The separation of the “two cultures” between art and science has always been an influence in my education. From a young age, my parents have continually motivated me to pursue scientific interests, thus leading me to choose Computer Science as my major. I thought that this somewhat of a formal declaration to remove myself from the art world—the basis of computers are built from units that have only two options:right or wrong, with no in-between. However, as I have learned more about this field, I’ve seen artistic expression and creativity embed itself more and more in this field, bridging technology and art in ways I didn’t expect.
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Cartoon Showing a Computer Rendering a Still Life Painting (Shnahalo, 2015). |
It was especially interesting to me to hear that C.P.Snow’s work about the separation of Two Cultures was to bring attention to the disparity of wealth caused by the Industrial Revolution (Vesna, TwoCultures part1 3.53). Growing up, the existing stereotype of a sophisticated successful scientist and the stereotype of a lonely artist with no money (Vesna, TwoCultures pt2 10:49) was continually perpetuated among my family. It was eye-opening to see that the education system continues to adhere to this separation, maintaining the outdated notions of the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution (RSA Animates).
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| Image Depicting the Typical Left vs. Right Sides of the Brain (Alamo Stock Vector, 2020). |
Beyond all this separation, I believe that there is a third culture coming into the light as science continues to develop and artists explore modernizations of their art with technology. Snow shares his optimistic perspective about the two worlds merging as a third culture in “The Two Cultures: A Second Look”, and this join can be seen of as a triangle-like relationship between artists, scientists, and artists who use technology (Vesna, Toward a Third Culture 122). Snow’s original perspective of the notions of art and science being polarizing and split into two groups (Snow, Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution 4) is now muddled in a world where artists can create pieces using technological mediums, or generative AI technology can create art itself. At its core, art and science shares the qualities of divergent thinking, where the creativity of this thinking just manifests itself differently in each relative field (RSA Animates).
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| Cartoon Emphasizing Scientists and Artists can be Synonymous (Office Guy Cartoons, 2020). |
Works Cited
“RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Oct. 2010, https://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U
Snow, C.P. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution/" Cambridge University Press, 1959.
Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–25. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014. Accessed 5 Apr. 2024.
Vesna, Victoria. “TwoCultures part1.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 Mar. 2012, https://youtu.be/VNI7dF3DIAM
Vesna, Victoria. “TwoCultures pt2.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 Mar. 2012, https://youtu.be/GUr4xxZ_0gw
Images Cited
Shmahalo, Olena. Paul Cezanne's "Still Life with Apples" courtesy of the Gett's Open Content Program, 8 August 2015, https://www.wired.com/2015/08/computers-changing-way-explain-world/
Alamo Stock Vector. "Brain Functions Illustration With Left and Right Hemispheres, White Background", 29 July 2020, https://www.alamy.com/brain-functions-illustration-with-left-and-right-hemispheres-white-background-image369427847.html?imageid=6F6E91E0-94F2-4E1D-BD71-94F8AEFC50DC&p=800805&pn=1&searchId=8c00eff70c4fdbef104d4591164a234e&searchtype=0
Office Guy Cartoons. "Art vs Science", 28 August 2020, https://twitter.com/OfficeGuyToons/status/1295874425343025155
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