Artists Who Play with the Boundary between Art and Science
We take a look at the intertwining of two seemingly disparate disciplines
October 20, 2021
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
Art and science have forever been interlinked practices, very much entwined throughout history. Both are the human attempt to cast a light on the human experience and an attempt to reveal the secrets of the world around us. The two disciplines are not mutually exclusive and thus, inspire each other. The most prolific example of art which stood on the boundary of science and art, drawing inspiration from both, are the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. This blog looks at contemporary artists who have embraced science and invention in their works.
Janet Saad-Cook: Sun Drawings
Janet Saad-Cook’s works lie at the intersection of light, space, and time. Her works draw inspiration and education from astronomy, engineering and architecture, using metals and specially coated glass to create images that reflect light. Saad-Cook is a pioneer in the field of multidisciplinary art. By fusing sunlight, time, reflection, and motion, she developed new ways to create art. Working with pure wavelengths of sunlight, Saad-Cook combines ancient sun marking techniques with 21st century technology to create her ‘Sun Drawings’. These works are solar sculptures that attune viewers to the cosmos, revealing tiny glimpses of the grand order of the universe and creating a connection with human experience. Saad-Cook conducts independent research in the field of archeoastronomy and has presented papers at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the International Astronomical Union. This art is not constrained into a discipline but embraces both to create pioneering and inspiring works in both fields.
Fabian Oefner: Timelines
Timelines is a collaboration between Fabian Oefner and Google Arts & Culture. The artist and his team worked together with the Glaciology Institute at ETH Zurich to bring art and science together in a unique way. Using a combination of precise digital coordinates, special drone captures, LED lights, the Google Earth terrain function and long-exposure photography, the artist documents the shocking glacial retreat that has occurred in the Rhone and Trift glaciers over the last 140 years. Combining several dozens of these images together into two single interactive photographs, Timelines shows the lines of the glacier’s dramatic retreat and the drastic impact of climate change becomes undeniable in this rigorously scientific method of visual art presentation.
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell is an American artist whose life has been as dynamic and unique as his art. With a background in perceptual psychology and an initial career as a pilot, Turrell’s inspiration stems from a fascination with light. Having spent over 12,000 hours flying, Turrell has spent an extraordinary amount of time near the boundary where the Earth’s atmosphere meets space, making for a very distinctive and epic studio of which to draw creativity from. In the early 1970s, Turrell bought the Roden Crater (a dormant volcano in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona). For the past 45 years, he has worked on transforming the extinct natural phenomenon into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. The tunnels and apertures throughout the crater allow for the capture of sunlight during the day and planets and stars at night. No matter what your belief system is, it’s almost undeniable that Turrell’s creation is the closest to heaven on Earth that the human species can achieve.
Whether using modern, technologically advanced equipment or whether drawing inspiration from rigorously scientific disciplines to create uniquely educational but beautiful images, it is undeniable that more often than not science and art go hand in hand.
