Art @ The Science - AGU | Leonardo/ISAST

Art @ The Science - AGU

By Art at the Science

Art @ the Science: A Model of Antidisciplinarity

An invitation to a new provocative way of engaging media and art to accompany and enrich science

What it is: 

Art @ the Science is a model for engaging creatives through scientific conferences and for facilitating the convergence of art and science, a social media campaign by creatives posting their works related and in response to the science at the conference. It creates the space, through "living documents," for exchange between the creatives and the scientists and weaves connections along the way. The creatives post their works on social media and the conversation that they inspire becomes an experimental publication on the Leonardo/ISAST PubPub channel.

How to be involved:

  1. We invite artists and creatives both at the conference and in the periphery to experience the science presented at the conference and to gain inspiration for new works or recall related works they have already created. Artists can gain inspiration directly from conference materials or via the social media posts and interaction connected to it. Two primary social platforms will be utilized; please include the following hashtags and, if you have space, tag the following accounts who are organizing this campaign (see below for example posts).
        - Twitter: @theAGU@CPNAS@LeonardoISAST#AGU20, #ArtAtScience, #FlourishingSalons
        - Instagram: @LeonardoISAST, @CPNAS; #AGU20, #ArtAtScience, #FlourishingSalons

  2. The works inspired by the conference will be shared via the same social media channels and tags to stimulate new areas and contexts of conversation between the scientists and the creators.

  3. The science, work, and exchange will be linked and made into a ‘living exhibit’ on Leonardo's PubPub that is easily accessible, highly interactive, and lives beyond the conference.

When:

Three phases:

  1. Pre-conference: 25 November – 1 December. Creatives explore the AGU scientific program and begin posting to social media to seed conversations and exchanges
  2. Conference: 1–17 December.
    • Creatives continue posting to social media, scientists explore those posts, and conversations continue
    • Encourage two "daily posting periods" to occur from 12–1 PM EST and 10–11 PM EST (Find your time zone)
    • Curators will choose daily selections to highlight on the Leonardo PubPub page
  3. Post-conference: Conversations are made into a living exhibit on PubPub

Themes

  • Integrate the arts and sciences
  • Connect science and society
  • Catalyze new ways of thinking
  • Become interdisciplinary

Want to learn more?

If you are a creator hoping to contribute works, a scientist hoping to inspire, or anyone in between interested to create more spacious conversations, please contact any of the following individuals to learn more:

  • Ryan McGranaghan (ryan.mcgranaghan@gmail.com) (Flourishing Salons)
  • Danielle Siembieda (danielle@leonardo.info) (Leonardo)
  • Alana Quinn (AQuinn@nas.edu) (Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences)

Credits

Art @ the Science was designed for the Fall American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting, but is a conceptualization applicable to and reusable for any scientific or engineering conference. The model was designed by a coalition of organizations including: 

 

Sample Tweets

At #AGU20, @xyz shared her research about plate tectonics. I recently created a print about Mount Tambora’s 1815 eruption, the resulting “Year Without a Summer,” and its impact on society— Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the invention of the bike. #FlourishingSalons #ArtatScience

Inspired by @xyz's presentation on climate change at #AGU20 to share my short documentary that explores how different perceptions of scale change human behavior #FlourishingSalons #ArtatScience

  • The Flourishing Salons: A new Community of Practice for plurality of thought through a new avenue for antidisciplinary interaction—a "salon" series
  • Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST)
  • Cultural Programs and the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS)