Intimate Science

Roger F MalinaBanff

August 2008

Arrhenius 1896

Modern Science Doesnt Make Common Sense

• Most knowledge about our world now comes through scientific instrumentso Few people have experience of mediated senseso Much science is now done by experiments on data rather

than experiments on the worldo The Galilean Fallacy…The End of Theory

• Most of the world isnt on human scales

• Our intuition, languages, metaphors, arts are built training on the wrong data for survival

Inhabiting New Scales cf Cheese Diagram Guardans, Czegledy

SLOW........................................................................................................

• FAST• SMALL OUR SIZE LARGE

New Senses: Gravitational Wave Observatories-

LIGO in USA ,VIRGO in Italy

New scales: The Antares Neutrino Observatory under the Mediterranean

Modern Science doesnt Make Common Sense

• We need a new sensuality

• We need a new scientific method o Most science is done in protected semi monastic enclaves

• We need to understand the world o « society » no longer think science is a priority for

government spending or for peoples careerso Need the « hard humanities »

WE NEED A NEW CULTURE

.• Micro Science:

• Coupling Common Sense to Common Science

• Micro-Science o Micro Science is to the National Science Foundation What Micro Credit is to the World Bank

• Making science intimateo Owning data about your own environmento Science creating communities own their knowledgeo Building intution, language from mediated sensory experience

Muliple Modes to Intimate Science

• INTIMATE SCIENCE: «  ownership of the data about ones own

environment »

• New AMATEUR SCIENCE: « public science »

• CROWDSOURCING : » distributed and open science »

Intimate SciencePigeon Blog ( B Da Costa) Inside Outside Handbag (Katherine Moriwaki )

Mediated Sensuality1904 2004

Cezanne: Mont St Victoire.........Sabine Raaf: Translator II

Immersion in Extreme EnvironmentsAntarctica......Deserts…Oceans…

eg Marco Peljham and Macrolab

Hybrid Bodieseg Marcel.li Antunez Roca

Nano Intuition Sommerer/Mignoneau

Inhabiting New Worldscf Cheese Diagram Guardans, Czegledy

High Gravity.......................................................................................

• Zero G Seeing• Gamma Rays X Rays UV Visible Infra Red Micro Wave Radio

People’s Science, New Amateur Science

• Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti: Indian People’s Science Networks

• Brazil Digital Culture projects

• Sergipe « Human Project »o Humbi Umbi in Brazil

• Srishti School, Bangalore• Ubiquitous micro science

producing communities

Calm Technologies/Distributed Sensing

• Weiner 1991 Xerox Parc

• Eg Eric Paulos, Intel• www.urban-atmospheres.net/

CitizenScience

• active participation in basic scientific data gathering

• richer, finer-grain data sets for modeling and analysis

• mobile phone as a tool for grassroots participation in government and policy making

Crowd-Sourcing

• Distributed Science

• BOINC : Berkeley Open Infrastructure Network Computingo SETI@home search

for extraterrestial intelligence

o climateprediction.net , climate modelling

o malariacontrol.net

Innocentive: « open innovation »

• Organisations can submit problems for solution

• Together with award incentive

• Over 200 problems solved to date

• Problem solving communities outside the Academy

The way we do Science carries within in the seeds of its own failure

Vesna/Gimzewski

• Failure of the enlightenment

• Science is done in guarded monasteries

• Science education and outreach from the top floor not from the ground floor

• More science education will not help

• Science must be systematically culturally redesigned

How

• Artists in Labs• Scientists in Studios• Town Scientists• Micro Science funding for artists• Open sourcing of data about your own

world• Developing the ‘hard humanities’ to

change the content and direction of science

ArtsActive Network Artists in R and D Labs Programs

• Art in Labs, Switzerland, Jill Scott• ANAT/Synapse, • Symbiotica Australia• Dissonancias, :Laboral, Spain• Art and Genomics: Holland• ECTOPIA; Portugal• FUSE/CADRE: .Climate Clock• UK ITEM, ArtsCatalyst, FACT/

Blue Sky Residencies • Leonardo - UCB Space Sciences • Leonardo/POP SUD France• TRANSGENESIS; Czech rep

• Observers: James Leach, Emmanuel Mahe (Orange), Bronac Ferran, Sammuelle Carlson

• List of patents filed by artists• Exchange of Intellectual Property

approaches• Jurying systems• Announcements• Scientists in cultural organisations ?

• www.artsactive.net

Berkeley: Art and Space Exploration Residencies

• Space Sciences Lab• NASA and UK Arts

Council

• Rejane Spitz: web media• Semi Conductor: data

sonification, infographie• Liliane Lijn: robotique, new

materials• Joanna Griffin: data

visualisation, education• CNMAT STEREO Satellite

sonification “Sounds of Space”…Marty Quinn

SemiConductor residency

• Secret Life of Magnetic Fields

• Interviews of Lab scientists on limits of scientific knowledge

• Brilliant Noise Installation= repurposed solar data

Liliane Lijn: Silicon Aerogel SculpturesSolar Hills = solar robots

The Sound of Trees Growing

• David Dunn (composer, sound artist)

• Jim Crutchfield ( complexity scientist)

• Artist driven recording of sounds of trees growing led to research project in the coupling of ultrasound from trees, beetles, forest fire system dynamics

Thanks

• rmalina@prontomail.com

• www.leonardo.info

• www.olats.org