Of all of my collaborations, none have been quite as satisfying and fulfilling as those with artists. When I started working with artists, my approach was driven by communication – how can we co-create new ways to share science with more people, more diverse people. But I have come to learn that there is far more to gain from artistic collaborations than that. The collaborations themselves enrich my research, by demanding a renewed and sometimes an alternative view of my motivations and findings, by stimulating discussions and by inspiring new ideas. Below are just some of the collaborations that have enriched my career, including the one that gave its name to this blog.
An archive of images and thoughts arising from collaborations with artists, from Bristol’s own Alex Lucas to Luke Jerram (Withdrawn) to Fujiko Nakaya (Fog Bridge).
The Invisibility of the Sea: In 2017, the Cabot Institute and the Brigstow Institute hosted a variety of workshops on ‘Perspectives from the Sea’, bringing together scientists, engineers and humanities scholars to share personal reflections, their experiences and methods, and their understanding of the sea. This was so inspiring that we commissioned artist Rodney Harris to further explore these topics, The Invisibility of the Sea, displayed in the Earth Sciences Gallery. He produced a fantastic variety of pieces, including the one below.
We were so inspired that we collected his work and our reflections into this fantastic pamphlet, featuring especially powerful pieces from Rod and the project initiator and inspiration, Laurence Publicover. Laurence and my Earth Sciences colleague Kate Hendry also wrote a powerful piece for the Conversation. The working paper can be downloaded here: The Invisibility of the Sea working paper-1hukxho
The Uncertain World
The artwork exhibition at the heart of the Uncertain World vision was a collaboration with Bristol-artist Alex Lucas. It was part of a long-running programme of engagement around uncertainty and how different scientific disciplines (in this case, past climate research) can help us understand, live with or even thrive under uncertainty. You can read about Alex’s perspectives on the project and see the artwork in development here and my perspectives on its history and origin here!
Other recent Cabot/Brigstow Institute collaborations including Alice Cunningham are coming soon.