ArtScience

Artscience is an interdisciplinary field that merges artistic practice with scientific inquiry to explore questions about perception, knowledge, and culture. It includes artworks informed by science as well as scientific research conducted with artistic methods, often aiming to translate complex ideas into accessible experiences.

While collaboration between art and science has deep historical roots, the term artscience gained specific traction in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as universities, museums, and artists established joint programs, residencies, and laboratories. The emphasis is on collaborative processes that cross disciplinary boundaries rather than simply translating one field into another.

Practices within artscience range from bioart and data-driven visualization to interactive installations, speculative design, and computational media. Artists may work with laboratories, sensors, or software to foreground scientific concepts or mechanisms, while scientists may adopt visual, performative, or narrative formats to communicate research. The field often emphasizes experimental methods, public engagement, and experimentation with new media and technologies.

Education and institutions: artscience emerges in universities, art schools, and science museums through joint degree programs, fellowships, and cross-disciplinary centers. Independent studios and artist residencies also support collaborations, typically involving partnerships among researchers, engineers, and curators.

Reception and critique: supporters argue that artscience broadens public understanding of science, stimulates creativity, and reveals new questions at disciplinary interfaces. Critics warn of potential instrumentalism, ethical concerns in areas like bioart, and questions about methodological rigor and scholarly validation. Related areas include bioart, STEAM education, data visualization, and interdisciplinary art.