conVerge: where art and science meet

The Art Gallery of South Australia and the Adelaide Festival 2002 are developing a project that explores the nexus between art, science and technology and its creative expression and asks "what happens at these points of intersection?"

"New developments in technology are changing the way we live (and possibly what it means to be alive). This path-breaking and news-making project creates a focus on the interaction between artist and scientist --- up to the minute explorations, ranging from bio-ethics to the environment to robotics. Welcome to the zone of pure research and discovery." Peter Sellars, 2001.

Many artists currently exploring scientific, technological and cultural developments of the 21st century are engaged in a critical debate. This is a discourse fused by complex social issues. These disciplines are often understood to be at odds with one another, but must engage if we are to realise our future and the potential roles of our creative practises within it.

This project in part responds to the Art Gallery of South Australia's other concurrent exhibition The Encounter, 1802: Art of the Flinders and Baudin Voyages which focuses on the paintings, drawings and prints by the artists on the two scientific voyages.

By bringing together divergent systems of knowledge, conVerge creates a vista into new ways of seeing and understanding the scientific, technological and cultural developments of our 21 century. We can no longer talk about art and science or about ecologically sustainable futures without engaging in the very real possibilities and issues being raised in the realm of biotechnology and genetic engineering. conVerge asks us to questions our role as creative individuals, and collectively as a community, in decision making processes that will steer our futures.

This project will comprise:

2002 Biennial of Australian Art:

This exhibition will profile a collection of work from Australian artists working with these themes in an exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Express opinions on: Image and Meaning, Knowledge Systems, Ecology, Genomics, Bioeconomics and Partnerships.

Stimulate discussion: archived conversations, email dialogues, hypotheticals, unrealisable projects, online discussions and forums. This resource will provide stimulii for a body of discourse, a series of conversations that will not only inform the 2002 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia and the conVerge symposium during the Adelaide Festival, but will also form a body of research and a resource for further collaborations and discussions between art and science beyond the Festival. This enterprise is essential to the development of interdisciplinary and cross industry discussion in the art and science fields.

conVerge working group: Linda Cooper (project coordinator), Jenny Fraser, Victoria Lynn, Amanda McDonald Crowley (chair), Karl Telfer, Sarah Thomas, Lynette Wallworth, Angharad Wynne-Jones. Advisors to the working group: Ron Radford, Peter Sellars.

archivist: Charity Bramwell, the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)

web site: Sarah Waterson (designer); Virtual Artists (construction)

This project has been supported by the Australia Council, the Federal Government's arts funding and advisory body