About Art & Science – Act III

Act III: Pushing the boundaries

After exploring the world of bio-art and architecture in?last week’s article, we will focus this week on two artistic fields where science has recently made its way into: music and culinary arts.

Music is actually made of sound waves of different frequencies that travel to our ears from the object – or rather, instrument in this case – making the sounds. Music is in fact extremely linked to science; knowing that,?Nigel Stanford?has created several projects revolving around sound waves, and how to visualize them through music. One of the most famous among them, CYMATICS depicts Stanford playing a variety of instruments distorting and warping matter – water, fire, sand and even thunder – thanks to the emitted sounds, allowing the audience to fully visualize audio frequencies. For each type of sound, a corresponding visual element is displayed; and what is normally invisible to the human eye becomes fully embodied through materials.

Considered as a full scientific discipline by some, as an extremely specific culinary art by others, molecular gastronomy offers an original approach of cuisine through science, especially chemistry and physics. Chefs are true scientists, playing at the level of the ultra-small to transform and prepare ingredients and food products – relying on the study of chemical and physical processes happening during cooking.

The result: a real chemical show where colors, shapes, and textures offer both a visual and delicious delight to the spectators – where science is a genuine treat to savor.

As we just saw it, nowadays creativity and scientific knowledge blend together and allow an unprecedent open dialogue between artists and scientists, although sometimes in a still very fragmented manner; as things are not always so smooth, it is then necessary for each party to step outside their comfort zone to meet and build common grounds, where art and science can finally speak a mutual language.?

This needs to be especially the case in natural sciences, such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies. Some companies are already taking the lead to address this issue: for example, Amore Pacific displays their new technologies during special exhibitions; Pfizer CentreOne has recently launched “Experience the Art of Science”, a campaign focusing on creative thinking and abstract artistic shots of their scientific experiments. As such, life sciences represent an everlasting source of art that can be expressed all along the process, whether it is during R&D phases or later stages, like marketing & communication. No matter your working science field, art will always be at the corner of it.

To ultimately help companies to bridge the gap between art and science,?ZORBA?has been gathering scientists and artists under the same roof since years in order to create powerful scientific campaigns with an undisputed artistic twist. To us, this variation in profiles is indeed necessary to visualize science in a modern, appealing, and inspiring way for all audiences; by closely working together, artists, producers and scientists link both worlds in a simple and accessible manner – while still depicting an immersive scientific universe able to create a special bond with viewers. And as the new generation of scientific storytellers, we are more than ever proud to reunite art and science together to craft the most beautiful and inspiring stories ever.