SciArt Behind the Scenes: The Hows, Whys, and Whats of the Science Artists
Paper Title: Why create SciArt? An investigation into science artists’ goals and professional journeys
Author(s) and Year: Alice Fleerackers, Paige Brown Jarreau, and Julia Krolik; 2022
Journal: Journal of Science Communication (open access)
TL;DR: This study explored the goals pursued by science artists in creating their art. The authors identified several themes that ranged from a widely shared goal of connecting with the audience to more personal goals that viewed art as a coping mechanism or as a sense of community. Understanding those goals prioritized by Science Art (SciArt) artists would help the scientific community to build mutually rewarding outreach projects.
Why I chose this paper: I think SciArt is captivating. And it is a powerful science communication strategy, for it makes people become interested in science. I like this study because it provides insights into the science artists’ perspectives in making SciArt by revealing their behind-the-scenes motivations.
Most people will recognize the Vitruvian Man, a famous sketch of Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, illustrating the superimposed figures of a human body fitting into a square and a circle. Leonardo da Vinci drew this sketch by doing his own research in anatomy and geometry. Notably, the drawing harbors merging elements of science and art in its making. And that made the Vitruvian Man an exceptional figure, now recognized as one of the earliest representatives of SciArt.
SciArt is an interdisciplinary and creative work of visual expression with the ability to fascinate audiences through feelings and emotions. Its significant role in engaging non-expert audiences with science has led to the recognition of science artists as indispensable contributors of science communication projects. Yet these projects’ success also relies on the mutual understanding of the goals pursued by scientists and artists. But does the scientific community know what science artists want to accomplish with their works?
The Background
To better understand the goals of SciArt creators, the scientific community needs to recognize that not all artists want to convey scientific information. In fact, most of them think this role should be assigned to science communicators. Science artists can chase other goals such as starting a discussion with the audience to criticize or question the science at hand. For example, the report evaluating the Wellcome Trust’s Sciart programme has shown that artists could envision themselves as the representatives of the public. By doing so, they claim the responsibility of critically analyzing and questioning the science to make people realize how it affects their thoughts and lives that may otherwise go unnoticed. Alternatively, artists may follow goals that include personal enjoyment, development, and exploration. Those intrinsic goals arise from artists’ experiences, relate more to the creative process, and support the production of a sustainable artwork.
Despite the previous efforts, research detailing the motives of science artists in creating SciArt is still limited. For the most part, artists’ goals remain unknown to the scientific community. This study aims to address these gaps by answering the question of which external (“audience-based”) and internal (“creator-based”) goals artists pursue in the making of this craft.
The Methods
The authors analyzed interviews with 131 SciArt creators that were conducted between Nov 20, 2015-Nov 20, 2020, and published on the Creators posts of the blog Art the Science. They closely read the interviews and coded the emerging concepts from the artists’ perspective. Similar codes were gathered to form the subthemes that were later grouped into larger themes reflecting the goals of science artists.
The Results
External Goals: Resonating with the Audience
The widely shared external goal was reach and connect (n=74/131). It included a number of subgoals, such as inspiring audiences and sparking dialogue. These subgoals shared an aim of impacting audiences through emotions, knowledge and behavior.
Some creators emphasized the use of SciArt to influence viewers’ senses or to encourage discussions about how science impacts their way of thinking. Others saw reaching and connecting as ways to fulfill other, interconnected goals. For instance, science artist Dana Simmons saw sparking dialogue as a way to reach a wider inspiring audiences goal, as reflected in the following quote.
“My goal is to use these images to inspire people to wonder about neurons and brains. I aim to promote curiosity, questioning, and discussion.”
(Dana Simmons)
Most science artists were also internally motivated to create SciArt because of the inherent satisfaction of approaching art as a process (n=106/131). Specifically, they described their joy experienced while working creatively and experimenting and exploring as important subgoals or motivations for creating SciArt. Science artists expressing the first subgoal reported the pleasure they experienced while creating their works. In the second subgoal, the creative process allowed them to use scientific approaches for testing or exploring new concepts.
Internal Goals: Creative Process, Community & Hardships
“Being an artist provides me the chance to explore science.”
(Xiaojing Yan)
Science artists also valued the support from fellow artists when creating their works—art as community (n=17/131). Being close to people with similar interests helped them connect with other creators and persist in making SciArt despite the difficulties along the way.
“Ever since I became involved [in paleoart], I’ve had the pleasure of seeing new names pop up every now and then. They keep inspiring me and showing how our community is evolving.”
(Julio Lacerado)
Besides, some creators used SciArt to manage hardships in their lives—pursuing art as coping (n=12/131). These difficulties included a range of physical and emotional conditions but making SciArt helped them to relieve the stress and the pain they experience.
Started painting with water colour in 2019 in an effort to reduce my plane anxiety.”
(Yamina Pressler)
These are only some of the key goals shared by science artists in the paper. The authors found several other goals and career paths including art as reflection, revealing the unseen, and childhood entry into SciArt. We invite the reader to discover them in the original paper.
The Impact
This study features key takeaways for the scientific community to establish successful outreach with science artists.
Given the fact that artists follow a variety of goals that do not focus on simply imparting scientific information, all contributors of a science communication project should have a clear conversation at the very beginning to avoid misinterpretation of the project’s aims. This way, scientists and artists can initiate a mutually rewarding science outreach without compromising the efforts of the scientific community and the profession of SciArt creators.
Moreover, academic institutions can support SciArt creators by offering training opportunities to further improve their skills. For those artists who prioritize the creative process or aim to connect with the audiences, honing their artistic skills would help them achieve their goals in the most influential ways.
Besides, some artists use SciArt for personal goals such as exploring and experimenting, managing hardships, or enjoying the benefits of the SciArt community. Managers of outreach projects could consider allocating the needed time, space, or funding to encourage artists to fulfill their goals and produce effective and outstanding artwork.
Overall, the scientific community and artists can manage science communication projects effectively and avoid conflict through honest discussions about their goals. And projects that incorporate SciArt in their design would benefit from the joint efforts of scientists and artists.
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Written by Ceren Tunçer
Edited by Zoё Chernova and Mykyta ‘Nik’ Kliapets
Featured image credit: lucas mendes from Pexels
