Occupying the middle: approaches to inter-disciplinary research

January 20, 2020, 1:43 pm

On the 16th of January, Culture Action Europe, in collaboration with BOZAR LAB and Joint Research Centre (JRC), facilitated a multifaceted evening to create the space to ‘occupy the middle’, of artistic, scientific and technological approaches. As the closing event of BOZAR and JRC’s Datami exposition, the three-part session brought forward the MAST – Master Module in Art, Science and Technology project as well as numerous contemporary research and artistic projects highlighting what is crucial about crossing borders within and in between institutionalised disciplines and research categories.

The opening session presenting the MAST project, hosted by Peter Purg, set the tone on the innovative possibilities of using art thinking in non-artistic fields. MAST, an interdisciplinary master-level module in art, science and technology co-funded by the European Commission, was presented to the experts, practitioners and policymakers in this field to expose the real-life results of MAST students using problem finding methods, rather than problem-solving. Purg advocated for the importance of forming the next generation of innovation catalysts to generate socially meaningful and ethically reflected innovation in today’s big and small organizations.

Freddy Paul Grunert and Christina Fiordimela, curators of Resonances III festival week invited the public to a tour of DATAMI. This exhibition presented by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and BOZAR allows the public to be part of the dialogue of artists creations jointly working with scientists and policymakers. Stressing the importance of submerging into scientific and artist processes, the exhibition gives perspective on the rapid digital transformations and how it affects freedom and democracy.

The closing session, moderated by Robert Manchin, a panel of five experts on the topic of intersections of Arts, Science and Technology advocated for their understanding interdisciplinarity and its embodiment in projects reflecting culture in today’s society. 

Marta Gracia (Researcher, Hangar research coordinator and associate lecturer at the BA in Arts of the Open University of Catalonia), Peter Westenberg  (Constant vzw – Brussels), Lilia Mestre (a.pass – Brussels), Pep Vidal (Artist, PhD in Physic Sciences in UAB and ALBA synchrotron) as well as Christoph De Jaeger (BOZAR LAB, Studiotopia programme) all presented their works, projects and findings at the intersection of arts, science and technologies. As most panellists agreed that occupying the middle involves concentrating on the process and community, defining what is the process, the community, and the middle seems to be still up for debate.

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