Editor's Letter, Fall 2004

In 1959, the physicist and novelist C.P. Snow gave a now- famous talk of the burgeoning rift between the two cultures of the humanities and the sciences. Snow's central idea was that the breakdown of communication between the two cultures was a major hindrance to solving the world's big problems. If literary intellectuals - and more importantly, the public at large - could not appreciate advances made in science, how could an increasingly science-driven society function? Snow later envisioned the emergence of a "third culture" that would bridge the divide.

Almost five decades later, we are living in a science culture, one where nearly every aspect of our lives - and indeed our very existence - is influenced, if not outright driven, by science. The Third Culture comprises those icons and iconoclasts who are shaping the science culture. They are poets and physicists alike whose ideas are illuminating, as Snow said, "how human beings are living or have lived." They are asking the biggest of questions about our cosmos, our genome, our minds, and our times. They are transforming the way we see ourselves and our place in the universe. Their ideas transcend borders and disciplines, and have the capacity to impact every single person on the planet.

The scientists of the Third Culture are, as Stephen Jay Gould wrote, "geniuses acting more as artists than as information processors." The artists, philosophers, poets, et al., of the Third Culture are inspired by the questions, answers, and methods of science and, through their work, contextualize and challenge science within cultural, religious, artistic, philosophical, and moral frameworks. In the Third Culture, the sciences influence the humanities as much as the humanities influence the sciences, creating a vivid and awe-inspiring dialogue.

Beyond their awesome ideas, the icons of the Third Culture are breaking through the background noise of the information age with equally innovative ways of communicating their work to the public. This is a sign of our times. They are writing books that top best-seller lists, appearing on magazine covers and on television. They are writing blogs, giving talks, showing at museums and galleries, and testifying before politicians and juries. They are loud and they are passionate.

The physicist Richard Feynman once wrote, "We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions and pass them on.

Welcome to the Third Culture.

AB

[Adam Bly, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher]

Related Articles:

The following article was recently published in the Los Angeles Times, reflecting on the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary research. Since the late 1980s, (art)n has collaborated with distinguished scientists and researchers from institutions that include Scripps, NASA, JPL, UCLA, CalTech, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NCSA and many others. These works have been exhibited in international art and science museums, and are part of private collections: "One of the main reasons for the surge in interdisciplinary research is the complexity of today's crucial issues, including global climate change, terrorism and AIDS" >>>Teamwork, Not Rivalry, Marks New Era in Research, Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2004 >>>Industry and Art: A Long Embrace, Vicki Goldberg, The New York Times, April 22, 2001

Also see a report published in Washington by AP Wire 40 Percent in U.S. use Prescription Drugs

The Art of Science, International Center of Photography, ARTFORUM International, Suzanne Hudson, September 2004

Telomeres Project on Imminent Immortality was included in The word 7,730,000, Grapevine Section, New Scientist, vol. 178, issue 2398, June 7, 2003, pg. 49

Genome art reveals the challenges of the DNA Era, Toni Marques, O Globo, March 2, 2003

Recent Exhibitions archived in the studio news section of the (art)n web site:

Visionary Anatomies, Keck Center Gallery, National Academies, September 15 - December 31, 2004 and the National Academy of Sciences' "Upstairs Gallery", January 15 - May 1, 2005. Featured artists include (art)n, Stefanie Bürkle, Katherine DuTiel, Tatiana Garmendia, Joy Garnett, Connie Imboden, Predrag Pajdic, Katherine Sherwood, Frederick Sommer, Mike and Doug Starn, and Richard Yarde. Click here to view a PDF.

Cryptobiology: Reconstructing Identity was included in Art of the Americas: Latin America and the United States, 1800 to Now! at the The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, March 13 - November 21, 2004. Click here to read Suzanne Muchnic's "Uniting the Americas" April 25, 2004 review of the exhibition in the Los Angeles Times

Cell Challenge and Cryptobiology: Reconstructing Identity are featured in in Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota January 31-May 2, 2004

Telomeres Project on Imminent Immortality was featured in Genomic Issue(s): Art and Science at CUNY's Graduate Center Art Gallery in New York, February 25 through April 5, 2003. Telomeres Project is an immersive sculptural environment that juxtaposes interactive sounds inspired by DNA with scientific imagery. "The discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA underpins the accelerated pace of invention and discovery in contemporary genetic research," said Karen Sinsheimer, curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California, who has organized Genomic Issue(s) at The Graduate Center in collaboration with the New York-based curator Marvin Heiferman. "The artists represented in this exhibition are an important part of the scientific dialogue, as they give form to ideas in the open-ended language of artmaking. They are placing some of the most urgent issues of our time into the public sphere." Among the artists represented are Marc Quinn, Yasumasa Morimura, Eduardo Kac, Ross Bleckner, Miwa Yanagi, Catherine Wagner and composer Todd Barton.

How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era, International Center of Photography, New York, February 28-May 25, 2003, featured Cell Challenge and Cryptobiology: Reconstructing Identity

The International Center of Photography organized an exhibition of works by over thirty contemporary artists and photographers that considers some of the most significant issues raised by the Human Genome Project. How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era was curated by Carol Squiers and was on view from February 28 through May 25, 2003.

How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era will showcase artists who are dealing with issues of biology and human identity in a variety of ways. The show raises questions about the limits and capacities of scientific explanations and about how new medical research might affect us. Included will be works that consider a broad range of topics such as cloning, race, congenital disease, aging, genetic identification, and transgenic breeding. How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era will coincide with events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Artists represented include Richard Press, Manabu Yamanaka and Taryn Simon.

Cryptobiology: Reconstructing Identity was included in PhotoGENEsis: Opus 2, Artists' Response to the Genetic Information Age at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, November 9, 2002 - February 9, 2003:

As words like "DNA" and "genome" have become part of the public discourse, and new words like "transgenic species," "cloning," and "proteomics" continue to enter our vocabulary, artists, like others, are exploring the new terrain. In planning the exhibition, the SBMA issued a call for entries in The New York Times, ARTnews, and Art in America, which drew over 200 submissions from artists working in film-based mediums. More than 40 artists were selected for inclusion, each represented by several images organized into four distinct categories. photoGENEsis: Opus 2 was curated by Karen Sinsheimer. Artists represented include Carrie Mae Weems, Nancy Burson, Yasumasa Morimura, Eduardo Kac, Miwa Yanagi, Catherine Wagner, Roman Vishniac, Mike and Doug Starn, Christopher Bucklow and Arthur Olson.

Bibliography:

Sandor, Ellen and Fron, Janine, Artists Team Up for the Future: Behind the Scenes of Making Art in the 21st Century, artn.com, Winter 2002

Whittemore, Hank Your Future Self: A Journey to the Frontiers of Molecular Medicine Thames & Hudson, November 1998, ISBN: 0500542236

Cox, Donna J., Scientific Visualization: Collaborating to Predict the Future
EDUCOM Review, Winter 1990, pp. 36-42

Ségard, Michel, Artists Team Up for the Future, New Art Examiner, January/1984 Volume 11, Number 4