What can science and technology studies learn from art and design? Reflections on ‘Synthetic Aesthetics’

Abstract

In this paper we reflect on a project called ‘Synthetic Aesthetics’, which brought together synthetic biologists with artists and designers in paired exchanges. We – the STS researchers on the project – were quickly struck by the similarities between our objectives and those of the artists and designers. We shared interests in forging new collaborations with synthetic biologists, ‘opening up’ the science by exploring implicit assumptions, and interrogating dominant research agendas. But there were also differences between us, the most important being that the artists and designers made tangible artefacts, which had an immediacy and an ability to travel, and which seemed to allow different types of discussions from those initiated by our academic texts. The artists and designers also appeared to have the freedom to be more playful, challenging and perhaps subversive in their interactions with synthetic biology. In this paper we reflect on what we learned from working with the artists and designers on the project, and we argue that engaging more closely with art and design can enrich STS work by enabling an emergent form of critique.

Science and Technology Studies in Policy: The UK Synthetic Biology Roadmap

“…These engagements have been sustained over the longer-term and they have not been driven by such a politicized agenda or demanded predefined deliverables. We have also had a diverse range of experiences in synthetic biology beyond the policy room in research projects, teaching, and experimental art/science collaborations, many of which have been marked by productive interactions between STS researchers and other groups (Balmer et al 2015; Calvert and Schyfter 2017). But what we have learnt from our involvement in the SBRCG is that the initial conditions of STS involvement matter, and in this policy room, the conditions were particularly constraining.…”

Generative Boundary Objects as Integral Parts of Framing in Design and Bioscience Collaborations

“…Numerous studies and projects demonstrate the potential of bio-science and design collaboration in generating creative and innovative ideas (Calvert and Schyfter, 2017;Chieza, 2018;Sabin and Jones, 2018;Sawa, 2016). It is widely agreed that creativity and innovation are vital to the realisation of the potential of human ingenuity and are the essence of design (McMahon et al, 2013).…”

Crossing Kingdoms: How Can Art Open Up New Ways of Thinking About Science?

“…We enacted a broader vision of RRI by cultivating an experimental space to enable alternative thinking-thinking that accounts for different sets of values or imagined futures that may otherwise be taken for granted, that may be routinely be limited by institutional norms but are fostered by literally or figuratively working in a different space. This project afforded several such spaces: the lab, which became a different space when artists and biologists worked together; an art conference, which became a different space through the presence of biologists; exhibition spaces, where audiences are encouraged to think differently about biology; and what we might call the epistemic space of the project, wherein researchers have been prompted to think differently as part of an atypical, experimental collaboration (Calvert and Schyfter, 2016). Consequently, both the collaborators and those around us have been challenged to rethink expectations about research process and outputs.…”