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a&s présentation omnibus. 15 aug 2003
1. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 1/39
a+s, a meeting place
aRT+sCIENCE
GIVERNY 2004
general presentation
August 11, 2003
aRT+sCIENCE c/o Guy Denis, 45, rue de la Goulette, 45, B-6860 Louftémont / Léglise , Belgium
art.and.science@wanadoo.fr
www.artandscience.fr.st.
2. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 2/39
Table of contents
GIVERNY 2004 1
Table of contents 2
I. Highlights 3
II. Executive summary 4
III. 4
IV. 6
V. 8
VI. Promo 11
VII. 13
14
IX. 16
X. 17
Appendixes 18
Appendix 1 GIVERNY 18
appendix 2 Provisionnal scientific committee as per 14 August 2003 21
appendix 3 index of names 28
appendix 4 articles of association 29
appendix 5 quotes 31
3. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 3/39
I. Highlights
Highlights:
Management team composed of motivated and experienced people with long lasting
background in arts, communication, education and public affairs
Top level people in Scientific committee
Supportive commitments from seed funding partners
Low cost option possible to deploy using existing exhibition facilities and
opportunities
Very flexible and adaptable work models
Clear mission statement with feasible targets
The time is there for large audience actions in the common fields shared by arts
and sciences
4. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 4/39
II. Executive summary
“I am certain that the time is ripe for a scientific and artistic synthesis. It has been too
long now that these fields have remained divided, but to continue on in this manner is to
deny their common goals: the search for truth and the search for new (and sometimes
better) ways of describing the world and our experiences.”
Daniel S Rizzuto, California Institute of Technology,
mail to a+s, 26/06/2003
aRT+sCIENCE, a Luxembourg based non-for-profit organisation. , develops specific meeting places for
art and science.
The principals of a+s are established within the fields of arts and communication. They bring
extensive expertise associated with comprehensive curatorial, public relations, public affairs,
pedagogical, management and international business skills. Among the strength of the three principals
is also a direct experience in web tools
In order to accomplish her vision and bringing up cognitive sciences and “cognitive” arts to a larger
audience, the association is running a website with different on line workshops and organising
different real public exhibitions, the first one being GIVERNY 2004.
A central exhibition will be dedicated to the scientific point of view and will evolve according scientific
progresses. Around this central exhibition, various artists feeling concerned by sciences will gather. As
much as possible, each exhibition will present different artists, depending the response to the calls for
“local” artists.
Historical background and environment underline that the time is ripe for bringing up the art and
science thematic to larger audiences.
About communication and promotion, the founders of a+s develops that the locker is located within
the group of cultural operators. This group is defined in a relevant way and a proprietary database is
available with more then 8000 e mail addresses for direct mail operations.
Operations are defined in details, from website to exhibitions with appropriate planning charts and
within a reasonable time line.
The budget is estimated to be 200 000 € yearly. But as the principals are used to adapt the projects
and downsize them if the fundraising is slower then expected.
III. The association T The vision
5. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 5/39
“The growth of knowledge in cognitive science has opened up new opportunities for
understanding art and addressing philosophical questions regarding the nature of aesthetic
experience. The converse is also true. The production, perception, and understanding of art
are human capacities that can shed light on the workings of the mind and brain in general.”
Mark Rollins, Associate Professor Department of Philosophy,
Washington University in St. Louis
The association
aRT+sCIENCE, a non-for-profit organisation,
develops specific meeting places for art and
science. Visual art, music, dance, sciences,
especially cognitive researches are evidenced in
their overlaps. For sure, a lot has been done by
pioneers and later by institutions since the 80’s.
But people in a+s believes that it is lot more to
do to bring these challenging items to a larger
audience. There is need for more gangways
between art and sciences, for more specific
exhibitions, and, of course, for webtools and on
line workshops.
Altough not incorporated until 2003, the concept
for a+s was conceived since years. José Polet
has been webfarming, studying a lot of artistic
applications in these fields since years. He and
Guy Denis, a Belgian galerist were discussing
about cognitive sciences. It became clear that
the two man shared a common vision about
openness and innovation in arts and they
decided to go for a common venture in a+s after
a third man showed, Johannes Dahlbäck, a
young Swedish business man, showed up. He
was willing to supply the seed funding by
supporting some logistic problems. At the
beginning of the association, the three
musketeers were mainly focused for a one shot
operation, a show in Giverny, September 2004.
Eric Carrière, a native Giverny citizen, was
substantial experience in organising events, was
the right guy in the right place to gear this
exhibition.
In the course of developing the project, it
became clear that the proposed program could
not meet all the founder’s expectations. It was
more to do. A website became a key item and
the projects became more ambitious, although
dedicated to large audiences.
The founders
The principals of a+s are established within the
fields of arts and communication. They bring
extensive expertise associated with comprehensive
curatorial, public relations, public affairs,
pedagogical, management and international
business skills. Among the strength of the three
principals is also a direct experience in webtools.
One shall also outline that the three principals
have considered their engagement and job as
voluntary. For the reason that they know how
funding artistic activities is such a problem and for
the reason that, despite these obvious funding
problems, they are so motivated to go for such a
venture.
They firmly believe that private initiative has an
increasing place to take within the artistic and
scientific scene in Europe. And they fully assume
that their initiative may look a bit dilettante to
institutional players. Their entrepreneurial profiles
push them to challenges. Not only to create value,
but also to sponsor values as creativity and
responsiveness. Their creativity, ingenuity,
competence and high level of business acumen are
evidenced by their notable accomplishments,
detailed in the appendix and organization sections.
The vision: a new image for arts and
sciences
Within 12 months of efforts and some external
private and public contribution and funding, a+s
expects to bring up a full working website, a public
real exhibition in Giverny and to have several
public exhibitions in the pipe.
By confronting sciences, especially cognitive
sciences and contemporary arts, especially visual
arts, and by evidencing some of their common
pads, the main aim of a+s is to dissipate the
miscomprehension between artist, art dealers,
critics, collector, etc… and scientists. Even a lot of
visual artists have invested themselves in new
technologies, the historical mistrust between
sciences and art is still very vivid. And it is
nurtured with a lot of clichés. For the public, the
image of the crazy, inhuman and dangerous
scientist is still competing with the irresponsible,
somehow parasite and anyhow incomprehensive
artist.
6. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 6/39
IV. The exhibitions The key concepts
The exhibitions
a+s is organising a permanent virtual exhibition with some on line workshops to elaborate several “real”
exhibitions, GIVERNY 2004 becoming the first in a row. The operations will stretch for several as shown in
the functional diagram below. A central exhibition will be dedicated to the scientific point of view and will
evolve according scientific progresses and be presented on a website as well touring in different areas.
Around this central exhibition, various artists feeling concerned by sciences will gather. As much as
possible, each exhibition will present different artists, depending the response to the calls for “local”
artists.
Scientists Artists Partners Sponsors
Definitions
(Restrictions
& freedom
Calls for
contributors
Provisional
Scientific
Committee
Moderator/curator
Standing Scientific
Committee
Workframe
Virtual
Workshop 01
Selection
Lay-out
Display
Technology EUProvisional
Artistic
Committee
Moderator/curator
Standing Artistic
Committee
Workframe
Virtual
Workshops
02/fr/engl/nl/d
etc..
Selection
Lay-out
Display
Exhibition 02
Arlon 2005
Media
Hosts
(exhibitions)
Private
Institutions
Foundations
Exhition 02
Giverny 2004
a+s process Flow-model
04 August 2003
7. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 7/39
The exhibition in Giverny
Scheduled in September 2004, “Giverny 2004” will be the first non virtual exhibition brought out by
aRT+sCIENCE. This will be a unique opportunity for a large audience to approach the links between arts
and sciences. Arts and sciences will not be considered as abstract entities, they will be illustrated by
gathering artists feeling concerned by the relations between arts and science and having them joining
scientists working precisely into artistic themes.
6 or 7 artists will have their personal shows disseminated over the village in different private places. with
one common theme, the illustration of their “scientific” dimension. Each show will be outlined by a
standardized explanation panel that will be prepared for large audience to catch the specific approach of
each artist. One central exhibition will be dedicated to the scientific point of view and outline the art of
state within scientific research.
People living in the locality of Giverny will host the different exhibitions, outside the conventional locations
for art, such as galleries, museums, etc.
The key concepts
a+s is looking for attractive contents, much more then to become another caucus place for artists and
scientists. The challenging idea is to gather significant materials and talented people to provide fascinating
information, packaged in a way closer to entertainment then to the hermetic language dedicated to the
specialists.
In no way, it is about to compete with research centers or established museums. On the contrary, a lot of
collaborations will be launched to feed the exhibitions. Meanwhile, the team in a+s will keep some
guidelines or key concept in mind to become really a valuable player bringing out something more to the
picture.
Orientation to large and global audiences
o Educational processes
o Multilanguage and international
o Accessible wordings
o 7/24 access through website
Application of up to date methods
o Open and evolutive structures
o Facilitating transversal contacts and projects
o Networking and interactivity (on line workshops)
o Looking for new temporary exhibition spaces
Production of up to date contents
o Favouring contemporary arts
o Bringing life into the specific audience (newsletter)
9. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 9/39
Do you
know
anything
about
cognitive
sciences
?
produced a considerable volume of frustrations. In the meantime, a lot of artists have been looking to
the new technologies, to the revival of Utopia and to the crucial questions posted by sciences. They
also discovered the new ways of networking collaborations, far away form the romantic idea of the
lonely, tormented artistic demiurge. It became for them also evident, that the cultural items became a
global question, far from individual anthropocentric and ego oriented questions.
Since the pioneer period started in the 80s, scientists, and
especially specialists into cognition, spend more and more efforts
to outline the specific contributions made by arts to knowledge. A
lot has been done, involving institutions and private initiative to
reinforce the links between arts and science. However, the results
conducted to some bridges between people involved in research
programs and artists. But, the visibility for larger audiences and
the large scale pedagogic process is not started yet. One can even
say that most of the concerned cultural operators are far from
knowing anything of these agendas. If to consider the players
within the visual arts, most of them are still convinced that artists
are devoted to perception and not to analysis. And how to
approach perceptions and emotion, if not on a melting (fusionnel)
instinctual base. Exactly the other way round towards cognitive
scientists. But other scientists are more moderated and believe
that perception (mainly visual) and cognition are linked in a so
called cognitive process. Georgi Stojanov, specialist in Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and active member in a+s, observes in his work that the logical sequences to
articulate a AI model is very close to artistic approaches as shown in the field of visual arts. To be
clear, that cognition or knowledge is not just existing as a pure entity in se, but that perception and
sensation participate and underlay all abstract thinking. This is a bit different then what Descartes was
suggesting and may sound as another Copernic revolution.
Since the 80 s the subject has fascinated a lot op people, within academic, scientific and artistic
bodies. ASCI, for Art and Sciences (www.asci.org), a New-York based private organisation, was
founded in that period by Cynthia Pannucci and became a leading player in gathering artists
and scientists. As stated on the website “ASCI produced its first international ArtSci
symposium on collaboration in 1998. At that time it was difficult to find scientists to
attend and even more difficult to locate those who might be collaborating with artists.
However, at ArtSci2001, ¾'s of the artist presenters shared the podium with their
collaborating scientists and/or technologists and by 2002, all presented together! That
signals a major development in the growth of the new cultural paradigm of ArtScience
practice. The Internet has played a seminal role in facilitating multi-disciplinary
collaborations”. An open multidiscipline option has been maintained in ASCI where in
France one can observe that the generic term cognitive sciences is gaining field years
after years to become the host for most of activities linking art and sciences.
Since “cognitive psychology” appeared as a specific discipline in the 50s, the term
cognition has shown pervasive properties that generated the concept “cognitivism” and
“cognitive sciences”. MITECS, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Encyclopaedia
of Cognitive Sciences (http://cognet.mit.edu/MITECS/) classifies the cognitive and brain
sciences into six domains: (1) computational intelligence (2) culture, cognition, and
evolution (3) linguistics and language (4) neuroscience (5) philosophy, and (6)
psychology.
Another typology is adopted by the French ministry for research launching a so called
“Cognitique 2000” program (http://www.recherche.gouv.fr/recherche/aci/cognib.htm ).
Some programs are oriented to social sciences and the nomenclature for related
disciplines mentions : neurosciences, psychiatry, psychology, linguistic, philosophy,
anthropology, computing, mathematic, logic, artificial intelligence and robotic.
In 2000, the call for projects named "Language and cognition" brought up 57
submissions and 20 selected. Furthermore, 10 projects were introduced on the subject
"New technologies and cognition", 10 for "Believes and cognition", and 10 for "Art and
cognition".
10. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 10/39
And 2 years later, it is estimated that in France only, 30 research teams are studying art
under view ankle of cognitive sciences. The goal, to settle a kind of syntax enabling to
describe and codify the creative processes( cfr Pierre Le Hir, in LE MONDE, 13 June 2002,
p.27)
As conclusion for this chapter, it is quite clear that the « cognitive sciences » as generic
terms are evolutive and extensive concepts and that these concepts are mobilizing a lot
of specialists, in a kind of holly grail quest. More deep analysis shall be conducted by
science historians. It is also obvious that « cognitive sciences » are cannibalising a lot of
scientific and artistic activities. Art historians will have to decode the specific relations
between these fields. Another confusing item is that there is no clear-cut line between
arts and sciences, and there are a lot of various cross border operations. From Biotech
art to multimedia and fundamental questions about representation, there is an enormous
field of disparate activities. a+s is not looking to become a classification unit for all of
these activities, neither to become a kind of arbitrage court. a+s is not focusing into
these questions, but just aiming to enlarge the concerned audiences.
11. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 11/39
VI. The audiences Promotion
“The differences we have underscored in the past regarding disciplines, jobs, styles and
cultures are actually an illusion. It is in the cross sections that we will find wisdom and
fulfilment.”
Shana Ting Lipton, Los Angeles based Arts & Style reporter
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/3kan/info.html
The audiences
As pointed, there is an enormous gap between the booming and trendy theme of
intersections between art and sciences and the poorness of the awareness within the
concerned operators, not to speak about the
larger audiences.
To consider the communications target, we
shall not forget the internal communication
within a+s. That means that all stakeholders
shall be approached by systematic
communication tools. The main groups are the
Scientific committee, the Artistic committee,
the Partners, Sponsors, contributors, and last
but not least, the people expressing their
interest.
But, of course, the mission critical item for a+s
is to win audience to the 5 main groups
identified in the joined diagram.
Artists and scientists have already demonstrate
a kind of interest for linking art and sciences,
and this even long time before the launching of
the operations. On the other hand, the specific
interest for a+s has been evident since the first steps. A key indication was that a relevant
Provisional Scientific Committee was built in a few weeks, during June 2003. Artists were, on
their side, showing up even before any call was organised. It will be more easy to “recruit”
contributors within a+s then to disseminate the a+s programs to non partners. And then the
3 most reluctant groups will be Cultural Operators, the Media and on the long term, the
Educational bodies. Since these ones are anyhow evolving in very conservative environments
and submitted to slow motion decision making, they can’t become a priority target.
However, on the long term, it is certainly crucial that programs in Art Schools and Art
History schools shall include specific courses about cognitive sciences and their impact on
arts.
So, on the long term, the really critical issue for a+s is to build up communication channels
with the cultural operators and the media. And, at the end of the day, it will probably
appears that the real key is in the hand of the Cultural Operators, since media, opinion
makers and, on the long term, the educational bodies will follow.
Cultural Operators are not an homogenous entity, far from that. Curators, gallery owners,
art critics, public institutions are often in competition and present wide scale variations in
attitude towards other players and their possible innovative inputs. In relation to sciences,
the majority of cultural operators are probably still convinced that art is somewhere
antagonist to science. For that reason, they will probably not so easy welcome initiatives
from newcomers as a+s.
Scientists
Cultural
operators
Educatio
nal
bodies
Artists
Media
a+s
12. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 12/39
However this is the challenging issue that shall be taken in priority for a+s and similar
organisations when they are in operations. Artists and scientists are de facto underexposed
and eager to gain audience and visibility. Cultural operators are constantly over solicited and
–in a certain way- it is not easy for them to distinguish the significant new trends. The more
that the processes applied by artists are more and more evident. After centuries of focusing
on object and representation, artists have moved to non representation, abstraction, para
reality, etc… still object oriented up to Marcel Duchamp proposing the object ex abrupto as a
ready made. It appears that considerations about the object became moreover vain. Then it
was the process that gain attention and it became important to evidence the construction or
phasing within art works as outlined by Joseph Beuys. Nowadays, sciences are popping up as
a key issue. To be represented, to be used in different ways, including basic techno
standards, to be associated when it comes to investigate cognition processes. Within this
context, aggravated by the plethoric production spread on a worldwide scale, it is not at all
astonishing that a bottleneck is there between artists and traditional cultural operators.
The pressure around this bottleneck brought a lot of artistic productions to look after other
exhibition channels, where more traditional places had to become more attractive by
improving the architectural package as well the offering of by services, becoming sometimes
an hybrid ensemble.
Anyhow, the cultural operators are, somewhere, in a defensive position, especially when it is
about trading contemporary art. And this hard-to-convince attitude is aggravated when
someone is coming up saying “Let’s talk about sciences”.
Promotion
So, lets face it, in promoting the a+s activities, the key target is to evangelise the cultural
operators, assuming that the contents(website and exhibitions) are relevant.
Of course, classical PR campaigns shall associate some selected specialised media to the
events, and basic material will be used to keep media informed by press campaigns.
Regarding
the cultural
operators, a+s
has built up some
database during
the preparation
phase.
This proprietary
database is web
oriented as well
visual arts
oriented and will
be used for
regular mailing
campaigns with
opt in invitation.
After some push
mails, it will end
up to construct
the mailing base for a newsletter. Considering the figures presented by the database, one
shall note the consistency for the Cultural Operators, the short term target. while there is no
item for the Educational body, the long term target. “Cognitive artists” are under
represented by the reason that the call was not posted yet in August 2003.
a+s web oriented proprietary database (e-mail adresses)
(ref: Aug 2003)
Specialised media 254
"Cognitive" artists 15
"Cognitive" scientists 1005
Cultural operators 6932
Contemporary Galerists
& other exhibitors 5636
Curators 34
Art critics 348
Varia 914
6932
Educational bodies 0
13. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 13/39
VII. Operations The website Giverny 2004
Running the exhibitions
Aside from the general organisation within a+s, specific attention and work models will be
adapted in a flexible way to each exhibition project, including Giverny 2004.
Exhibition Planning Model
Task name
Planning phase
1 Draw up Event Organisational Chart
2 Venues, dates, booking confirmations
3 Write event cost
4 Establish event notebook for Program
Curator
5 Create budget sheet
6 Create survey
7 Create exhibitor kit
8 Create Exhibitor letter, forms
9 Create registration form
10 Write event hats for event staff
11 Create materials for pre-event meeting
12 Raise sponsorship funds
13 Inform and associate local and regional
authorities + schools
Production phase
14 Create event agenda, schedules, places
15 Distribute agenda to staff
16 Call for exhibitors
17 Select exhibitors
18 Send out exhibitors kits
19 Write « Call for material » letter
20 Get entertainment for after-event party
21 Create Expo event program
22 Get photographer and cameraman
23 Get decorator
24 Arrange catered food
25 Hold pre-event meeting with all event staff
26 Make sure there is relevant staff for
security
27 Make sure there is a talkie walkie
communication system
28 Arrange general insurance
29 Arrange parking and lodge
30 Compile materials for event hand-outs
Event promotion
31 Get mailing lists
32 Create promotion material
33 Mail outs of event promotion
34 Advertising campaign (According the budget)
35 Create and distribute press releases
36 Create and distribute posters and flyers
37 Special action towards schools
38 Event call-in
Event
39 Set up workshop and check-in table
40 Collect success testimonials
41 Check entertainments/set-ups
42 Event clean-up
43 Sent back material
Post event
44 Write thank you, included to volunteer staff
45 Write event evaluation report, included expense
report
46 Press release to media
The website
Key items are, of course the 2 on-line workshops preparing virtually the contents for all
exhibitions.
14. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 14/39
VIII. Structure Organisation Key people
Structure and organisation
a+s has chosen for a flat organisational chart which fit better for mixing voluntary and
professional work. A mission critical issue is to delegate the responsibility for local
exhibitions to local associated exhibitors having de facto large room for own input.
Welcome
Home
news about a+s a+s
artists
a+s
scientists
support
a+s
contact
sponsors
liaison
offices
associated
artists
scientific
committee
press
releases
artists’
workshop
scientifics’
workshop
a+s
Graphical Site Map
Giverny
latest
news
newsletter
guidelines
moderator
partners
donorscurators
key people
who we are
boards
staff
what we do
guidelinesdownloads
pro memo
15. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 15/39
Eric
Carrière (39 yrs)
Johannes
Dahlbäck (30 yrs)
Guy
Denis (59 yrs)
Clément
Lemaire (20 yrs)
José
Polet (55 yrs)
Georgi
Stojanov (38 yrs)
Exhibition Manager
Giverny 2004
Accountancy &
administration
Artistic curator
EU negociator
IT manager
Webmaster
Project manager
Communication
Moderator
Scientific
committee
Hotel manager
Music festival manager
Businessman
Estate/financial services
Teacher for 20 years
Galerist since 1998
Student
Show arts
Consultant
Public affairs and business
University teacher
Artificial Intelligence
Skopje University
(Makedonia)
16. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 16/39
IX. Milestones Time line
“What you see is not what you get”
pol.knots, visual artist, title to an abstract painting, 2002
http://www.polknots.fr.st
Task name Assignment Start Finish Deliverables Done
Start-Up Phase 15/06/2003 02/08/2003
1 Project definition JP 16/06/2003 17/08/2003 Ok Ok
2 Call for scientists JP 17/06/2003 18/07/2003 Ok Ok
3 Graphic chart CL 30/06/2003 15/07/2003 Ok Ok
4 Search EU partners JP 20/06/2003 30/09/2003 Ok Ok
5 Articles of association JP 18/07/2003 22/07/2003 Ok Ok
6 Provisional scientific
committee (PSC)
JP 17/06/2003 18/07/2003 Ok Ok
7 Mission & workframe PSC JP 18/07/2003 18/07/2003 Ok Ok
8 Pertinent targets JP
Funding Phase
9 EU file
10 Call for sponsors
11 Establishing a budget
12 Start accountancy
13 Appropriate presentation
14 Adequate mailing list
15 Intensive funding campain
Development phase
16 Call for artists
17 Roll out website CL
18 Workshop 01 : scientists
Workshop 02 : artists
19 Make sure about quality
20 Eliminate slow or unefficient
contributors
21 Sorting channels
22 2 workshops in production
process
23 Call for partners
(media)
24 Project description by
scientific committee
PSC
25 Project description
Artistic committee
GD
17. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 17/39
26 Administrative interface on the
web
Promotion phase
27 Promotion material
28 Press releases
29 Activation Media partnerships
Production Phase
30 Appoint one curator for core scientific
exhibition
31 Lay out exhibited material
32 Exhibition 01 : Giverny 2004
33 Exhibition 02 : …
The preparation phase (i.e. data bases and documentary bases constructions are not
mentioned in this planning. And where the start-up phase is a clear cut entity, the other
milestones (Funding, development, promotion and production) will be overlapping each
other. The promotion phase has to be developed in an appropriate and extensive
communication plan.
X. The budget Sponsors
Budget a+s (12 monthes)
(as per August 2003)
Budget as shown is not a conservative one. As been said, the project runners have
anticipated things so that they could move further on with a downsized budget.
18. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 18/39
BUDGET a+s august 2003 in €
INCOMES
Fundraising EU
Sponsors
Seed money
Reg fees members
Reg fees non members
Donations
Revenues website
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENSES
Website
webdesign 13 000
tools 5 000
12 month maintenance 12 000
Staff
curators (2) 30 000
project manager 20 000
exhibition staff 30 000
Internal communication
meetings (transport+lodge+catering) 20 000
Exhibition material 40 000
Provision 20 000
TOTAL EXPENSE 190 000
Sponsors
Rally for sponsors, donators, and granters is another key issue for a+s. Real work will
start after the website can be shown as a visible reference instrument.
Appendixes
Appendix 1 GIVERNY
19. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 19/39
G i v e r n y i s 4 k m f r o m V e r n o n, Vernon is 70 km from Paris.
The event is taking place in a very symbolic
spot, close to the famous Claude Monet
gardens in Normandy (http://www.fondation-
monet.com/).
The water garden, Claude Monet
foundation
Thousands of tourists coming from all over
the world are visiting the village every year
and the cultural offering covers the gardens,
of course, and some galleries ran by
merchant-painters celebrating Monet and the
impressionist period.
Another interesting spot,is the American
Museum (http://www.maag.org/). Founded in
1992, by Daniel J. Terra, a captain of industry
and art collector, the Musée d'Art Américain
Giverny, is based on the idea to bring back
into a contemporary place works of art
produced in the Norman village of Giverny at
the turn of the last century. The Musée d'Art
Américain Giverny presents American art
history from 1750 to this day including its
multiple links with European art.
20. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 20/39
American museum:insight view
Several gardens can be visited in Giverny.
For instance, the garden by the previous
hotel Baudy. with an atelier built in 1887.
Hotel Baudy,
atelier built in 1887
Claude Monet waiting for Sylvain, the
chauffeur
For the newcomer, Giverny presents an
amazing balance between contemporary
aspirations and historical landmarks.
Claude Monet is much more then a local icon,
but aside from this global dimension, still,
local life is continuing and new generations
are insufflating new life around the historical
heritage.
There is a yearly French song festival
organized by Eric Carrière and sponsored by
the region. Eric Carrière, born in Giverny, is a
successful entrepreneur running a B&B after
having working for years abroad as a plant
engineer. Very sensitive to contemporary
developments for his born place, Eric Carrière
will be in charge for all the local logistic items
in relation to Giverny 2004 and has granted
the access to the private spots hosting the
various exhibitions
21. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 21/39
appendix 2 Provisional scientific committee as per 14 August 2003
Members of the Provisional Scientific Committee (Provisional)
Alphabetical ranking (7 July 2003)
Name Institution(s) Country
Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde Institut Jean NicodEcole
Normale Supérieure des lettres
et sciences humaines
France
Nicolas J. Bullot Institut Jean Nicod France
Eveline Golomer Laboratoire cognition et
motricité UFR STAPS
Paris 5
France
Zoï Kapoula Directeur de Recherche au
CNRS
Responsable de l'équipe
Vision Binoculaire et
Adaptations Motrices du LPPA
Collège de France
France
Dr. Norbert Krueger University of Stirling
Computational Neuroscience
Computer Vision Group
U.K. (Scotland)
Todd Lubart Université René Descartes -
Paris 5
Laboratoire Cognition et
Développement
France
Erik Myin Centre for Logic and Philosophy
of Science
Department of Philosophy
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Belgium
Jacques Ninio Centre National des
Recherches Scientifiques
Paris.
France
Pascal Nouvel Collège International de
Philosophie
Université Paris 7-Denis Diderot
France
Daniel S. Rizzuto California Institute of
Technology
Division of Biology
U.S.A.
Computer Science Institute
Cyril and Methodius University
in Skopje
Macedonia
Pablo Whaley Mayo Foundation U.S.A.
Georgi Stojanov
22. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 22/39
Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde
Membre de l’Institut Jean Nicod
Maître de conférences en philosophie analytique
Ecole Normale Supérieure des lettres et sciences humaines.
Email: sbgironde@hotmail.com
Nicolas J. Bullot
PhD student
Institute Jean Nicod,
1bis avenue Lowendal
75007 Paris, tel. 01.53.59.32.80.
Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action
Collège de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot,
75231 Paris Cedex 05,
tel. 01.44.27.16.24
Email: nicolas.bullot@college-de-france.fr
http://www.objectcognition.net/NJB/
Eveline Golomer
Laboratoire cognition et motricité UFR STAPS Paris 5
Email : golomer@ccr.jussieu.fr
Resume : Chercheuse universitaire MD PhD HDR Laboratoire Cognition et Motricité, JE 2378 UFR
STAPS, Université Paris V, René Descartes, Paris 5, 1 rue Lacretelle 75015 Paris France
Présidente fondatrice (1997) de l’Association pour la Recherche Scientifique sur la Perception et la
Motricité Artistique (A.R.S.P.M.A.).
Recherche principale dans le thème Art et Cognition: « Rotations, expression chorégraphique » ayant
bénéficiée d’un double financement : Ministère de la Recherche et Ministère de la Culture, (Action
Cognitique 2000) et associant les Neurosciences (LPPA au Collège de France et Equipe Cognition et
Motricité Université Paris 5) aux Sciences Humaines, laboratoire d’anthropologie des Sciences de
l’Education de l’Université Paris VIII .
Collaboration sur cette thématique (2002..) avec Robynne Gravenhorst UIC de Chicago, Motor Control
Laboratory (Pr Charles Walter).
Initiatrice, sur le plan national d’un suivi médical de l'entraînement des danseurs professionnels de
l’Opéra de Paris, depuis 1984, en tant qu’Attaché des Hôpitaux de Paris (Service de Physiologie et
Explorations Fonctionnelles du Sport, CHU Pitié Salpétrière).
Eveline Golomer
23. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 23/39
Zoï Kapoula
Directeur de Recherche au CNRS
Responsable de l'équipe
Vision Binoculaire et Adaptations Motrices du LPPA
Collège de France
01 44 27 16 35 ou 01 44 27 16 36.
Email .
zoi.kapoula@college-de-France.fr
Research themes:
Exploration Oculomotrice des tableaux de peinture non-réalistes plus ou moins abstraits
Exploration des tableaux figuratifs: perception de la profondeur et mémoire visuelle. Travaux en
coopération avec le laboratoire des Musées de France, Louvre. Les expériences se déroulent au
Collège de France et à lâhôpital Robert Debré (voir ci-après).
Les mouvements des deux yeux (horizontaux et verticaux) sont enregistrés avec un appareil photo-
electrique ou avec un appareil vidéo de haute vitesse (les deux méthodes sont non contraignantes
pour le sujet et disponibles ).
Bibliographie
Kapoula Z., G. Daunys, O. Herbez, M. Menu. L'exploration oculomotrice du Réveille-Matin de Fernand
Léger, TECHNE, Journal du centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France. Numéro
LA VISION DES OEUVRES, juin 2002.
Etude du substrat cortical des mouvements des yeux par la méthode de stimulation transcrânienne
magnétique (SMT).
Ce programme se déroule à l'hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou où l'équipe a installé un post
eexpérimental de pointe combinant la mesure des mouvements des deux yeux dans l'espace 3D et la
méthode SMT. Les expériences portent sur le sujet adulte sain. Les aires corticales actuellement
explorées par l'équipe sont le cortex pariétal, le cortex frontal et préfrontal.
Bibliographie.
Z. Kapoula, E. Isotalo, R. M¨ri, MP. Bucci, S. Rivaux-Péchoux. Effects of transcranial magnetic
stimulation of the posterior parietal cortex on saccades and vergence. NeuroReport, 18, 4041-4046,
2001
Développement oculomoteur binoculaire de l'enfant.
Troubles d'apprentissage, dyslexie et troubles neuro-ophtalmologiques. Les expériences se déroulent
à l'hôpital Robert Debré où l'équipe a installé un autre poste oculomoteur performant (appareil
d'enregistrement des mouvements des yeux binoculaire et bidimensionnel ). Pour des opérations sur
le terrain ce poste est transféré dans des écoles.
Bibliographie
MP. Bucci., Z. Kapoula, Q. Yang., B. Roussat , D. Bremond-Gignac. Binocular coordination of
saccades in strabismic children before and after surgery. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual
Science, 43, 4, 1040-1047, 2002.
Zoï Kapoula
24. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 24/39
Dr. Norbert Krueger
University of Stirling
Computational Neuroscience
Computer Vision Group
Stirling FK9 4LA Scotland, UK
Tel: ++44 (0) 1786 466378
Fax: ++44 (0) 1786 467641
Email : norbert@cn.stir.ac.uk http://www.cn.stir.ac.uk/~norbert
Statement : My main research interest is the integration of visual modalities (such as color, optic flow
and stereo) into an artificial vision system. Integration is necessary, since local visual information is
mostly ambiguous and vague. Stability can only be achieved by integrating across different frames,
across visual modalities and across different sensors. Integration becomes possible by making use of
regularities in the perceived data, most importantly motion and statistical interdependencies
(commonly called 'Gestalt principles').
I have been working on both of these regularities: Motion ( ps / pdf ) and Gestalt principles ( ps / pdf ).
Very much interested in biology, we are trying to approach the human visual system from a functional
point of view. My PhD ( ps / pdf ) was about object recognition and learning. I am further interested
haptic information and its combination with vision.
Integration of visual information is also a software engineering problem. We have been building a
software library MoInS (Modality Integration Software ) in which integration of visual modalities takes
place.
The relation between genetically predetermined structures and learning is discussed for the problem of
object recognition ( ps / pdf ) and representation of 3D information ( ps / pdf ).
I am also interested in face processing and was involved in the development of a face recognition
system ( ps / ps ) which is now successfully applied .
Finally, some pieces of art showing our multi modal image representations and grouping (click on
icons).
Todd Lubart
Professeur
Université René Descartes - Paris 5
Laboratoire Cognition et Développement
Email : Todd.Lubart@psycho.univ-paris5.fr
Erik Myin
Philosopher
Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science
Department of Philosophy
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~emyin/
Email : emyin@vub.ac.be
Statement : I am a philosopher working at the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science at the
'Vrije Universiteit Brussel' (VUB). My main area of interest is cognitive science oriented philosophy of
Dr Norbert Krueger
25. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 25/39
mind. This springs from a more general curiosity about the workings of the conscious mind/body, and
its role in conceptual meaning and visual awareness.
Jacques Ninio
Directeur de recherches
Centre National des Recherches Scientifiques
Paris
Email : jacques.ninio@lps.ens.fr
Pascal Nouvel
Docteur en biologie et en philosophie
Maître de Conférences - Université Paris 7-Denis Diderot
Directeur de programme au Collège International de Philosophie
Email : pascal.nouvel@noos.fr
http://www.pascalnouvel.net
Daniel S. Rizzuto
California Institute of Technology
Division of Biology, 216-76
Pasadena, CA 91125
Email: rizzuto@caltech.edu
Statement :I’m currently a postdoc with Dr Richard Andersen at Caltech. My research examines the
role of brain oscillations in motor planning, and hopes to pave the way for human neuroprosthetics that
can be used to help patients regain the function of paralyzed limbs.
Pascal Nouvel
Daniel S.
Rizzuto
26. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 26/39
My PhD in neuroscience was completed with Dr Michael Kahana at Brandeis University and was
focused on the study of human electrophysiology during working memory.
Georgi Stojanov, PhD
Computer Science Institute
Electrical Engineering Faculty
SS Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Macédoine
T: ++389 70 59 38 29
F: ++389 2 3064 262
Email: geos@etf.ukim.edu.mk
Pablo Whaley
Mayo Foundation
200 First St. SW
Rochester, MN 55905 USA
Voice: 507-266-4092
Fax: 507-266-0361
Email: pablo.whaley@mayo.edu
Resume : Born in San Francisco, CA on 12/17/74. A Bay Area native, Pablo Whaley attended the
University of California at Berkeley and graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in Pure Mathematics, and a
minor in Pre-Medicine. He then taught eighth grade algebra for three years, and went on tour as a hip-
hop musician in Denmark before returning to academia. Pablo is a prolific musician and scientist-in-
training, with a lifelong passion for non-invasive therapeutic technologies. He is now in the Biomedical
Engineering Ph.D. program at the Mayo Graduate School. His research interests are in the areas of
therapeutic ultrasound and medical imaging, respectively.
Guidelines
The following guidelines are declarative and non permanent.
Competences
The Scientific Committee of the a+s non profit organisation is in charge for proposing, organising,
implementing, developing and validating all scientific contents brought up in the projects conducted by
a+s such as the website, the exhibitions and the publications.
Language and Communication
Aside from direct communication between members of the Scientific Committee, all communications
will be conducted in English. A specific space is available on the a+s website were the members of the
Pablo Whaley
27. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 27/39
Scientific Committee can liaise, access directly to submitted documents, control the work conducted
by curators etc.
Mission
The Scientific Committee aims to responding to the a+s’ aims, in accordance with the articles of the
a+s statutes.
Means
The Scientific Committee performs its tasks with complete independence, always within the a+s'
available economic resources.
Moderator
A+s shall appoint a moderator with an appropriate scientific profile to follow up the requested
developments into the Scientific Committee
Structure
In due time, the Scientific Committee will adopt his own standing orders.
In the meantime, it will function as a college were each member is supposed to contribute individually
to a survey on all scientific matters approached within a+s.
Contact
The Scientific Committee has its actual and provisional headquarter at:
C/o Georgi Stojanov, PhD
Computer Science Institute
Electrical Engineering Faculty
SS Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Macédoine
Email: geos@etf.ukim.edu.mk
Web Site: www.artandscience.fr.st
Workspace
This space is reserved for the Scientific Committee and the authorised contributors
Please log in:
28. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 28/39
appendix 3 index of names
A
Adam Zaretsky · 33
André Breton · 31, 32
Anjan Chatterjee · 29, 30
B
Brent Whitmore · 31
C
Calder · 29
Calouste · 27
Cezanne · 29
Christophe Jacquemin · 28
Claude Monet · 14, 15
Copernic · 10
Courbet · 9
Cynthia Pannucci · 10
D
Da Vinci · 9
Daniel S. Rizzuto · 4, 17, 21
Descartes · 10
Dr. Norbert Krueger · 16, 19
E
Ede · 27
Edelman · 30
Eduardo Kac · 32, 33, 34
Edward Steichen · 34
Eric Carrière · 5, 15
Erik Myin · 16, 20
Eveline Golomer · 16, 17
F
Foucault · 30, 31
Frederic Jameson · 30
G
George Braque · 34
George Gessert · 34
Georgi Stojanov · 10, 17, 21, 23
Gerald Edelman · 30
Giotto · 29
Guy Denis · 1, 5, 24
H
Hauser · 33, 34
J
Jacques Ninio · 16, 20
Jean Blaise · 31
Jean-Paul Baquiast · 28
Jens Hauser · 33
Joe Davis · 34
Johannes Dahlbäck · 5, 25
José Polet · 5, 24
Jules Verne · 31, 32
L
Leo Zogmayer · 26, 27
Leonard Shlain · 34
Lori B. Andrews · 33
M
M-1000 · 27
Mark Rollins · 5
MINALIZA1000 · 27
N
Nicolas J. Bullot · 16, 17
O
Orlan · 28, 29
Oron Catts · 34
P
Pablo Picasso · 34
Pablo Whaley · 17, 21, 22
Pascal Nouvel · 17, 20
Paul Gauguin · 34
Pierre Changeux · 30
Plato · 9
R
Rubens · 9
Rudolf Arhneim · 8
S
Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde · 16,
17
Semir Zeki · 30
Shana Ting Lipton · 11, 31
Sian Ede · 27
Steven Pinker · 30
T
Todd Lubart · 16, 20
V
Velasquez · 31
VELAZQUEZ · 31
Vincent van Gogh · 34
Z
Zoï Kapoula · 16, 18
29. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 29/39
appendix 4 articles of association
aRT+sCIENCE association sans but
lucratif
Siège social: 33 Boulevard du Prince
Henri
L-1724 LUXEMBOURG
STATUTS
L'an deux mille trois, le quatre août,
entre
1. Guy Denis, galeriste, de nationalité
belge, demeurant 45, rue de la Goulette,
à 6860 Louftémont / Léglise , Belgique
et
2. José Polet, consultant, de nationalité
belge, demeurant 64 rue Georges
Beauvais à 80 000 Amiens, France, né le
24 mars 1948 à Koersel, Belgique
et
3. Johannes Dahlbäck, employé, de
nationalité suédoise, demeurant
a été constituée une association sans but
lucratif régie par la loi du 21 avril 1928
sur les associations et les fondations
sans but lucratif, telle qu'elle a été
modifiée par les lois des 22 février 1984
et 4 mars 1994 avec les dispositions
statutaires suivantes :
- Dénomination, but, durée, siège
Art. 1. Il est décidé de fonder une
association sans but lucratif
aRT+sCIENCE, en toutes lettres, aRT
plus sCIENCE, en abrégé a+s.
Art. 2. L'association a pour objet de
favoriser la création de liens et
d’échanges entre artistes et
scientifiques.
Art. 3. L'association est constituée pour
une durée illimitée.
Art. 4. Les fonds de l'association
proviennent de versements, de dons, de
subventions et de cotisations. Le taux
maximum des cotisations à payer par les
associés ne peut dépasser 50 € par an.
La cotisation annuelle est fixée par
l'assemblée générale sur proposition du
conseil d'administration.
Art. 5. Le siège social de l'association est
établi à Luxembourg. Il est fixé
actuellement à Luxembourg, 33
Boulevard du Prince Henri.
Il pourra, sur simple décision du conseil
d'administration, être transféré en tout
autre endroit du Grand-Duché de
Luxembourg.
Art. 6. La modification des statuts se fait
d'après les dispositions des articles 4, 8
et 9 de la loi du 21 avril 1928.
Art. 7. En cas de dissolution de
l'association, le solde de l'actif net
revient à la Croix-Rouge
Luxembourgeoise.
II. - Les membres
Art. 8. L'association est composée de
trois membres associés au moins.
Peuvent devenir membres des
personnes, des sociétés, des
associations, institutions et/ou
administrations qui oeuvrent en faveur
de la réalisation de l'objet de
l'association.
Art. 9. De nouveaux membres associés
peuvent être admis par décision de
l'assemblée générale statuant à
l'unanimité des associés présents ou
représentés.
Art. 10. L'exclusion d'un membre
associé, pour manquement grave à ses
obligations, peut être prononcée par
l'assemblée générale statuant à
l'unanimité des autres associés présents
ou représentés.
Art. 11. En cas de cessation d'activité
d'un membre associé, les ayants droits
n'ont aucun droit sur le fonds social.
III. - L'assemblée générale
Art. 12. Il est tenu obligatoirement
chaque année une assemblée générale
chargée d'approuver les comptes de
l'association et de donner décharge au
conseil d'administration. L'assemblée
générale peut être convoquée
extraordinairement lorsqu'un cinquième
des associés, le conseil d'administration
30. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 30/39
ou le président l'exigent. Les
convocations avec ordre du jour sont
adressées par trois jours francs avant la
date de l'assemblée.
Art. 13. L'assemblée générale est
présidée par le président du conseil
d'administration ou son délégué. Les
décisions de l'assemblée générale sont
prises à la simple majorité des voix,
exception faite des stipulations spéciales
des statuts et des cas précis prévus par
la loi. Tout membre n'a droit qu'à une
seule voix dans l'assemblée générale.
Les associés absents peuvent se faire
représenter par un autre associé.
IV. - Le conseil d'administration, les
commissions
Art. 14. L'association est gérée par un
conseil d'administration composée de
trois personnes au moins, élues pour un
an par l'assemblée générale avec
possibilité de réélection.
Art. 15. Le conseil d'administration a les
pouvoirs les plus étendus pour réaliser
l'objet de l'association. Il nomme et
révoque les titulaires des emplois
principaux, et détermine leur mission. Il
reçoit et arrête les comptes de
l'association, et les présente à
l'assemblée générale annuelle, qui
nomme des réviseurs. Il ordonne et
approuve les dépenses, en effectue et en
autorise le règlement. Le conseil
d'administration a, en outre, tous les
pouvoirs prévus par l'article 13 de la loi
du 21 avril 1928.
Art. 16. Le conseil d'administration élit
parmi ses membres un président, un
secrétaire général et un trésorier. Les
actes de la gestion journalière sont
signés par le président ou son délégué.
Art. 17. Le conseil d'administration peut
autoriser la création de groupes de
travail et de commissions au sein de
l'association et, pour ce faire, faire appel
à des compétences extérieures à
l’association. Chaque associé a le droit
de devenir membre d'un ou de plusieurs
groupes de travail et commissions.
V. – Dispositions générales
Art. 18. Pour tous les points non réglés
par les présents statuts, les dispositions
de la loi du 21 avril 1928 modifiée par
les lois des 22 février 1984 et 4 mars
1994 trouveront application.
31. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 31/39
appendix 5 quotes
To break up the patterns of
perception
Leo Zogmayer: "Frame", braced girder,
made of aluminum, 2003; 10 x 16 m;
Krems, Austria
“Leo Zogmayer produces "naked, icon-
less frames", i.e. open, empty pictures.
With this, he puts Kasimir Malevich's
saying to a radical extreme, who – 90
years ago - called his radical, abstract
paintings "naked, frame-less icons".
Leo Zogmayer: "My frames are a
counterpoint to the pictures that
surround us, that assail us permanently,
and that we carry with us in our heads."
Zogmayer creates paradox non-pictures
that do not patronize the onlooker, that
do not confront him/her with a ready
subject.
The irritation that his objects trigger, are
meant to break up the hackneyed
patterns of perception. No doubt, this is
a central element of all art. Whenever
such "transmitters" are placed in a public
space, i.e. outside the conventional
locations for art, such as galleries,
museums, etc., they act like acupuncture
pricks in the respective social
environment.”
In e-flux electronic newsletter, 8th
August 2003.
“SCI-ART: Science and Art – So
Different, So Similar?”
“As fields of study, science and art could
be seen as having similar goals and
aspirations, but are different in
methodology and application. The
general consensus on science and art
relations today is that they are
completely different professions and
have nothing to do with each other.
Unfortunately, when science and art are
brought together in some form of
collaboration, it has worked in a similar
manner to advertisement and art
relations: to work their differences into a
marketable niche. Scientists and
engineers often ask artists to collaborate
with them by having artists make
something "pretty" with their latest
technology or artists asks scientists to
give them materials for artwork. Hardly
ever do you see artists actually taking
part in scientific research or scientists
engaged in an arts project other than
serving as technicians. A better situation
would be where artists are invited to join
in the process of scientific research and
scientists engage in artistic projects
through workshops and lectures provided
under the circumstances based on the
project.
The ancient claim that science and art
are branches of one field is quickly
dissolving as science is being reduced to
providing factual information about
objective findings, whereas art is
perceived as a form of subjective
expression that is confined to the space
of the artist, artwork and cultural clicks.
Sian Ede, in his chapter "The Scientist’s
Mind: The Artist’s Temperament"
(Stranged and Charmed, Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation: 2000) proposes
a very generalized understanding of the
roles of scientists and artists.
Unfortunately, this view is the most
common one: "Scientist, are governed
by ‘the scientific method’ and in
investigating how the world operates
theirs is a shared search for agreement;
contemporary artist work alone, they
32. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 32/39
make things up and encourage individual or even dissenting responses. The
‘
genius’ is exceptional in science but the
license is enjoyed by contemporary
artists to give expression to their unique
individual experience suggests that any
one of them might lay claim to prodigy …
… Artists today are, unwittingly or not,
still greatly influenced by the sentiments
of Romanticism, which articulated the
role of the artist as divine messenger." It
is obvious that Ede does not see art as
anything beyond a self-proclaiming and
egotistical act of desire. In response to
his comments, perhaps it is he who still
lives in the mind-set of Romanticism.
(…)”
M-1000, pen name of artist
MINALIZA1000 in “SCI-ART: Science
and Art – So Different, So Similar?”, the
Daily NY Arts Newsletter, Wednesday,
August 6th, 2003
Art et cognition: élargir le regard
« - Il existe d'innombrables travaux
recherchant les causes épigénétiques des
comportements sociaux dits artistiques.
Sans invoquer le repoussoir de la
sociobiologie, il est généralement admis
que si ces comportements sont apparus
et ont survécu très tôt dans l'histoire
humaine, c'est qu'ils présentaient un
intérêt pour la survie des groupes
humains. Ils ont sûrement été, sous la
forme de proto-langages de gestes ou de
rythmes, à la source du développement
des activités sociales ayant provoqué la
croissance rapide du cerveau chez les
premiers hommes. Il est donc légitime
de suspecter un entrelacement complexe
entre gènes et cultures expliquant les
différentes formes de création dites de
façon trop réductionniste artistiques.
Tout ceci mérite étude. Le co-
développement gène-culture en matière
artistique doit sans doute se poursuivre
de nos jours encore, ce qui justifierait
des recherches plus approfondies et plus
ouvertes sur le rôle des arts dans les
sociétés actuelles, qu'ils soient reconnus
politiquement et économiquement, ou
qu'ils soient pour une raison ou une
autre marginalisés voire clandestins. Ces
études auraient l'intérêt, non seulement
d'éclairer le rôle des arts, mais aussi le
fonctionnement de nos sociétés. Si l'on
voulait éviter certaines déviances,
comme l'abus des hallucinogènes, ou
plutôt mieux intégrer les individus tentés
par ces déviances, il serait évidemment
utile de reconnaître divers
comportements collectifs non admis en
Occident, et d'en faire des liens possibles
entre cultures différentes.
- On constate actuellement un
développement encore marginal, mais
qui sera certainement appelé à
s'accroître, de l'art mettant en question
le corps humain à travers les
biotechnologies et les créations
numériques ou robotiques. Un exemple
certainement poussé à l'extrême de ce
type de création est offert par Orlan
http://www.mep-fr.org/orlan/ . Mais il
n'y a pas qu'elle. Les manifestations se
multiplient autour du thème du cyborg et
du body-art. Les chercheurs en
robotique, vie artificielle et images
virtuelles ne peuvent se désintéresser de
ces perspectives, où ils pourront trouver
de nouvelles applications à leurs travaux.
Le Monde a consacré, fort
opportunément, sa page 31 du 22 mars
2001 à ces mouvements. Les rédacteurs
croient pouvoir observer le passage d'«
une fascination pour l'art du vivant », au
début des années 1990, à l'inquiétude et
à la dénonciation. Ceci pourrait être une
forme de réaction à la peur de la
génétique et des technologies
numériques qu'éprouverait une partie de
la population. Il est certain que certaines
« monstruosités » recherchées surtout
dans une perspective commerciale
immédiate peuvent renforcer cette peur.
Mais dans l'ensemble, il parait inévitable,
et par ailleurs très intéressant, que se
développent des relations de ce genre
entre sciences et arts. Les étudier fera
aussi partie de la cognitique de l'art.
33. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 33/39
- A plus long terme, comme le constate
elle-même Orlan dans l'interview du
Monde, " le rôle du démiurge s'est
déplacé. Il n'appartient plus à l'artiste
mais au scientifique, qui sait créer de
l'humain ". La question est évidemment
posée. Quels types d'homme et de
société découleront des développements
de la génétique et de la robotique . Il est
sûrement opportun de commencer à y
réfléchir - sans anticiper d'ailleurs sur les
possibilités actuelles de la science - mais
il n'est pas nécessaire de le faire de
façon négative, en faisant appel à un
passé d'ailleurs douteux pour brider un
avenir qui se révélera certainement
beaucoup plus riche et divers qu'on ne
l'imagine. »
Jean-Paul Baquiast et Christophe
Jacquemin, Editorial, in Automates
Intelligents, 28 mars 2001,
http://www.admiroutes.asso.fr/larevue/2
001/9/edito.htm
Orlan, Self-Hybridations n°28,
1998, image numérique, tirage Light Jet
collé sur aluminium,
1m x 1,50 m
“Art, a window into the brain? “
By Anjan Chatterjee
“Can art tell us
anything about the
brain? Of course art
is constrained by the
limits of our nervous
system. Subsonic symphonies are
unlikely to be appreciated by any other
than bats. If art is to tell us anything
about the brain that is not already
obvious then insights from art must
somehow relate to observations in
neuroscience.
For purposes of this discussion I will
focus on vision and visual arts. On a
promising note, the agendas of visual
neuroscientists and visual artists seem to
overlap. The scientist tries to discover
constituent elements of vision,
determine how these elements are
processed in a modular fashion, and how
these modules of vision interact. The
artist tries to "see" the visual world more
acutely or at least differently than most.
When the artist tries to "see" selectively,
by emphasizing some aspects of vision
over others, the possibility exists that
this selective vision is similar to the
modules of visual processing postulated
in neuroscience.
Vision in its early stages is decomposed
into elementary features. Different parts
of the brain selectively process form,
depth, color, and movement. Some
artistic movements also selectively
emphasize these same visual features.
For example, black and white
photography usually emphasizes form
with little consideration of color or
movement. Giotto¹s frescos and
Cezanne's planar landscapes explore the
visual experience of volume and depth.
The paintings of the Venetian
Renaissance artists and the Fauves
explore the visual experience of color.
The Futurists' paintings and Calder's
mobiles explore the visual experience of
movement. Thus visual neuroscience and
art converge on the idea that our visual
experience can be decomposed into
elementary constituents and at a first
approximation seem to agree on what
these constituents might be.
While early vision decomposes our visual
world, later vision gives these
decomposed elements coherence and
meaning. A central issue in the cognitive
neuroscience of vision is the process by
which objects in the world are
recognized. I will touch on two aspects of
34. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 34/39
object recognition that are echoed in
certain artistic traditions. First, we can
usually recognize objects seen from
unusual views. Second, we recognize
individual objects as members of a
general class of objects.
The fact that we recognize objects from
unusual views suggests that the nervous
system stores representations of objects
that are not limited to a single point of
view. When we look at a chair from an
unusual angle, such as from directly
above, we are able to recognize that it is
a chair. The details of and neural
mechanisms underlying this ability are
still being worked out. However, damage
to parts of the right hemisphere impairs
this ability. The cubists explored this
very issue. Their images dealt directly
with the question of how to represent
objects without restricting them to a
single point of view.
The fact that we recognize individual
objects as members of a general class
suggests that all members of the class
share prototypic features. For example,
while individual teapots may vary, they
share a simplified form. Specific percepts
are matched to these simple forms in the
process of recognition. Damage to the
junction of the left temporal and occipital
lobes can impair this ability to recognize
individual objects as members of a
general class. For a thousand years
before the Renaissance, a primary
function of Western art was to use visual
icons to illustrate religion. This and other
uses of icons in art can be considered
the artistic counterpart of the nervous
system's use of simple visual prototypes.
These icons serve as markers for ideas
and experiences and are not direct
reflections of specific things.
I have offered a few examples where
movements in art emphasize aspects of
vision, which resemble modules of visual
processing as postulated by visual
cognitive neuroscience. These examples
suggest that it might be possible for art
to tell us something about the brain (and
for cognitive neuroscience to tell us
something about art). However, the
sceptic might point out that these
examples are hand picked, and one
might easily look for examples of artistic
movements that do not have
counterparts in cognitive neuroscience. If
art is to serve as a window into the
brain, the challenge is for art to reveal
something that we do not already know
about the brain. At the very least art
might provide a framework from which
to probe the brain in ways that might not
otherwise be considered.”
Anjan Chatterjee, Center for Cognitive
Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania
Call for "Some Stories Concerning
the Relations of the New Observer"
a panel at the 91st Annual
Conference of the College Art
Association, New York City, n
February 19-22, 2003 in
http://www.artbrain.org/events.ht
ml
We have seen many discussions about
interrelationships among culture,
consciousness, and brain development in
recent years (e.g., Semir Zeki and
Steven Pinker). In this session I wish to
link recent advances in Neurobiology,
especially the work of Pierre Changeux in
Paris as well as work of
Neurophysiologist Gerald Edelman at the
Salk Institute in San Diego to those of
the Post-Modern critic Frederic Jameson.
Edelman has provocatively proposed that
selective pressures have caused changes
in populations of synapses all over the
brain that over time have resulted in
new mental capacities. Frederic Jameson
in PostModernism has speculated that
"...we are here in the presence of a
mutation in built
space itself. We ourselves, the human
subjects who happen into this new
space, have not kept pace with that
evolution: as yet, no equivalent mutation
in the subject has followed the mutation
in the object." This statement might now
be recoded in terms of how the cultural
dimension might in turn reconfigure the
neural-synaptic organization of the brain.
That is to say that the culture, through
such mediators as pop culture and
cinema, might in fact sculpt the neurons,
neural synapses and neural networks of
the brain.
36. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 36/39
transformed into the cultural center, Le
Lieu Unique. Founded by 'the French
pope of alternative culture' Jean Blaise.
Its raison-d'être is to provide an all-
purpose locale (café/bar, gallery, lecture
space, bookstore, restaurant) where the
arts and everyday life can seamlessly co-
habitate, far from the alienating
snobbery of the Paris art scene. It's a
sort of casual open forum for diverse
ideas.
For the next couple of months, the
image of a large fluorescent green rabbit
is draped over the side of Le Lieu Unique
(known to locals in its former
nomenclature, LU). Beneath it are the
words "L'Art Biotech" (translation: bio-
art), heralding a two-month long exhibit
and a one-day symposium in the name
of a growing art-meets-science
movement.
The partly cute, partly disturbing mutant
bunny image-from Brazilian artist
Eduardo Kac's controversial GFP Bunny
project-- has come, in many ways, to be
known as the icon of this movement
called bio-art. Where Jules Verne and
André Breton hinted at collaboration
between the arts and science; bio-artists
throw it--as if it were a vial of
hydrochloric acid--in your face. In
varying degrees these global artists
(most of whom don't even come from
scientific backgrounds) use science in
different ways as a subject, medium and
canvas for their work.
The GFP Bunny (named Alba) is a
transgenic (genetically modified) animal
that expresses GFP (a fluorescent
protein) when she is exposed to a certain
type of ultraviolet light. Just an
outlandish toy for twenty-first-century
trippers who are sick of their lava lamps?
Kac seems to think not. The artist--who
is the chair of the Art & Technology
department of the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago-conceived the
project (and altered life form) in 2000, in
hopes of opening up a discourse on a
very sobering topic: the use of genetic
modification in animal research.
"Where Jules Verne and André
Breton hinted at collaboration
between the arts and science; bio-
artists throw it--as if it were a vial of
hydrochloric acid--in your face."
Universal Code: Eduardo Kac's Genesis takes a
passage out of the book of Genesis and translates it
into original language, DNA
He has said that he 'created' the
modified rabbit with the help of two
scientists in the biotechnology wing of
the National Institute of Agronomic
Research in France. It spurred a fury in
all corners: the art world, amongst
animal rights activists, and the scientific
community. It thrust Kac (who is
arguably the most famous bio-artist in
the world) and bio-art, into the
international public eye. It was all that
the creator could have hoped for. The art
world asked: 'is it art?' The animal rights
activists asked, 'how do we stop
scientific advancements from infringing
on nature?' And the scientific community
balked, 'is it science?'
There has also been some grumbling
from the science camp about
misrepresentation in this work.
According to some, that same famous
image of fluorescent Alba that adorns
the LU building in Nantes is but a
somewhat tweaked representation of the
truth. In reality, GFP can't manifest itself
through fur. So, in broad-daylight Kac's
37. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 37/39
rabbit looks pretty much normal apart
from her eyes and the inside of her ears.
Still, who can contest that the artist--
whose background, prior to his bio-art
works, was in multimedia art involving
telecommunications and online
experiences-is making the ultimate
flavor-of-the-moment modern media
statement: he's branded the GFP Bunny.
The opening of "L'Art Biotech" is a scene
of total madness. It's a Thursday night in
this college town, and hoards of people,
young and old, local and international
cram into the large lobby of LU. Straight
ahead is a bar where some hipsters
occasionally look up from their drinks to
glance at a video screen that flashes
images from LU events. Bodies also spill
over into the bookstore that features
tomes by some of the participants in the
"L'Art Biotech" show and symposium:
Body Bazaar by bioethics lawyer Lori B.
Andrews, and limited edition Alba
booklets by Kac, among others.
I follow a twentysomething couple clad
in trendy retro 80's clothing upstairs to
the galleries, where the official opening
festivities for the show are taking place.
In one of the first rooms I enter, I am
immediately beckoned by the wall
projection of a DNA sequence (of A's,
C's, G's and T's), as if to say, 'welcome
to the world of bio-art.' It's part of Kac's
"Genesis" installation. He's taken a
sentence from the biblical book of
Genesis (which is projected onto the
opposite wall), translated it into Morse
Code, converted the code into DNA base
pairs (the ACGT's) and then genetically
incorporated that into bacteria (projected
on another wall). The sentence is: "Let
man have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that moves upon
the earth."
A stylish, obviously European, thirty-
something guy with ash blond hair,
wearing a pin striped jacket and red shirt
scurries nervously past the "Genesis"
installation. His name is Jens Hauser.
He's a German reporter for the European
cultural TV channel ARTE, and the
organizer of this unprecedented group
show. One of the first things he tells me
is that he hasn't slept in three days-so
preoccupied has he been with this
massive undertaking. He sweeps me
through the crowd as we search for
Adam Zaretsky, a New York bio-artist
friend of mine who invited me to the
conference. Reporters from various
European TV stations and their
companion camera people dot the gallery
space. "Nantes is a town full of rumors
now," Hauser tells me furtively. "And not
only of green rabbits. This started weeks
before this opening." So, the choice of
Nantes and LU was not random. The
German reporter knew that a buzz could
be created in this little college town and
that LU-with its infamous reputation for
risky arts programming-was the perfect
place to for a show like "L'Art Biotech."
Hauser has been following the fledgling
bio-art 'beat' since the late 90's. His first
exposure to it was in 1999 at Ars
Electronica, an annual art + technology
festival that has been taking place in
Linz, Austria since 1979. That year's
theme was "Life Science." It was there
that he first met Eduardo Kac. "I
remember having been quite aggressive
towards Eduardo in Linz," he admits. "My
first contact with biotech art was quite
uncomfortable, as it probably is for most
people, hearing that biotechnology was
being used as an artistic medium."
Once he got past his initial reaction, he
became fascinated with the medium
working on related documentary films
and reporting on it whenever he could.
But, he was shocked to discover that
even his own progressive network ARTE
would refuse to accept his feature bio-art
proposal. So he took it upon himself to
independently accomplish a mammoth
task: amassing the major players of the
movement from all over the globe in one
place for the first time to exhibit their
work and discuss it in a companion
symposium, along with French writers,
scientists and art critics.
"My first contact with biotech art
was quite unfomfortable, as it
probably is for most people, hearing
that biotechnology was being used
as an artistic medium."
38. a+s general presentation by José Polet/August 2003 38/39
-Jens Hauser, show curator
Flower Power: In an unintentional homage to
Edward Steichen, George Gessert hybridizes irises
to his tastes
Events like Ars Electronica's "Life
Science," which Hauser describes as "the
first important impulse on the actual
movement," and the subsequent "Next
Sex" (2000) were certainly the
harbingers to "L'Art Biotech." So was the
"Paradise Now" exhibition (2000) at the
Exit Gallery in New York. All featured
various bio-artists and artists who
worked with scientific themes. But never
before have some of the true pioneers of
bio-art like Eduardo Kac, Joe Davis, Oron
Catts and George Gessert exhibited work
dealing with 'living systems,' (rather
than conceptual models) in one place.
Call it a movement-which, for all intents
and purposes, I have in this article-but
bio-art is still young and not entirely
marked by cohesiveness. There's some
evidence of collaboration within this
"community" on joint projects but not
much indication of the sort of intense
mutual reverence and creative
partnerships of George Braque and Pablo
Picasso or Vincent van Gogh and Paul
Gauguin. There is definitely
acknowledgement and respect. But a
remnant of the competitiveness of the
scientific world seems to lurk in the dark
corners of this bio-art 'movement.'
The Alphabet Versus The Goddess: The
Conflict Between Word and Image, was
published in 1998
http://www.artandphysics.com/
“In the bestselling
book,The
Alphabet
VersusTthe
Goddess,
Leonard Shlain
proposes that the
invention of
writing,
particularly
alphabetic
writing, rewired
the brains of the people who learned
how to communicate using this culture-
changing tool. Great benefits to society
followed. However, a precipitous decline
in feminine values manifested by
women's status, goddess veneration,
nature, and representative art occurred
in tandem. For example, the European
witchhunts followed closely in the heels
of the printing press. The return of the
image in the modern age through the
medium of photography, film, television,
and the internet have brought about a
sharp rise in the values denigrated
during the 5000 year reign of patriarchy
and literacy.”
Leonard Shlain