The Auckland Museum in association with the British Council presents a unique opportunity.

Is Science the new Art?
Thursday March 4th 7.30pm
Auckland Museum

Scientists weave incredible stories, invent wild hypotheses and ask difficult questions about the meaning of life. They have insights into the workings of our bodies and minds which challenge the myths we make about our identities and selves. The Auckland Museum in association with the British Council presents a unique opportunity.

Is Science the new Art?
Thursday March 4th 7.30pm
Auckland Museum

Scientists weave incredible stories, invent wild hypotheses and ask difficult questions about the meaning of life. They have insights into the workings of our bodies and minds which challenge the myths we make about our identities and selves.Doors open at 6.45pm
APEC Room
Auckland Museum
Entry via East Door
Gold Coin Donation

They create visual images, models and scenarios that are gruesome, baffling or beguiling. They say and do things that are ethically and politically shocking Contemporary scientists frequently talk about 'beauty' and 'elegance'; artists hardly ever do.

Featuring the work of artists such as Damien Hirst, Bill Viola and Helen Chadwick, and a number of art-science collaborative ventures, Siân Ede will look at ways in which new science can influence the making and interpretation of art in relation to what we think of as 'human nature'; to its startling new technologies and to its ethical controversies.   But she will also emphasise the view that artistic language and insights are as important on their own terms and that we can and should accommodate both forms of knowledge.  

As Arts Director for the UK branch of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Siân Ede is well-known for pioneering many influential activities to encourage artists to engage with science. A speaker and adviser on art/science interactions internationally, she is editor and author of Strange and Charmed: science and the contemporary visual arts.   Her new book Art and Science is to be published by I B Tauris in October 2004.

Image:'Argininosuccinic Acid' Damien Hirst (1995)