Word that means art and science

While not perfect, I think you could refer to a painter or a sculptor as applying a «discipline».

or in the case of a broad selection : multidisciplinary

Certainly «discipline’ could refer to a broad variety of sciences…perhaps too broad as it could cross into medicine, law, philosophy etc.

discipline from Oxford Living Dictionaries

2) A branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education.

‘sociology is a fairly new discipline’

‘Both men draw not only from their own disciplines but from their knowledge of history, sociology, and literature.’

or

Multidisciplinary at Oxford Living Dictionaries

Combining or involving several academic disciplines or professional specializations in an approach to a topic or problem.

While the connection to art is less common my google search of «disciplines of art» did yield articles that used the word discipline in connection to art.

Here is one headline and article using the term repeatedly in that connection.

“What Kind Of Art Do You Make?”: Defining Your Discipline

Here is an example of an author involved with a MoMa referring to art and science as different disciplines and referring to the combining the two as taking an interdisciplinary approach.

Why So Siloed? Costs and Benefits of Interdisciplinary Approaches in Museums

I remember a high school chemistry teacher of mine singing a song about hydrogen and then asking our class to create our own piece (poem, painting, performance, anything) about our favorite element on the periodic table. Needless to say I will not forget the atomic mass of neon anytime soon. This combination of seemingly disparate disciplines not only allowed appreciation for both, but also lent to an enriched experience for us students. Educators work to create multiple entry points for students to connect to a subject in their own personal ways, because a personal connection means greater retention in the future. As informal learning institutions, museums have the potential to experiment with these types of interdisciplinary practices.

Do you consider yourself a scientist or an artist, or perhaps neither? What is your definition of the arts and sciences? In your mind are they totally inseparable or are they on two sides of a divide?

My training and long experience in the arts and education has taught me that there is an unwritten perception of science as being the more intelligent and more demanding area of learning than the arts. Often the arts are referred to as the ‘lighter option’! It is said that ‘Science demands intelligence while the arts demand talent!’.

However, as a Baha’i I like to reflect on how Baha’u’llah writes about the ‘arts and sciences’, always honoured together as illustrated below:

Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. ¹

One of the names of God is the Fashioner. He loveth craftsmanship. Therefore any of His servants who manifesteth this attribute is acceptable in the sight of this Wronged One. Craftsmanship is a book among the books of divine sciences, and a treasure among the treasures of His heavenly wisdom. This is a knowledge with meaning, for some of the sciences are brought forth by words and come to an end with words. ²

I am fascinated by the apparent dichotomy between the accepted understanding and the Baha’i Writings so I asked myself four questions:

• What might the words ‘science’ and ‘art’ mean in the Baha’i Writings?
• What are the roots of these words in history?
• Is the understanding of these words the same now as it was long ago?
• How can an understanding of the relationship between the arts and sciences contribute to the community building endeavour driven by the Institute Process?

Beginning with the roots of the words ‘science’ and ‘art’, I discovered that the root of the word ‘science’ whether in Latin, Greek or Arabic means ‘knowledge’, broad and undefined, and only in the 17^th century did the meaning become narrowed to mean a ‘body of regular or methodical observations or propositions concerning a particular subject or speculation.’

The roots of the word ‘art’ reveal an interesting change in meaning in the 17^th century. The Latin root is artem /ars /artis (skill) that in the 12^th century, for example, meant ‘work of art; practical skill; a business, craft,’ and ‘skill as a result of learning or practice.’ However, by the early 1700’s the term ‘art’ had come to mean ‘one who practices the arts of design or visual arts.’ As with ‘science’, the word ‘art’ narrowed from its original meaning.

With this in mind I explored the first question: What might the words ‘science’ and ‘art’ mean in the Baha’i Writings? In the Persian language there are several words used to describe art; ‘hunar’ and ‘fan’ being two of them. They mean a learned skill or ability, or being skilled in the art of something. There is also ‘san’at’ which refers more to industry and trades.

These words equally refer to something that can be held or touched, as to an activity that can be experienced. So these words might refer to a brick wall, a suit of clothes, a painting, a ceramic pot, a tool, a table, a plate of food, a machine or equally to a conversation, dance, parenting, facilitation, poetry, music, etc. So someone can be referred to as a ‘hunarmand’, which means a ‘skillsman’ or one who ‘possesses the art’ of something. Therefore, in Persian the arts are broad and all-inclusive of anything that demands a skill whether that results in an object or an activity. The word for ‘science’, in Persian, is ‘Ilm’, which means knowledge, wisdom, learning, scholarship or more generally a search for knowledge.

Bringing together the exploration of the roots of the words ‘art’ and ‘science’, that originally were broad and inclusive and the meanings in Persian, which are also broad and inclusive, I began to realise that the understanding of art and science now is very much narrower than in the past. However, what might they actually mean in practice?

Knowledge acquisition is surely hardwired into the human race; it is impossible not to gain knowledge. From the moment of birth, the baby ‘wants to know’ about its surroundings, and once a person has knowledge they cannot help but apply that knowledge in whatever context it is applicable. Is this the connection between the sciences and the arts? Is the ‘art’ (the skill) simply the application or practice of the ‘science’ (the knowledge)?

In practice, we see and know them to be inseparable; a surgeon must acquire a body of knowledge or the science of medicine, but in the operating theatre their practice is an art. The theory of education is a science, its application in the classroom is surely an art. The science of horticulture when applied to create a beautiful garden or healthy crops is an art. Think of any context and this pattern applies.

So, could we all be scientists and all be artists? How might this idea change how we see ourselves contributing to building communities through the Institute Process?

We all gain a body of knowledge, (our science/s) whether by study, by experience, or by living our lives. We all apply that knowledge through our skills (our arts), whether through professions, passions, or living our lives. Therefore, whatever our knowledge and whatever our skills they can be applied to the Institute Process — a process where we both acquire knowledge, then develop and apply the skills learnt.

These are our ‘arts’, our unlimited range of skills that result in an object being made or an activity being experienced or both. Suddenly the ‘arts’ do become broad and inclusive, everyone has skills, so everyone can offer their ‘art’. Perhaps this understanding can allow people who have never considered themselves to be ‘artists’ to be involved in offering their art to the community. Their arts might be manifested through cooking, mathematics, building, conversation, horticulture, facilitation, engineering, as well as parenting, teaching, dressmaking, architecture and administration etc. etc. Think of the knowledge and skills in your own community, are there skills/arts that could be shared that no-one has previously recognised as an art?

Might this be what Baha’u’llah is suggesting when He uses the words ‘art’, ‘craft’, ‘science’ and ‘knowledge’ so often together and so closely interwoven? Something to think about perhaps!

---

In a world divided, it has become a common belief that the huge difference between art and science means that these two extremes are not to be mixed with anything else, e.g., religion vs. science or art vs. science. However, in some cases, if you were to take a closer look, you might find this isn’t actually the case. Science and art are the very nature of human attempts to understand and describe the world around us. Though these subjects and methods have different traditions, and the intended audiences are different, in many cases, their basic motivations and goals are fundamentally the same.

A perfect example of this would be the Industrial Age, a time during which thought, and concepts lead to design. The art of drawing, diagrams, structural compositions, and calculations worked together in harmony to bring about many of the inventions that have shaped the world we know today.

Another perfect example would have to be the great Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Known mostly for his breathtaking works of art, he was also considered an inventor and scientist. Artfully creating a harmonious balance between the two extremes that were the founders of his greatest works. More so, Da Vinci’s talent as a bridge engineer was proven in 2001, when the equally famous artist Vebjorn Sand built the da Vinci-Broen bridge in Norway using the artist’s original plans for a bridge meant to stretch across the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Mostly due to its ambitious designs, the bridge idea was originally rejected as an architectural impossibility by the Ottoman Sultan who commissioned it. The bridge was built 499 years after Da Vinci skillfully designed it, proving the headstrong Sultan wrong.

When Science Meets Art – The Coming Together of Two Worlds

In truth, science has been influencing art from as early as man learned to draw. Be it the depiction of movement, life cycles, and evolution found in ancient cave drawings and symbols, or the intricate science of communication depicted in the famous hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. One has never been very far from the other. 

Going beyond this, there are numerous scientific breakthroughs and methods that have periodically changed the very nature and history of art, including:

The Telescope 

Before Galileo showed us how to observe the cosmos, the sun, moon, and stars belonged firmly to the realm of the gods. Paintings made before the invention of the telescope showed the heavens as a magical realm; the sun and moon in Raphael’s “Mond Crucifixion” literally have faces gazing out at the viewer. The invention of the telescope revealed these celestial objects as physical, observable bodies. Taking this to heart, artists began to follow a more realistic approach; Donato Creti’s painting “Moon and Jupiter” shows stars and planets as viewed through a telescope.

Pigments 

Millennia have passed since certain types of dirt, clay, rock, and plants were originally used to create different colored pigments for illustrations and art. Through science, humans were able to evolve their primitive ways. Science enabled them to incorporate more advanced chemistry, including the use of lapis lazuli and lead. 

Photography

Photography is by far, one of the crowning achievements in our creative history. As this wondrous invention evolved, newer mediums used light and chemistry to ‘print’ an image directly onto a treated sheet of silver-plated copper. The new technique was met with praise as photography allowed artists to immediately replicate what they were viewing.

Plaster

The discovery of plaster, which was essentially a mixture of heat-treated, powdered gypsum, limestone, or cement with water, led to the incredible development of some of the oldest known architectural and artistic techniques. It was also used to smooth walls, floors, and ceilings. Plaster can be traced back as early as 9,000 BC in Mesopotamia.

The History and Combination of Art and Science 

History is littered with combinations of art and science that can be traced back to the very beginning of humankind. When looking into the history of science alone, we can easily see that when man first created fire, an entirely new world of colors and possibilities opened up to us. We were able to explore and see new things, heat things up, and melt substances to create new substances. Some might say that art is more important than science. However, each period of enlightenment or scientific revolution has often been accompanied by an artistic boom of some form or another.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance (as previously mentioned) played major roles in many of the most famous science and art combinations found in our history books. In fact, one of the most famous paintings known today has always been a perfect mix of symmetry and color, tones, and angles.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance (as previously mentioned) played major roles in many of the most famous science and art combinations found in our history books. In fact, one of the most famous paintings known today has always been a perfect mix of symmetry and color, tones, and angles.

How The Relationship Between Science And Art Continues To Change

With new techniques, software, and technologies being created on a regular basis, we can see more and more changes taking place between art and science on an almost constant basis. Photography has always had a profound impact on the art world. It beautifully enhances our natural creative skills and lends an extra level of manipulation and scope. As better and stronger cameras are created, this impact only seems to grow. 

Another example in the working world would have to be the phenomenal creation and growth of Apple Inc. In some circles, Steve Jobs has been referred to as an artist because of how he approached the design of the hardware and product finishes. His attitude in this regard has gone on to affect many businesses around the world through an inspirational guide that has led to the strong and forward-thinking corporations we see around us today.However, the most influential factor as time goes on would have to be digitization. The symbiotic relationship between art and science has existed for a long time. Now, with the ongoing digital revolution, it has gained a much-needed boost. With “digital arts” like CGI, animation, and virtual sculpture, our grasp on art has soared to an entirely new level that has been giving wonderous insights into our possible artistic futures.

Professionals That Artfully Combine the Two 

At Artwork Abode, we are the kind of professionals that not only combine art and science but push the concept further every time. Our team is highly trained in every combination of art and science. We are adept at using these skills in every project we take on.

We ensure only to use the very best methods backed by the latest software and offer skills in all types of digitization, including rendering, 3D modeling, CAD as well as tailormade solutions for any artistic project. The benefits of the phrase “art meets science” can be captured easily conveniently by simply reaching out to our team and let us show you how it’s done. Wrote an article Ghostwriter Hausarbeit.

– Artwork Abode

 “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science,” -Albert Einstein.

Practically speaking, art is a product of expression. In the abstract, art is often practiced either to make sense of our reality or to create a manifestation of the consciousness of the artist itself. Science, on the other hand, is an exploration of the world around us in an effort to find universal, indisputable truths.

In short, art is often introspective while science is extrospective. You might say art is used to understand the consciousness while science is used to understand the external reality.

Obviously, “what is art?” is a much more controversial question than “what is science?”. Here, we’re working with a general definition. If you disagree or think your concept of art would change our arguments, please, share your ideas with us.

Can truth and beauty mix? Is it possible for a work of science to be a work of art, or vice-versa? Above all, what is the connection between art and science? Where does one draw the line? Is there even a line?

Demolishing the Wall Between the “Two Cultures”

In a lecture delivered on May 7th, 1959, at the Senate House in Cambridge, Charles Percy Snow argued that science and the humanities were evolving into two distinct cultures.

Snow was a novelist and physical chemist that dabbled in both art and science. He saw this separation as a major obstacle to the progression of human society.

He was concerned with scientists who shy away from reading literature and artists who ignore the scientific method. If this became the norm, Snow saw us losing bridges that help these “two cultures” converge. Snow thought that the collective human intellect would grow if these bridges survived.

This was the relationship between art and science as pictured by Snow almost 60 years ago.

Nowadays, thanks to the development of specialized institutions, organizations, and departments, art and science are more separate than ever. Think of an entomologist and a performance artist–is there anything that links these two individuals at all?

It could be argued that this arbitrary dichotomy between art and science seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon.

In the past, during major periods of enlightenment, scientific revolutions have often been accompanied by an artistic boom.

This is well exemplified by the Renaissance that rebooted Europe after a long dark, violent, and unproductive spell.

Although primarily animated and driven by a new scientific spirit, the period of the Renaissance was also a high period for the arts.

These two schools were so deeply interlinked at the time that they could even be personified into one individual. There is no other figure that captures the Renaissance universalist spirit quite like Leonardo da Vinci as a mathematician, a painter, and an inventor all at the same time.

However, this is only one perspective of the argument. It is also important to look at why these artistic and scientific movements began.

Does an advancement in science cause a development in art? Or does creative expression lead to scientific experimentation?

Often, these movements are concurrent because the reasons behind them are the same. Economic prosperity, ideological freedom, a large cultural exchange of ideas, materials, and skills development have each contributed to artistic and scientific expression.

If one takes a look at most if not all ancient civilizations, major artistic and cultural landmarks were tied to a practical purpose.

Look at the Great Pyramids. A great work of engineering for sure, but the artistic beauty is undeniable.

Furthermore, their creation, along with similar marvels such as the Acropolis, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Forbidden City, Coliseum, Jetavanaramaya, Chichen Itza, or even the Empire State Building is almost always tied with economic prosperity and national pride, power, and expression.

Art and science, in other words, are first linked by their expression of human development, prosperity, and productivity.

Before silicon started running through the Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area was a hotbed of artistic expression. There is evidence to suggest that this is a result of the specialization trend that arose with the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

As workers developed from general laborers into employees with specific tasks, there arose more time and energy for individuals to improve and develop advancements in the most niche areas of science and industry.

Specialization made it possible to cope with an ever-growing body of knowledge, to efficiently organize the various efforts of the industry, to standardize a field, and to improve and develop society and the economy as a whole.

For scientists, a narrower field of study gives them the opportunity to dive deeper into their investigations. It means that they can now move from a discipline to a field and then into a subfield where they can spend time and effort on an issue that would have never been possible before.

This overspecialization that seeks to elevate science, in addition to being self-detrimental, has often widened the schism between art and science. As an individual or field becomes ever more focused on one idea or investigation, every other issue is thrown to the curb.

However, in the era of the gestating Industry 4.0, it is now more necessary than ever for scientific experimentation and creative expression to cooperate. This marriage will be necessary in order to navigate the needs, demands, and desires of the ever-growing global population.

The Long-Standing Dialogue Between Arts and Sciences May be Set to Change

Photography, which was invented in the first half of the 19^th century, was born from the marriage of science and the visual arts. Even though, we seem to be still unsure how to categorize photography: is it an art or a science?

The camera began as a scientific device with its first users being botanists and archeologists. However, it did not take long for it to evolve into an artistic tool as artists saw its great potential for expression, discovery, and introspection.

That doesn’t mean that photography hasn’t had its detractors. Many people, especially ladies of the time, didn’t like the “faithful” way it rendered reality compared to the often flattering painted portraits of tradition.

Regardless of the critics, if technology has elevated art, art has also managed to do the same for science.

John Gould (1804–1881) helped identify and paint Darwin’s finches, which would later be one of the most central arguments in his theory of evolution.

A case could be made that the phenomenal success of Apple Inc. is attributed in part to its founder’s artistic spirit. Steve Jobs was known to approach the production of Apple devices artistically and considered a computer as a work of art.

The relationship between art and science has existed for a long time. Now, with the ongoing digital revolution, it has gained a much-needed boost.

Digitization is speeding up the convergence between art and technology and provides a conducive environment for the combination of the two fields.

At the crossroads between science and art, new forms of expression and discovery are appearing at every turn. These new developments are leveraging the combined power of the rigorous scientific approach with the subjectivity and experimentalism of creative arts.

The “digital arts” like CGI, animation, and virtual sculpture use digital technology as a tool in the creative process.

Art Uses Lies to Reveal the Truth

Artistic creations are the result of the artist’s subjective expression. However, this expression is also dependent on the spectator’s own subjective taste.

In other words, does art have any pretense to the truth? Is art inherently deceptive? Picasso once said that “art is a lie, but it is a lie by which we know the truth.”

In the contemporary world, art is more associated with emotions and impressions than reason or reality. It only takes a quick glimpse at Van Gogh’s sunflowers or Picasso’s entire life’s work to realize that reality has had no place in art for well over a century.

Reality gets even more twisted in surrealist works. You’d be forgiven if you think that the rendition of reality in Dali’s “Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach” can’t be further from the truth

But, as with most works of art, there’s far more to it than meets the eye.

The painting’s relationship to the real-world truth seems tenuous. Yet, that doesn’t mean there’s no reality to it, visually-speaking.

At first look, you see the mysterious face embedded in a dish-like object with what looks like pears and a beach setting. But upon closer inspection, other things such as people and scenery start to unfold.

Dali is augmenting reality in his own way, with multi-layered “real” images that overlap to evoke the fleeting nature of reality in the world.

Read More: Where VR Failed, Magic Leap One Might Prevail

As with many artists of the contemporary era, realism was no longer an issue for Dali. Neither was it for the art itself. The question that Dali is trying to raise is a common one: what is art? What form of reality does this art belong in?

It is a question of perception. It’s an attempt to find the place of the consciousness within the physical sphere. This consideration illuminates how our interpretation of reality may be far from the truth.

This, in a sense, is one of the central beliefs of our own modern scientific viewpoint. Since Einstein, one of the main tenets of science has been that our reality is not constant. Everything we previously assumed as fact is now questionable, and we can take nothing for granted as true.

Although science and art began by traveling in separate directions, it seems as though they have come to the same conclusion.

That is: we really don’t have much of an idea about anything.

Speaking of realism, or the lack thereof, there are few things that can be more “real” than raw digital data. Figures and stats are facts and truths that depict reality as is, or at least how we see it.

Beyond businesses, IoT, and other mercantile applications, Big Data is also providing a canvas for digital artists.

Data visualization is a new art form where data is a tool that enables us to see the invisible side of digital reality. This is not only for pure artistic value, but it can also be implemented in scientific applications. As with photography, the line between science and art relies entirely on the implementation of the tool.

Art and Science: Reciprocal Role-Playing

Admittedly, art and science take two different highways. Yet, they often go side by side in the same direction. What’s more, there are connector paths that are already established between them.

Science and art can complement each other not on the basis of their similarities but rather on their differences, which allows for an inventive dialogue.

Linked by their end goal, that of the search for an understanding of the world and of life, scientists in their labs and artists in their studios can use their own specificities to reciprocally demonstrate the ethos of the other.

A scientist-artist, Zachary Copfer, combines a photographic process with biological practices to create unusual pieces of art.

The technique of “Bacteriography” is similar to the darkroom process in photography. However, it uses ultraviolet rays and a colony of living bacteria in a petri dish.

Copfer, who created amazing portraits of historical science and art figures, is not sure whether he’s a “microbiologist masquerading as an artist. Or am I an artist masquerading as a microbiologist.”

The Materials Research Society, an organization that works for interdisciplinary dialogue between scientific societies, understands the artistic lining of science.

For about a decade, MRS has been holding the “Science as Art” challenge twice a year. At this event, scientists showcase their materials, such as nanoparticles and crystals, as stunning image artworks.

Falling between the two fields of art and science, art therapy is a discipline of the human sciences. It extends the field of psychotherapy by adding art as a tool in the healing process.

“Art Therapy” brings together several artistic practices (such as painting, dance, photography, etc.) which are used for therapeutic purposes along with scientific theories of psychology.

In all, the border between art and science has always been blurred. Although the development of specialization and the institutionalization of these fields has led to a minor separation in some areas of how art and science interact, it has not severed the ties completely.

In fact, it could be said that the links between science and art are closer than ever. Both studies are attempting to understand the universe either through introspective contemplation or through experimentation and study.

In a world that is only increasing in the speed at which society and, in turn, our reality is changing, science and art need to work together more than ever. Together, they can improve and develop the collective human consciousness.

Do you think of any other overlapping areas where science and art meet or other ways the two can enrich each other?