The
world is not a totality of things, nor is it a totality of facts;
it is a potential of infinite possibilities. When we perform a scientific
experiment, we explore this potential by observing the outcome of
deliberately contrived conditions. These days, this exploration tends
to occur in a distanced, theoretically mediated way. Prototypical
scientific experiments yield measurements: sequences of numbers
which raise our interest only to the extent that they corroborate
or undermine theoretical hypotheses. This distance, however, is not
an intrinsic property of the experimental procedure; it is the result
of the increasing complexity of theories and technologies. In the
early days of experimental science, the experiments often produced
directly observable "artificial phenomena" which, independently
of any theorizing, demonstrated new dimensions of reality and invited
new perspectives on the world. Experiments were often performed in
public, and many researchers exploited the entertainment value of
their discoveries. Experimental science was in many ways akin to the
performing arts.
Today's technological art, in its turn, shows close affinities with
scientific experimentation. A new continuity thus emerges, which suggests
a new vantage point for looking at the intertwined histories of art,
science and technology.
radical
art