The Science in the Art

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It has been a while since last time I wrote in my blog. It has been a great journey so far this semester teaching Inquiry at Quinnipiac University, the academic advising experiment, the sculpting and painting parties, the workshops and talks on Business Needs Assessment with an Inquiry Approach, the show that just ended at Spectrum Gallery, the sculpting demo I had there back in March, the sculpting workshop at Columbus School through ARTE Inc., the computer classes at the now Literacy Volunteers of Southern Connecticut, and a new partnership unfolding that gets me closer to understand my mission and the reason I do what I do… Well, that was a long sentence… Things are wrapping up as we are about a month away to finish the semester. The summer (if we get one this year in New England) is already promising good things. I think that brings us up-to-date in everything that is happening.

The Science in the Art

My students were working in groups to get feedback from each other as they prepared for their oral presentations. This is one way research in peer tutoring learning environments supports practice and practice supports research. In the process, one student was trying to find a connection between health sciences, specifically medicine, and art. To serve as an example that helped make the connection clear and concrete we have the Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. Frank H. Netter M.D. was a surgeon and world’s most prolific medical illustrator. He helped medicine understand the human body with his illustrations. Interestingly, when people study medicine they call it medical arts. Not finding the connection yet? Let me help you understand. All the knowledge in science, or in any field, is incomplete without the capacity to think creatively to solve specific issues or to accurately come up with a diagnosis.

10897129_10150521204179956_2246822379688977574_n-2Creativity is the use of imagination of creative ideas. To transform that idea into a visual interpretation is just part of the “art” in anything. This might not be a strong argument for some but that is something to discuss with a guy who was smarter than me and many of us: Albert Einstein. He understood that “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. He also said that “to raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science”, and “logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you anywhere”. The art in science is often hard to connect if we don’t think beyond our day-to-day thinking. Equally hard is to understand the science in the art.

IMG_5613.JPGOne question I get a lot is: “How do your wife feels with you drawing and sculpting only women?”. No one asks how do I feel about my wife doing physical exams to random people. She is a physician and a very good one. The best I know. We see the human body in similar ways in the connection between art and science, as well as science and art. Understanding how the body interacts with itself and the environment, and how to represent these interactions visually through drawing of sculpting is both an art and a science. The curiosity that brings research to life and engages the scientific mind in seeking understanding is no different from the curiosity that pushes the figure artist to understand the human body.

You Will Get Offended

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11988760_10150633681679956_6883456019591804743_nDuring the first day of class for our Inquiry course I asked the students to get their cellphones out, turn around, and take a selfie. Since we were sitting in a circle, by turning around we could see other people taking a selfie behind us as we were taking our selfie. Then I told them,

“You will get offended at some point. Someone is going to say something that will go against what you think or believe, and you will get offended. However, getting offended is a choice. There is another choice. You can look back at this selfie and understand that you only have one view and a very small part of the complete story.”

Inquiry is a fancy label to seek understanding of multiple points of view. In the process, we discover that we don’t know everything, or have all the answers. Interestingly, with all the advances in technology, specially in astronomy, some people still believe that the universe revolves around them. Some people assume that their current knowledge and understanding, and self-gained experience is the one and only irrevocable truth. As I often tell my students, and share with other people in conversations, the earth was flat. Through a process of investigation we realize that it is not.

In life, what we think we know today can be challenged, and it can change for our own benefit. We increase knowledge when we allow ourselves to understand different positions and points of view. Our world expands when we can see it from multiple perspectives, but not so much when we only look through the scope of our self-righteous, self-absorbed understanding of the world around us like there is nothing else. It is very easy to talk about tolerance and acceptance, when the only thing we tolerate and accept is what we believe. Then we get offended by opposition. Nevertheless, there is a big difference between tolerance and acceptance, and to surrender your believes and principles for what someone else understands is the truth. Understanding you is not going to change what I believe, but I get to see your point. That is a subject for another conversation.

We all have a selfie, a small view of the world around us. You choose to be offended or to allow yourself to understand other points of view. Some people will choose to hold on to their wisdom and allow their world to shrink with their self-righteousness. Others will grow their wisdom and understanding by investigating and learning about different perspectives on the subject matter.

 

Philosophical Sense

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Making visual and philosophical sense are processes that go together in my head when I am sculpting. It begins with a simple idea that develops into a story. Creation and understanding join the journey. A piece is finished and a second one joins in telling its own story while joining in a greater story without casting a shadow on the first. They both have an important role to play. Then another piece joins the play, and another, until the collection is complete.

As I start putting together a new collection for the next exhibit I find myself staring at each piece making visual sense individually and collectively. There is a silent language, a quiet conversation between the sculptures and me. We communicate and understand without words. However, I like to articulate into words, better yet translate what I see into words. There is a story, a concept that joins them together. There is a greater message behind the union of two elements.

Art speaks by itself. Let art speak. My art speaks to me visually and intellectually, and it is my hope it does to people too. I’ve met artists who refuse to put their art into words. They claim that the visual should speak by itself and nothing else. They say that their art should speak for them. I respect their position. I like to write about it. I like to talk about it. It is so exciting. I am as passionate about making philosophical sense as much as creating art and making visual sense.