Science, performance and transformation: performance for a ‘scientific’ age?

Abstract

The ‘two cultures’ of science and the arts/humanities are often considered at odds, but digital technology, and the broader implications of digital culture, provides a model for more productive forms of exchange and hybridity. This article applies theories of intercultural theatre practice to performance that works across this cultural divide to explore the types of interaction that take place. Following a historical discussion of the science/art divide, a three-fold model is proposed and explored through case studies including Djerassi and Laszlo's 2003 NO, Eduardo Kac's 1999 Genesis, Reckless Sleepers' 1996/2006 Schrödinger's Box, and John Barrow's 2002 Infinities. It is argued that science operates through the creation of mathematical models of aspects of the physical world, whilst art similarly constructs different kinds of models for understanding the social/cultural and occasionally physical world. Digital technology expands the modelling possibilities both directly, through simulation, virtual reality and integration into ‘live’ activities of augmented and intermedia performance, and through the transformative nature of digital culture.