Mission Statement
Through collaborative creation between artists and scientists, Approaching the Unknown seeks to cultivate novel humanistic, scientific and artistic insight by transcending that which can be “known” and exploring that which must be experienced.
What we do
In partnership with community nonprofit art organizations, we pair local scientists with local artists to reimagine the scientific narrative. Scientist-artist pairs query the pain, joy, growth, authenticity and other existential themes inherent to the scientific experience and, through a facilitated process, develop these into original art pieces, across a variety of mediums. These collaborative works are then presented to the public at venues not traditionally associated with academic content.
Through this juxtaposition of two seemingly paradoxical perspectives, audience and participants are challenged to leave behind their expectations of either “scientist” or “artist”. By foregoing expectations, we seek to circumvent habitual neurological pathways and engage with the fullness of human experience, in all its mystery. Every collaborative work is a unique flavor of that mystery, captured in the act of creation between scientist-artist teams. Through vulnerability and shared experience, these works create a space to encounter the abstract in new and tangible ways; in other words, to think differently.
Why we do it
For the Sciences: A disconnect exists between the academic world and society at-large. This is, in part, due to the emphasis on fact distribution, at the expense of shared vulnerability and personal connection. Even with the growth of science communication and outreach initiatives, the disparity remains, as seen by the widely varied public response to pandemic protocols in 2020. It is now more imperative than ever that the academic institution rethink the way it interfaces with culture. Approaching the Unknown (ATU) offers this model as a unique opportunity for members of the scientific research community to be seen for who they are, not just their science, as they develop and strengthen relationships within their local communities. Additionally, the establishment of a bidirectional flow of ideas has great potential to catalyze new insight for all involved.
For the Community: ATU acknowledges the ever-increasing ideological polarization of our society and presents this model as a step towards healing it. Through the juxtaposition of opposites, we are challenged to look beyond what we expect to see; to pick up someone else’s story, feel its weight, run our hands across the rough, bumpy surface and figure out where it fits in our personal worldview. At which point, we may realize that it only fits if we shift our own perspective. This leads to not only new ways of understanding art, science and the intimate parallels between the two, but also new ways of understanding each other. Such experiences are essential for strengthening societal empathy and understanding.
For the Arts: At a time in our history when the Arts are so deeply needed, financial support for educational and social art programming is being decimated across the country. Artist collaboration is the pillar of this initiative and ATU is committed to developing reciprocal relationships with our artist partners through fair financial compensation and organizational/individual support.