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Art-Science Fusion

Part 1 - The Legacy of Art-Science Fusion
Part 2 - Emmet Brady's Role

Part 1 - The Legacy of Art-Science Fusion

While the two halves of our brain certainly have their distinct responsibilities, current research - along with ancient philosophy and modern metaphysics - indicates that the way we perceive and process the world around us is definitively a "pas-de-deux" between both halves. Art - right-brained affair - and science - a left brained endeavor - might seem to be diametrically opposed to some people, and traditional academics seems to reinforce this notion.

Other people might think that the fusion of the disciplines of Art and Science is self-evident. The names of great polymaths resound throughout history: Su Song, Da Vinci, Galileo, Charles Darwin. They find contemporary resonance in the works of Arthur Clarke and Buckminster Fuller. All embraced the fusion of the arts and sciences. Even the fictional Mr.Spock was an artist-scientist (see Star Trek 4, when he tests himself on the computer).

In fact, the concept of the Artist-Scientist is one of Karl Jung's classic archetypes. Author Robert Alan Segal wrote in his book "On Mythology,":

"The artist-scientist is immediately recognizable. They are a builder, an inventor, a seeker, a dreamer, and a thinker. Distracted by their own thoughts, they frequently have to be pulled in out of the rain. They are simultaneously vastly knowledgeable and yet innocent, impulsive yet cautious. They represent the wonder to be found in curiosity, and the dangers."

The computer age had made the dissemination of Art-Science Fusion pervasive. It has found residence in some of the highest levels of foreword thinking academia.The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has published for 4 decades a stunning periodical called - quite appropriately - "Leonardo", celebrates the cutting-edge research and creativity of the Art-Science Fusion world. It is spearheaded out of San Francisco at Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST). Here's the description the "Leonardo" website:

Science and Technology dominate our current landscape, emerging with an intensity and velocity never before experienced. This intense intellectual creativity needs to be integrated with the humanizing activity of creating art, to bring balance to how we experience our current existence and imagine our futures. Over the course of history, art has been both an organizing and integrating role with our emotional and intellectual lives. Art serves as a means of presenting, questioning, understanding and creating order out of chaos and change. Imagination often leads the way of discovery in science. Innovation of art, science and technology will allow for new ideas that may be important economically and socially. Leonardo/ISAST serves as the organization that nurtures and fosters this alliance between the arts and sciences, proactively bringing these social networks together leading to greater creativity and social change in both areas.

Closer to home for PMAG, the entomology department at UC Davis has created a pioneering academic curriculum called - ta-dah! - Art-Science Fusion. Crafted by Associate Dean of Entomology Diane Ullman and ceramic art master Donna Billick, the courses offer a range of perspectives, showing how:

Students see and feel art and science, hold it in their hands, hearts and memories—in ceramics, painting, photographs, music, and textiles. With this experience, they transform ideas into new concepts and insights and a greater appreciation for the natural world.

To the right is a fantastic project where the class turned a barren bathroom in the middle of the Davis Arboretum (which houses the largest species collection of oak trees in the United States) into a beautiful ceramic mural displaying the flora and fauna of an oak tree. This creation was part of their Entomology 101 class.

So with all this momentum in the world of Art-Science Fusion, PMAG founder Emmet Brady is on a quest to bring it to the people.

Part 2 - Emmet Brady's Role

Hint: It focuses on Insects.

Emmet current trajectory is to help disseminate a deeper appreciation for insects and other hard-bodied animals. Our 6- and 8-legged friends far outnumber us on the planet, and are viewed as mostly unwanted, unpleasant alien life forms by the many people.

Add to that perspective the complications of climate change, dwindling resources, atrocious agricultural practices in many parts of the world (including the US), warfare waged by chemical pesticide companies and the developing notion of "peak pesticides" (when their effectiveness is compromised by their toxicity - which is probably already here) - and you have a serious need for everyday people to start seeing insects as evolutionary peers, not something to be feared or eradicated.

So, Emmet is currently working with colleagues at the Biomimicry Guild, University of Arizona and UC Davis Departments of Entomology and Bay Area artists to craft multi-media presentations that will help the general public gain a deeper understanding of the pollinators, pests, pets and photo subjects that make up the insect world.

"Why Should We Care About Insects?" Presentations about Cultural Entomology - by Emmet Brady

To view online click here.

The Mayan Stingless Honeybee - A 3-Part Special "Why Should We Care About Insects?"

This series tells about my journey to the Yucatan of Mexico in the winter of 2008-2009, to explore the 2,000 year co-evolution of the mystical ancient Mayan Indians and their sacred stingless honeybee. They worshipped this bee as the only divine, solar being on this planet, and set up elaborate rituals past down through generations to honor the relationship. Below are some images from the first two part of the presentations.

To view Part 1 : Evolution and Ecology of the Mayan Stingless Honeybee, click here.

To view Part 2: Visionaries Working in Yucatan Conservation, click here.