Connection between art and science fostered

Posted: Tuesday Jul 16, 2024

Art and science rarely intertwine, but a "speed date" in Dunedin between artists and scientists sparked a magical collaboration.

Connection between art and science fostered | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)

Curated by Pam McKinlay and Katharine Allard, the collaborative art and science exhibition "Memory and Mind" is taking place at the Dunedin Community Art Gallery over the next week.

The exhibit is a part of the Art and Science Project 2024, incorporating different artworks across the broad topic of mind and memory.

"Our minds are created by our memories and our memories are created by the earth around us," Mrs McKinlay said.

She explained our memories were dependent on our senses.

"We see things differently to a bee and we experience things differently to a whale," she said.

"All of these creatures around us are creating our memories in our minds."

In preparation for the project, a dozen artists and a dozen scientists were introduced to each other.

"We kind of speed date them and magically somehow people form into groups and peers and they go away and they make these amazing works," she said.

For Mrs McKinlay, it was the "interconnectedness" of art and science that fascinated her the most.

"There are all these different scientists who are amazing experts in all these different areas, and we get to stand at the middle of them and kind of draw these threads together in new and sometimes unusual ways.

"Because often, people don’t really see how those two subjects can intertwine."

On Thursday, Mrs McKinlay would be launching her book Flows Like Water as a part of the exhibit.

"It’s 10 years in the making in terms of writing, two years in the making in terms of putting it together, six months of bookbinding — it’s a really beautiful object and I’m super proud of it."

One of her pieces displayed in the exhibit was a lightbox artwork A River Runs Through Me, depicting a structure of neuron cells which looked similar to a river system.

Many artists contributed to the exhibit, exploring the various connections between people and the earth.

Most of the spots for the exhibit’s workshops were sold out, but there was still plenty of space for people to attend the panel discussion, What is Art Science?

Panel guests included artists and academics Dr Bridie Lonie, Dr Jenny Rock, Louise Beer and Jessie James Pickery.

Mrs McKinlay highly recommended the panel to the Dunedin public, suggesting there was much more to learn behind the surface of the artworks.

"You can engage with everything as just a beautiful picture or a beautiful piece of work, but it’s the conversations you have around these things to get to know the stories underneath ... that are key to this exhibition."

The exhibit is open to the public until Saturday, July 20.