摄影:Caitlin Cunningham
电子游戏软件 物理学家Andrzej 赫尔 has received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to bring together researchers to explore the connections between mathematics, 科学与艺术.
赫尔, a research professor and laboratory director in the 物理系, said the grant is intended to ignite creative collaboration among artists and scientists, as well as experts from a range of fields in the arts, 科学, 和人文, who endeavor to expand the boundaries of common understandings about the interplay of these fields.
“I am very excited to receive this grant,赫尔说. “这是高风险的, potentially high-reward type of program that the NSF supports as a way of encouraging new ways of thinking and new ideas, which 五月 make a long-term impact in math and science, 艺术也是如此, and the many ways these seemingly disparate disciplines connect with each other.”
Funding for the grant comes from the NSF’s EAGER (Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory 电子游戏正规平台) program, 哪个支持“未经测试”, 但潜在的变革, 电子游戏正规平台思路或方法,该项目网站称.
Developed in collaboration with 赫尔's colleagues at the Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., the program will expand on ideas that emerged during two workshops 赫尔 organized there in 2017 and 2020, 他说.
The project will create new opportunities for a dialogue with contemporary artists working in diverse media, stimulating new insights and new collaborative ventures, 他说. 除了会议, 电子游戏正规平台研讨会, 还有讨论小组, a series of art exhibitions will be organized, 都在美国.S. 和美国.K., 以著名画家为特色, 雕塑家, 还有其他艺术家, whose work engages mathematics or physics in some way, 无论是直接还是间接.
物理学家Andrzej 赫尔's previous studies have involved the abstract paintings of Jackson Pollock.
The intersection of art and science has long been a subject of personal and professional interest for 赫尔. As a physicist, his work has been focused on mathematical modeling in fluid dynamics. 他也和同事一起工作, 包括艺术史学家, to bring physics sensitivity and mathematical tools to the understanding of the visual arts and music.
In 2007, he undertook a collaboration with then BC Professor of 艺术 History Claude Cernuschi to examine scaling properties and fluid-dynamical effects in the abstract paintings of Jackson Pollock, who poured and sometimes dripped liquid paints—of varied physical properties—onto horizontal canvases to create some of the best-known works of the 20 th century. The research led to publications in several highly-regarded peer-reviewed physics and art journals.
“和杰克逊·波洛克一起, we brought fluid dynamics to analyze his particular technique, to gain an understanding of why his paintings look the way they do, and why he engaged in certain novel practices,赫尔说. “He was effectively experimenting with liquid pigments and we wanted to add the relevant physics to the study of his work.”
超越了它在绘画中的应用, fluid and solid mechanics can be engaged to study sculpture, particularly works made from molten metal and other materials, 使用颗粒状物质的形式, as well as works that depict the flow of liquids.
During his participation in programs in 2017 and 2020 at the Isaac Newton Institute, one of the world’s premiere centers for the study of mathematical 科学, 赫尔和他的同事, the institute’s Curator of 艺术 and Science Barry Phipps and its director, 大卫·亚伯拉罕, began to formulate the grant proposal.
In addition to examining the intersection of these fields in the conceptualization and creation of works of art, the program will include the science of preserving and even reconstructing fragile or damaged works of art, 指出赫尔.
他设想举办讲习班和研讨会, 以及相关展览, which will serve to illuminate such interdisciplinary issues as the role of artificial intelligence and its use in the creation of works of art; the effects of using a variety of tools—such as paint applicators, 刷, or sprays to create art objects; cultural connections between scientific discovery and artistic creation throughout history; questions of scale and scaling properties in physics and art; and how mathematical concepts are represented in artistic imagery.
“These themes are really invitations to engage in conversations across the traditional boundaries of fields,赫尔说. “We are hoping this will be a two-way street, resulting in new directions in physics research inspired by artworks and artistic processes. 同时, we are hoping that those artists who allow physics to ‘co-author’ their pieces, 五月, through collaboration with scientists, 磨练和扩展他们的技术. That kind of cooperation 五月 lead to creative leaps in art as well science.”
Ed Hayward | University Communications | December 2021