Speaker
Description
Increasingly, the major themes of scientific and technological research (and even of fundamental physics, from discoveries at particle accelerators to the new gravitational and multimessenger astronomy), inspire the work of contemporary artists. The dialogue between art and science is one of the most innovative and promising frontiers of contemporary culture. Artistic interpretation and reworking of scientific content can often succeed in illuminating aspects and meanings that are 'collateral’, and not immediate for the scientists themselves, but which can be of great impact for society and other communities and audiences.
Artistic research can contribute to the construction of a new shared cultural imaginary related to the new horizons opened up by frontier research, for example, of the new vision of the Universe, which physicists and Astronomers have constructed in the last century and which has continued to transform dramatically in recent decades.
In particular, the dialogue path developed in recent years by the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) with several artists, well known in the international scene, will be described. This has focused on some discoveries (on the borderline between fundamental physics, astronomy and astrophysics) that have revolutionized, since the beginning of the last century, the way we observe the cosmos: from the discovery of cosmic rays to the discovery of gravitational waves, from astroparticle observations to the revolution in multimessenger astronomy. Some of the most significant milestones of these collaborations are the exhibition “Gravity. Imagining the Universe after Einstein” at the MAXXI in Rome, 2017, “The Rhythm of Space”, at the Museum of Graphics in Pisa in 2018, “Uncertainty. Interpreting the Present, Predicting the Future”, 2021 that involved internationally renowned artists such as Tomas Saraceno, Laurent Grasso, Liliane Liyn, Allora & Calzadilla and others.
With the same approach, the European Gravitational Observatory has developed in recent years a program of residencies and collaborations with young artists, such as Lulù Nuti, Pedro Torres, Alice Paltrinieri, Attila Faravelli, Massimo Magrini...
The inspiring idea of this path was presented during the public program of the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale 2024, while some works were presented at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi 2024 and at the Genoa Science Festival, Bergamoscienza and others...
In addition to presenting the process and outcome of these collaborative experiences, it is intended to propose a more general reflection on the method and approach deployed in the interaction between scientists and artists; to discuss how contemporary art interprets problematic nodes or major research innovations with unprecedented aesthetic imagery and the fact that these artistic researches and the parallel initiatives of contemporary art museums or 'hybrid' cultural centers are in fact experimenting with new formats of communicating science, broadening its perspective and values.
| Collaboration(s) | National Institue of Nuclear Physics (INFN) |
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