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SCIENAR VIRTUAL COMMUNITY: A USEFUL TOOL TO PROMOTE THE SYNERGIES AMONG ARTISTS AND SCIENTISTS SCIENAR Virtual Community: A Useful Tool to Promote the Synergies Among Artists and Scientists doi:10.3991/ijoe.v6i2.1293 I. Alfano, M. Carini, L. Gabriele, and G. Naccarato University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy Abstract—This paper describes a Virtual Community (VC) terpreting the perceived world in order to facilitate a com- developed within the framework of the European project prehension of some unknown fragments of reality [3-4]. SCIENAR (Scientific Scenarios and Art). The SCIENAR But the most obvious connection between science and project explores the connections between Art and Science art is probably the fact that they are two activities dealing and the use of new media and Information Communication with the representation of the world: while art is inspired Technologies (ICTs) for the exploration and representation by nature in its forms, science uses art in order to facilitate of these relationships in an innovative and productive way. understanding of certain concepts, sometimes very com- The main objective of the Virtual Community described plex. herein is to strengthen the role of the “artistic-scientific” community in the production of new science and new art. Today, while scientists and researchers find often in the This objective can be achieved by promoting synergies and art field an ideal place to better communicate their collaborations between the different protagonists involved in achievements, more and more artists draw inspiration the large field of research of Art and Science. from science by exploring different disciplines, for in- stance, biology [5]. Index Terms—Computer mediated communication, cogni- Moreover, many artists produce their artworks physi- tive psychology, online scientific communities, psychology, cally, while others accomplish them in a digital way or science and art communication, science and art visualiza- model their sculptures on a computer before creating them tion, virtual communities. in a wide variety of materials such as metal, glass, etc. For example, Benjamin Storch usually combines his skills in I. INTRODUCTION sculpture with his knowledge of mathematical plotting and Speaking about Art and Science many connections can CAD applications and represents them in two or three di- be highlighted, although they are apparently very different mensions, ranging from computer graphics to geometrical and often opposite. sculptures. He works with metal sheets to create dynamic surfaces, arising from mathematical formula or from the Primarily, it is very important the support provided by principles of anticlastic form. According to Storch, sciences to arts: over the centuries they offer the means in mathematical language is a helpful means to understand interpreting and representing the nature and the world. For some of the phenomena around us and he represents this example, let us consider Ancient Greeks who believed that concept into his artworks: “Space Knot”, that is an art- the Golden Mean governed the universe harmony and rep- work that represents a geometrical shape, previously mod- resented the perfection. For this reason they used this ratio eled using CAD tools, shaped with a ribbon and character- in designing and producing their artefacts, like the temples ized by varying of width and curvature; “Seahorse”, in- devoted to the divinity [1]. In the field of visual arts, the stead, is a copper sculpture, inspired by natural forms as technical perspective represents the best demonstration of the tail of this marine animal [6]. how sciences can improve the representation processes. The plane representation of three-dimensional objects was The same Storch, in collaboration with the mathemati- an issue discussed since ancient times, and for this reason cians Bernd Krauskopf and Hinke Osinga, made a band of artists found different solutions based on empiricism. the 'Lorenz Manifold' as a sculptural form in metal. The Only during the Renaissance there was a change towards researchers Krauskopf and Osinga developed computer the elaboration of precise rules for the representation of models, through which Storch worked to create his elegant reality: Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) in his De Pic- steel sculpture, using a special hammering technique [7]. tura, was the first who wrote about perspective and pre- Other sculptures were firstly physically accomplished sented a true perspective representation model [2], extend- and then modeled in a digital three-dimensional way. This ing the ideas of his predecessor Brunelleschi (1377-1446). is the case of the handworks of the sculptor John Robin- Later, Piero della Francesca (1416-1492), in his De per- son (1935-2007). In the early 1970s this sculptor began spectiva pingendi, investigated in deep this argument us- the “Universe Series” of Symbolic Sculpture, a series of ing mathematical and geometrical subjects. over one hundred works, including sculptures in bronze, Moreover there is a deep analogy between the working wood, stainless steel, and marble. In this collection the art- processes of scientists and artists: both are human activi- ist represented symbolically the earth, animals, man and ties and essentially constitute a way of observing and in- woman, birth, religion, civilization, and death. Each work is a visual interpretation of the artist's feelings and each one is created in a form found in nature such as spiral, 8 http://www.i-joe.org SCIENAR VIRTUAL COMMUNITY: A USEFUL TOOL TO PROMOTE THE SYNERGIES AMONG ARTISTS AND SCIENTISTS ovoid, circle, and cone. In his artworks he matched scien- and to stimulate the creative process in producing new art tific and mathematical principles with artistic aesthetic. and science. In the last section, conclusion and suggestion For example, the artist saw the sculpture’s Immortality for follow-up work are reported. “...not only as a continuous journey through generations, but also the scroll on which all of life's experience is re- II. THE SCIENAR PROJECT: SCIENTIFIC SCENARIOS corded”. This sculpture is represented by a Möbius Band AND ART in the shape of a trefoil knot. The same sculpture was later The European project SCIENAR– Scientific Scenarios digitally modeled and animated by the same Robinson in and Art (http://www.scienar.eu/main) takes into account collaboration with the mathematician Nicholas Mee. the connection, existing between Science and Art from the While many artists use concepts and mathematical times of Greek Culture until present time, and it uses the forms to represent their feelings in accomplishing their innovative possibilities that new media and ICTs offer for artworks, others use art to better communicate scientific a better visualization and communication. concepts. The central idea consists in developing and building The German painter and sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae, three emblematic scenarios, closely related to three differ- drawing inspiration from his background in physics, made ent historical ages, in which the interaction between a steel sculpture named “Quantum Man”. This sculpture Mathematics & Art is deep. represents the image of a walking man seen as a quantum In particular the scenarios refer to: object. This sculpture, symbolizing the dual nature of mat- ter (wave–particle duality, a central concept of quantum The birth of Mathematics in the Antiquity - Arithme- mechanics), being seen from the front shows its solid steel tic and Geometry. In this period Platonic Solids and consistence, but being seen from the side, it almost disap- The Golden Mean are the prototype of beauty and pears, because of the light that shines through the spaces harmony and the underlying Geometry is Euclidean between the slabs. Geometry, which describes the “ordinary space”; Evgeniy Meshkov, instead, in his “Composition No 3” Development of Mathematics from Renaissance to assembles five intersecting dodecahedra, formed by sixty '900: Perspective and Symmetry. During Renais- identical pieces, cut from sheets of mirror-plastic, with sance artists can represent the space as it appears by twelve spheres. The resulting product from this assembly means of Perspective, while its construction are suggests a complex molecule [6]. dominated by symmetry. In both just described processes of communication, art- Mathematics in the XX Century: Curvature, Motion, ists and scientists found a strong support in the use of Relativity and Chaos. The modern art represent the ICTs. In fact, these last ones have given to artists the op- World as it is perceived by human mind. In Mathe- portunity to renew and revitalize their creativity by pro- matics, together with Riemannian Geometry, we ducing digital artistic products such as 2D and 3D images have the dissolution of an absolute space in favor of [8, 9, 10] and music [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. Rizzuti et al [16] many private ones. used chaotic systems to generate sounds and music. Be- Furthermore, this project aims to: enhance the exchange sides being a valuable tool in the artistic composition, the of information and expertise related to the topic of same technologies have also become a milestone of mod- SCIENAR, facilitating thus relations among institutions of ern education [17], especially for the visualization and the sector in order to obtain an efficient network through teaching of scientific concepts, for which visualizing ideas which experts can really cooperate and to facilitate crea- represent a crucial problem [18]. tive

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