Meaningful Art-Science Interactions

An Inter- and Transdisciplinary Palette
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-29040-3
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Buch, Englisch, 365 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm

What happens when scientists and artists collaborate? How can art and science enrich each other, and what challenges arise? This book addresses these questions around a central focus:

Drawing on a series of cases, this book combines perspectives from psychology, philosophy, art history, artistic practice, anthropology, exhibition design, and communication sciences. It explores how art-science collaborations unfold across diverse contexts, from laboratories to public spaces, artists’ studios, museums, as well as (re)imagined realities. Combining lived experience with theoretical and empirical reflection, the chapters discuss the conditions under which collaborations move beyond superficial or instrumental engagement and become meaningful.

The insights in this book emerge from the  project at KU Leuven. The project’s inter- and transdisciplinary research environment functioned as a site of collaboration and reflection, enabling close observation and critical examination of art-science interactions in practice.

The book supports epistemic diversity, whereby both art and science are acknowledged as valuable, yet distinct ways of knowing and engaging with the world. It also offers guidance for initiating, sustaining, and reimagining meaningful interactions within and beyond academia.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Van Even, Priscilla

Zaman, Bieke

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunst, allgemein Kunsttheorie, Kunstphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction: A palette of meaningful art-science interactions.- Chapter 2: At the crossroads of art and science: A typology for epistemic innovation, diversity, and interculturality.- Chapter 3: Before entering the studio or lab: Exploring paradigms for art-science collaborations.- Chapter 4: Squaring the circle: Balancing order and complexity in art and science.- Chapter 5: Learning from materials: Understanding textile art across disciplines.- Chapter 6: Working across and beyond boundaries: A journey in artscience collaborations.- Chapter 7: Arts-based storytelling in science dissemination and knowledge generation: Diverse perspectives in and about digital society.- Chapter 8: From a personal encounter to inquiry: The hybrid practices of Lynn Hershman Leeson and Koen Vanmechelen.- Chapter 9: Hidden knowledge, prominent experience: Reflections on interactions between arts and science.- Chapter 10: Children’s art experiences: Interactive digital art.- Chapter 11: Science trough an artistic lens: Scientific aesthetics and aesthetic exhibition practices with kinetic art installations in science museums.- Chapter 12: Making as a way of seeing. Learning to understand Helen Frankenthaler through hands-on painting.- Chapter 13: An eye for art.- Chapter 14: Beyond technical thinking: Revealing reflections on media art, logocentrism, and epistemic diversity.- Chapter 15: Conclusion: Reflections on and conditions for meaningful artscience interactions.

Über Autor(innen)

Priscilla Van Even is an inter- and transdisciplinary researcher affiliated with the project. Her work examines how artistic and scientific knowledge is created, interpreted, mediated, and shared, and how discursive, artistic, and digital practices shape knowledge in scientific, societal, and cultural contexts. By creating space for epistemic diversity within the scientific realm, she supports more reflective and participatory approaches to knowledge creation and translation.

Bieke Zaman is a co–principal investigator of the project and a professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Communication Sciences at KU Leuven, where she leads research at the intersection of digital technology and society. Her work focuses on the design and governance of digital media, and the way they shape people’s lives, including ethical and inclusive dimensions of emerging technologies. With an interest in participatory and cross-disciplinary methodologies, she currently looks at art–science interactions, combining conceptual, empirical, and design-oriented perspectives.