Multiplicity, visibility and readability: The communication of art, science and technology confluence
Author: Laercio Ferracioli – Department of Innovation and Science Outreach/Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil
Co-authors:
- Wagner Barja – Republic National Museum – Federal District, Brazil
- Gilberto Lacerda Santos – University of Brasilia – Federal District, Brazil
During the 2018 National Science Technology Week in Brazil, the National Museum of the Republic-DF Board opened the ACT Exhibition aiming at promoting the confluence between Arte.Ciência.Tecnologia. The artworks included dynamic and immersion elements, with music, artefacts for manipulation and experience with augmented reality. Although the idea that art installs doubt and imbalance as opposed to science, doubt is the archetype of science, coupled with questioning, requires the subject to act to understand this confluence.
The combination of Art.Science.Technology does not mean a myriad of concepts, but a course of surprising discoveries and approaches by an audience with a sense of perception and cognition of scientific-artistic-technological objects, in confluence. However, it’s reading is not trivial: out of a multiplicity of artwork, a wide range of visuality is grasped which leads to the discussion of the relationship of vision and its readability.
What is visible refers less to what has become a visual image and more to that visuality which, through societal play and communication strategies, is recognized as endowed with symbolic exchange value and communicative relevance. Visibility, finally, is only realized at the moment of consumption-reception-codification-interpretation-translation. In conclusion, visibility refers to a visuality that bears readability.
In order to scrutinize the audience experience through the exhibition a sample was interviewed and asked to write 5-or-more words expressing it. Analysis of the collected words with word cloud technique came up with citations such as, “creative”, “curious”. Preliminary interview analysis reveal a surprised audience with manifestations such as “is that art?”, or “where is science in it?”.
These preliminary results point that museums of art might be natural loci to promote the Art.Science.Technology confluence through scientific communication, as the greater the understanding of artistic, scientific, technological and cultural roots, the greater the public’s ability to build their own readability process.
The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.
Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time