 e*en in the +orld o$ science 5y de$inition e%perimentation e%plores areas thatha*e not been e%plored hile there are some guideposts, these can o$ten be de$ined only inthe broadest terms n the end, accident $reuently plays a ma6or role in scienti$ic

e%perimentation And in the end it o$ten ta'es intuition and an open mind to understand thenature o$ an une%pected result 44 not unli'e the intuiti*e mind o$ an artist

&ic' oble Introduction to Scientific Experimental #ethods for $rtists% How Science and $rt &an Intersect -age 1 o$ 7
http://www.hastac.org/blogs/rickdoble/2011/08/10/introduction-scientific-experimental-methods-artists-how-science-and-art-http://www.hastac.org/blogs/rickdoble/2011/08/10/introduction-scientific-experimental-methods-artists-how-science-and-art-http://www.hastac.org/blogs/rickdoble/2011/08/10/introduction-scientific-experimental-methods-artists-how-science-and-art-http://www.youaskandy.com/questions-answers/29-article-series-1960/13889-how-did-eratosthenes-measure-the-earths-circumference.htmlhttp://www.youaskandy.com/questions-answers/29-article-series-1960/13889-how-did-eratosthenes-measure-the-earths-circumference.htmlhttp://www.hastac.org/blogs/rickdoble/2011/08/10/introduction-scientific-experimental-methods-artists-how-science-and-art-


2/5

It was 'uite the most incredi(le eent that has eer happened to me in my life! Itwas almost as incredi(le as if you fired a )*+inch shell at a piece of tissue paperand it came (ack and hit you! n consideration, I reali-ed that this scattering(ackward must (e the result of a single collision, and when I made calculations Isaw that it was impossi(le to get anything of that order of magnitude unless youtook a system in which the greater part of the mass of the atom was concentrated

in a minute nucleus! It was then that I had the idea of an atom with a minutemassie center, carrying a charge!"rnest &uther$ord (commentingon hise%perimentthat resulted in disco*ering thebasic structure o$ the atom)

As any scientist can e%plain, e%perimenting is an art Some o$ the greatest $indings ha*ecome about because o$ a cle*er e%periment that re*ealed a signi$icant result such as&uther$ord.s $amous e%periment mentioned abo*e And although e*ery ne+ e%periment +illbe di$$erent, there are lessons to be learned $rom past e%perimentation

A! AND !HE SCIEN!I#IC ME!H"D "# EXPEIMEN!IN$

belie*e contemporary art can learn $rom science and incorporate some scienti$ic methodsinto its o+n uest $or e%ploration hile art and science are uite di$$erent, e%perimentationhas been central to ma6or art mo*ements in the 20th century and today is a ma6or trend +ithdigital art and photography

$ll the mem(ers of the .$(stract Expressionist/ group were experimental in theirapproach! The a(sence of preconceied outcomes was a cele(rated feature of

$(stract Expressionism!

#ark 0othko 1)2345 wrote thatI think of my pictures as dramas!!! 6either the action nor the actors can (eanticipated, or descri(ed in adance! They (egin as an unknown adenture in anunknown space!!! Ideas and plans that existed in the mind at the start were simplythe doorway through which one left the world in which they occur!

3alenson, a*id The 7ife &ycles of #odern $rtists!ational 5ureau o$"conomic &esearch, 8ni*ersity o$ Chicago, 2002

hile the blunt $orce e%perimental method o$ trial and error is the o$ten used by artists, thereare structural approaches that may ma'e e%periments more producti*e ith the nternetthere is no+ a +ealth o$ in$ormation about *arious scienti$ic e%periments o$ the past andartists should borro+ ideas that +ill $urther their artistic e$$orts!T"# "%perimentation in the arts is not limited to *isual arts -lays, poetry, no*els, music,short stories, dance etc all lend themsel*es to e%perimentation

&ic' oble Introduction to Scientific Experimental #ethods for $rtists% How Science and $rt &an Intersect -age 2 o$ 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger-Marsden_experimenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_modelhttp://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20061115_LEONHARDT/Life_Cycles_of_Modern_Artists_text.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experimentshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger-Marsden_experimenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_modelhttp://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20061115_LEONHARDT/Life_Cycles_of_Modern_Artists_text.pdfhttp://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20061115_LEONHARDT/Life_Cycles_of_Modern_Artists_text.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_experiments


3/5

%HEE SCIENCE AND A! D" N"! IN!ESEC!

hile ideas and methods $rom science can be uite use$ul to the artist, there are limits Ascienti$ic disco*ery must meet the test o$ the scienti$ic method, meaning that the same resultsmust occur +hen the disco*ery is tested by independent scientists, ie, the results must berepeatable

Ho+e*er, $or the artist, a good photograph is a good photograph, a good painting a goodpainting 44 i$ it +or's, it +or's othing $urther is needed The only point in going $urther+ould be to e%plore the possibilities o$ a ne+ly disco*ered e%perimental techniue that mightproduce a series o$ interesting photographs or paintings

$ENEA& S!EPS #" EXPEIMEN!A!I"N: $uidelines for artists

Step 91# Ha*e a general idea about +hat you are a$ter$ your ideas are too general, you +ill ha*e no guidance: on the other hand, i$ your ideas aretoo speci$ic, you might miss promising possibilities that don.t $it +ith your e%pectations

Step 92# o some initial testsetermine +hether this a*enue o$ e%ploration can yield promising results 44 in my case it +asthe Ferris heel pictures that sho+ed me the possibilities and also the range o$ e$$ects

&ic' oble Introduction to Scientific Experimental #ethods for $rtists% How Science and $rt &an Intersect -age ; o$ 7


4/5

n one o$ my initial e%plorations to test my general ideas about motion and digitalphotography, used the mo*ement o$ a Ferris heel combined +ith camera mo*ement along+ith the e$$ect o$ bright lights against a blac' night s'y As a result +as able to create a*ariety o$ interesting e%perimental photographs +hich sho+ed me that +ould be able tocapture a +ide range o$ motion e$$ects +ith digital photography and that it +as an a*enue+orth e%ploring n this series o$ pictures the top le$t $rame is a realistic picture o$ a Ferris

heel at night and the other $i*e +ere created +ith motion e$$ectsStep 9;# e$ine the 'ey *ariableshat are the *ariables that you +ant to e%plore and +or' +ith

introduction to scientific experimental methods for artists: how science and art can intersect by...

Documents