The Centre for Research in Art Science and Humanity is a unique facility for creative research in art and science. Hosted by the School of Design and Art it has developed from existing interests in nanotechnology, locative media and mediated networks and seeks to explore ideas across the scientific disciplines such as chemistry and wider into technological applications and the humanities.
The continued expansion of the arts economy has seen an exponential increase in the need for art-science specific research in an Australian context. Plugging into the importance of research & development and developing strategic alliances between universities, governments and the corporate sector are critical in an increasingly networked environment. The rise and rise of creativity, its application and dual social and economic value is unprecedented. Fresh ways of working creatively will result in inventive ways of understanding the rapid and inevitable changes in the world. This will see both intangible and tangible notions of creative production and science for the first time in history sit side by side.
The Centre for Research in Art Science and Humanity (CRASH) facilitates the develo
pment of research within the areas of culture, art and science. Our goal is to link the creative ideology associated with the arts, to the immersive aspects of new science. The first research cluster centres around Media Art Postgraduate Studio (MAPs) students. We envisage the development of more clusters investigating areas such as chemistry, augmented realities, nanotechnology, the spatial sciences, biology, locative media and artificial intelligence.
The image on the right is the newly installed i-500 public artwork in the Chemistry and Resources Centre (building 500). The artwork by Dr Paul Thomas, Chris Malcolm and Mike Phillips (working with Woods Bagot Architects) will use and manipulate data derived from the Building Management System, cctv cameras, supercomputers and input from individual researchers in the building. These data streams are displayed on screens and projected onto the ceiling of the three storey foyer. The building houses the Nanochemistry Research Institute where we have developed the kind of art and sciences linkages that we hope to encourage and expand upon in the future.
Director Paul Thomas
