Art V Science

Today I've been discussing with a group of Year 9 students the big question of whether Art and Science can work together in any way. My brief for this Residency is to produce artwork which relates to the Science College status of the school so I've been thinking alot about the relationship between the Arts and Science. In our discussion the students used words such as 'theory', 'factual', 'research', 'experiments' and 'testing' when thinking about science and they felt that art was more 'random', dealing with 'ideas', 'feelings' and 'concepts'.

One of the questions we will be seeking to answer this year is whether Art can illuminate/aid understanding of science and whether a more scientific approach to the art processes we use would give a different outcome. So there will be less 'random' splashing about of paint and more testing, experimentation and careful recording of results!

What is an Artist in Residence?

It sounds like a really posh title doesn't it? An 'Artist in Residence' (AiR for short!) is an artist who spends some time at a school and produces work in collaboration with the students. I'm really excited about being AiR at Oldbury Wells School: it's a great opportunity to share my passion about the Arts and a chance for students to follow the professional practice of an artist. I've set up this blog as a record of the journey and hopefully some of the students I work with will be able to add their comments along the way.