How do humanists, artists and scientists approach a similar subject鈥攚ater, for example鈥攖hrough their seemingly very different disciplinary lenses? This question is at the heart of a discussion that will unfold when four 黑料不打烊 faculty members from three different disciplines come together for 鈥淐reative Conversations: Water + Photography鈥� on Thursday, Nov. 2, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Watson Theater. A reception follows at Light Work.
Romita Ray
Participants are , professor of earth sciences in the (A&S); , professor of practice in the Department of Transmedia in the (VPA); , associate professor in the Department of Transmedia; and moderator , associate professor of art history and chair of the Department of Art and Music Histories in A&S.
鈥淭he goal is to bring together outstanding faculty members in the SU community whose research interests overlap, albeit in very different ways,鈥� says Ray, who created the event. 鈥淚n doing so, we will accentuate how humanistic discourse, artistic practice and scientific research are interwoven with each other.鈥�
In this instance, the overlapping interests involve acclaimed scientist Karson, who has photographed the ocean floor and co-authored the book (Cambridge University Press, 2015), and Morris and Sayler, husband and wife and founders of The Canary Project, an international arts collaborative, and co-directors of VPA鈥檚 , which develops research-based art and media focused on ecology.
Jeffrey Karson
Bringing them together in a conversation will 鈥渙pen up new ways of dialoguing about water, landscape, time, technology, photography and climate change across the humanities and sciences,鈥� Ray says.
鈥淢uch of what I bring to the discussion will be about access to very difficult places and how our images from them inform the sciences, including geology, volcanology, biology and chemistry across a wide range of spatial scales,鈥� Karson says. 鈥淭his has interesting connections to automated systems, autonomous vehicles and extraterrestrial investigations. Going to the bottom of the ocean, far beyond the depths possible with scuba gear, is not unlike traveling to outer space to visit another planet that is utterly different from anything we humans normally experience.
鈥淎ll universities highlight interests in cross-disciplinary studies that can explore the exciting areas of inquiry between the traditionally established disciplines,鈥� Karson says. 鈥淭here are many reasons why these are very difficult to develop and probably rarely achieved, but this does not diminish the value of mixing different modes of learning and perspectives on problem solving that are represented in, for example, initiatives under the umbrella of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics).
Susannah Sayler
鈥淪o many students come to SU with highly polarized views with respect to science and the humanities, and yet both of these areas are essential parts of any liberal arts education that is part of the core mission of the University.鈥�
鈥淲e are artists who have addressed global risks such as climate change and the mass extinction crisis that really can only be identified through the measurements and analysis of science,鈥� say Sayler and Morris in an email exchange. 鈥淎s such, we are keen to discuss the relationship between the arts and sciences as two distinct ways of knowing that are in fact, complementary (and necessary complements at that), not antithetical or in any way opposed.聽We like to quote Vine Deloria Jr. on this score:聽鈥業t is not only by becoming more rational that you become more conscious.鈥�
Edward Morris
鈥淎n issue like climate change must be identified with the measurements of science, but that sort of knowledge is just the beginning,鈥� they continue. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 fully understand it until we truly believe it.聽And that belief is much more difficult to attain.聽Belief requires access to emotional understanding, empathy and insight that are the province of art. We say: art makes a space for belief and belief makes a space for change.聽We want to talk about that.聽We want to talk about how art鈥檚 function is not to decorate science or to communicate it a more fun way.聽It is, in fact, another form of knowledge.聽We are not particularly interested in beauty or aesthetics divorced for this sort of intent.聽Beauty, at any rate, is culturally contingent.鈥�
While 鈥淲ater + Photography鈥� is a standalone event, Ray is considering future possibilities for pairing more scientists, artists and humanists in a 鈥淐reative Conversations鈥� series.
鈥淲ater + Photography鈥� is sponsored by A&S, the 黑料不打烊 Humanities Center, the Ren茅e Crown University Honors Program, the Department of Art and Music Histories, The Canary Lab, Light Work, the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in VPA, the Department of Earth Sciences in A&S, the Department of Geography in the Maxwell School and A&S, the Department of Multimedia Photography and Design in the Newhouse School, the Department of Science Teaching in A&S, the Department of Art Education in VPA and the Newhouse Science Communications Program.
