Experimenting, Experiencing, ReflectingArt and science at work in the public realms
Name of applicant
Andreas Roepstorff
Institution
Aarhus University
Amount
DKK 14,915,414
Year
2019
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Advance
What?
We will establish a collaboration at the intersection of research practices and artistic practices between Interacting Minds Centre, and Studio Olafur Eliasson. We develop experiments that explore perception, decision-making, action, notions of togetherness, collaboration, and transmission of knowledge. These experiments become part of projects and installations presented in museums and other public institutions to become part of a global, knowledge-producing network. Linking experimentation and experience in participatory settings with public access may create a unique, shared space for personal reflection with global reach. It will also provide otherwise inaccessible, culturally differentiated knowledge about human experiences and actions across the world.
Why?
Today we are witnessing deep crises in trust and social cohesion. What information is trustworthy? What are facts? How do our perceptions and emotions contribute to what we think and how we act? How do we make sense of, navigate, and participate in society? Environmental and political challenges abound, and these can only be solved through collaboration and innovation – both technological and social. This calls for new forms of thinking and acting. In response to this challenge, we aspire to develop a strong dialogue between the arts and the sciences, two of the dominant creative forces in society today – a dialogue that embraces the responsibility that the freedom of thought and creativity entail.
How?
The project establishes a shared space for experimentation and dialogue between the research environment at the Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University and the artistic environment at Studio Olafur Eliasson, Berlin. To develop our experiments, we will work with researchers, artists and institutions across the world, e..g at Institute of Philosophy, University of London, Tate Modern and Trapholt. We develop and explore experiments and installations, first in relative confined situations, later in public spaces in different countries at specific occasions. Critically important, we design, research and document the process of dialogue, within and between participants and the public.