Our biannual art prize, Visions of Science merges art and science, both of which are fuelled by our curiosity as humans to understand the world and share our perspectives. We believe in the power of cross-disciplinary research and the value in meeting of minds.
We spoke to members of our team and artists to explore the benefit of integrating arts and research to reflect, represent, capture or depict modern-day scientific phenomena.
We are thrilled to welcome artist and filmmaker Suki Chan; medical writer, illustrator and University of Bath alumna in MSc Developmental Biology, Nina Chhita; and Immersive Technologies Producer, Will Hunter to judge this year’s Art Prize and University of Bath Community Art Prize. Three winners will receive up to £1250 for work which depicts research themes from the University’s Faculty of Science.
Hear from Suki Chan on her role as a judge in the competition…
“Visions of Science Art Prize is a key project for us at The Edge. It’s an opportunity to showcase the research of the Faculty of Science through artists’ eyes from across the UK. After seeing such a diverse array of works in the 2018 Prize, we are thrilled to have it back this year and exhibit an amazing array of artworks inspired by science created in the last 3 years. Despite the Covid-19 limitations resulting in the exhibition now being shown online, we’re pleased we can still share and celebrate art and science, reaching everyone at home.”
Artist, Gillian McFarland who exhibited in our 2018 Visions of Science exhibition also spoke of scientific collaborations with geneticists and astronomers;
Artists and scientists are informed by the process of observing, noticing discrepancies and inaccuracies, seeing when structures, patterns and meanings emerge. Working across disciplines with scientists gives the artist a different perspective in understanding how things are defined by process. For the scientists, working with an artist offers the opportunity to explore ideas in a very physical way. These physical and sensory experiences create tacit knowledge and understanding and bring a narrative that can be shared with a wider audience.