What is Sci-Art?

So how did all this start? It was my close working relationship with the Wellcome Trust as an architect and designer that led directly to the invention of Sci-Art. Back in 1995, when my conversations with a former Director of the Wellcome Trust first sparked off the idea, the time seemed to be right for finding ways in which scientists and artists could be encouraged to enrich and maximise each others potential. In pursuit of this idea, the Wellcome Trust was prepared to take a leap in the dark by supporting and sponsoring ideas generated by artists and scientists working in partnership.

The results of Sci-Art far exceeded initial expectations; some of the ideas submitted were at the cutting edge and together they established Sci-Art as a potentially powerful force for change and innovation in the development of new products, processes and services. Of the many Sci-Art projects sponsored by the Wellcome Trust just a few pinpointed the way ahead because they had begun to engage with a whole Cycle of Science/Art Creativity from ideas generation to prototyping and testing or, in some cases, to development, implementation and marketing. In this presentation, I describe the results of just four specific projects. These four projects can be regarded as ‘exemplars’ of fully fledged and combined creativity. Some exploitation of their potential occurred – enough for us to be able to glimpse the nature and value of results achieved by Sci-Art partnerships. Research into my four exemplars was undertaken in August, 2007.

The scientists and artists concerned have contributed knowledge and insights which enable me now to highlight the deeper trends and significance of the Sci-Art experiment. The processes of discovery I describe can be regarded as a ‘new type of creativity’; together, they demonstrate how successful Sci-Art projects can lead to the creation of wealth generating products, processes and/or services.

The Legacy of Sci-Art

Once Upon a Time

Can Sci-Art lead to wealth generation?

Sci-Art as a driver of the Creative Economy

Funding sources at the time of the first Sci-Art competitions, held in 1997 and 1998, tended to operate within the discipline of science or art (and very rarely in both). For this reason the Wellcome Trust’s initial sponsorship was both unusual and significant. Subsequently, at the request of the Wellcome Trust, Terry Trickett and Charles Landry set up the Sciart Consortium which included the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the British Council, the Arts Council of England, NESTA and, of course, the Wellcome Trust. For three years the Consortium ran the initiative and, thereafter, for a further five years, the Wellcome Trust re-assumed sole responsibility for Sci-Art. The last competition was held in 2006.