CONTACT 2003

Art and Science: Visions of Exploration

There is often an unconscious assumption that art and science are unrelated. This year’s CONTACT conference explored the supposition that these are not unrelated pursuits.

Art has many facets across time and cultures. Some facets parallel science, some complement, some comment. The thread of science across time is intertwined with the thread of art. Cave drawings, stone implements, renaissance painting, photography, dance, theater, architecture, film… all share with science some aspect of a drive to understand the universe, to control materials, to explain things, to communicate. At times, art is a tool with which we visualize concepts in science. Methods of science similarly provide tools to analyze or authenticate works of art. Beyond the reciprocity of functioning as tools for each other, art and science coexist as dimensions of humanity.

Since its beginnings over twenty years ago the CONTACT conference has fostered interdisciplinary inquiries into art, literature, exploration and scientific investigation. This year’s CONTACT specifically explored the role of art and science in exploration, from early voyages of discovery to our venture into space.