While C. P. Snow divides the world in art and science and places these two groups at odds with each other, I don't see his writings as inherently being about art and science. Instead, I interpret his discussion as being a distinction between traditionalism and modernism and his argument as a frustration with traditionalism and its results.
Sacred writing of the Baha'i faith discussing traditionalism vs. modernism
He is not alone in making this argument and he is also not the first. A relatively new religion, Baha'i, which began in Iran in the mid-1800's, has been attempting to address the problem of traditionalism vs. modernism in the context of religion for the last 150 years. The Baha'i faith even has a similar position, arguing that modernism must be embraced and combined with traditionalism. This combination of modernism and traditionalism is comparable to Snow's own prediction that there will eventually be third culture which bridges the gap between art and science.
Example of an image built with 3D modeling assets as seen in the left half of the image
With my admittedly narrow perspective, it is difficult for me to view the modern world as anything other than a melting pot of art and science. I know this is mostly due to my current position in life; I currently work for a company, named We Are Fuzzy, that makes and sells virtual 3D assets used in virtual art, vfx, and numerous other artistic applications. We've also developed a video game and multiple virtual reality projects. All of these projects serve as perfect examples of how art has evolved to include an immense variety of content, much of which integrates cutting edge technology. I'm also a psychobiology major, the only major which is a bachelor of science in a department where every other possible major is a bachelor of art. So clearly I'm a little bit biased, but I don't think it is accurate to say art and science and two separate cultures, at least not anymore.
Announcement trailer for We Are Fuzzy's first game
Sources:
Abdu'l-Baha, Ali-Kuli Khan. "The Secret of Divine Civilization." Baha'i Publishing Trust, 2007. Print.
This post was extremely interesting because I took a class on the Baha'i faith and didn't draw these parallels until now. I had also not considered the relation to traditionalism and modernism. It is hard for our generation to see this divide sometimes because we grew up so engrossed in modernism.
I really enjoyed reading this blog as it provided a novel interpretation to C.P. Snow's writings and a more optimistic outlook on the state of the Two Cultures. The parallel with Baha'i is a relevant one as it not only illustrates the difficulty of past cultures reconciling traditionalism with modernism, but illustrates the trend in history of gradual reconciliation between art and science in religion. I would add that while the merging of art and science is definitely prevalent in the business world, as you brought up with We Are Fuzzy, in academic circles it's still somewhat harder to reconcile; however the trend definitely seems to be merging towards convergence as time moves on.
Pollock's Blue Pole Painting While art and science may seem as though they have nothing in common, there are a surprising number of overlaps if you take the time to look for them. As someone with a background in science and math as opposed to art, finding these crossovers between the subjects has really helped me appreciate art in a new way. A great example of this is Jackson Pollock's work with drip painting. I have seen Pollock's work before but I have always been in the category of people who criticize his abstract form for being meaningless and able to be done by anyone. His paint drips, however, contain much more complexity (fractals) than I previously thought. This intricacy makes the painting infinitely more interesting to me because it is no longer just random paint splatters in my mind. Fractals in architecture Besides providing another aspect to the paintings that make them interesting, fractals are also inherently aesthetically-pleasing patterns. This
As a psychobiology major at UCLA, I have already had some exposure to the subject of biotechnology. As a matter of fact, I took a course as a freshman titled Biotechnology and Society which spanned the length of three quarters. Because of this previous experience, the artists Joe Davis and Eduardo Kac stand out to me as doing a great job in bridging biotechnology and art. Example of Brainbow Kac holding his GFP Bunny Eduardo Kac is famous for his work done with GFP (green fluorescent protein), a technology which has helped to advance the field of biotech through applications such as fluorescent labeling. While it has facilitated many other important discoveries, Kac used it to create a fluorescent rabbit as an art piece. While some may argue that this was a useless exercise, I see it as an expression of art through a canvas no one has been able to use before. It is somewhat similar in this sense to brainbow, a form of art where fluorescent tags are used to color neurons in a
This post was extremely interesting because I took a class on the Baha'i faith and didn't draw these parallels until now. I had also not considered the relation to traditionalism and modernism. It is hard for our generation to see this divide sometimes because we grew up so engrossed in modernism.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog as it provided a novel interpretation to C.P. Snow's writings and a more optimistic outlook on the state of the Two Cultures. The parallel with Baha'i is a relevant one as it not only illustrates the difficulty of past cultures reconciling traditionalism with modernism, but illustrates the trend in history of gradual reconciliation between art and science in religion. I would add that while the merging of art and science is definitely prevalent in the business world, as you brought up with We Are Fuzzy, in academic circles it's still somewhat harder to reconcile; however the trend definitely seems to be merging towards convergence as time moves on.
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