From the conference Overgaden LECTURES: 'Art + Science – Towards a Third Culture?'
24-25 October 2014
Ryszard W. Kluszczynski: 'Conversation Between Art and Science – Philosophical and Curatorial Perspectives'
Since 2011 I have – as artistic director and curator – developed the project Art&Science Meeting at the Center for Contemporary Art in Gdansk. In the scope of the program we have so far presented eight exhibitions (seven I curated myself and one co-curated by Nina Czegledy and Rona Kopeczky), as well as organized the international conference 'Towards the Third Culture. The Co-Existence of Art, Science and Technology' as well as several seminars and workshops. Among artists whose works were presented within the exhibitions I should mention Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr, Ken Feingold, Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss, Georg Kepes, Frank Malina, Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer, Stelarc, Victoria Vesna & James Gimzewski, Bill Vorn. Each exhibition is followed by a book organized around the art of a particular artist (or artists), discussing problems characteristic for their activity. The spectrum of discussed problems comprises bioart and biotech art, communication art, cyborg art, nano art, robotic art, and issues of artificial life, artificial intelligence, mixing realities, synthetic biology. In 2015 we are planning to show exhibitions of Guy BenAry, Patrick Tresset, and a historical exhibition of cybernetic and robotic art curated by Jasia Reichardt. In my talk I want to present the project as whole as well as discuss some theoretical problems related to the connections and collaborations between art and science, including a proposed typology or levels of this cooperation.
Ryszard W. Kluszczynski is a media art writer, curator as well as Professor of Cultural and Media Studies at Lodz University and at the Academy of Fine Arts, Lodz. He writes about new media arts, cyberculture, theory of media and communication, information and network society, experimental cinema, and video art. Additionally he is artistic director of the Art & Science Meeting project at Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk.
