Scientific arts amp up innovation

EXTRA >> AUSTRALIA has developed a unique collaboration between artists and scientists – the Synapse residencies – and three new projects are about to test the boundaries of their respective fields.

One project will test chronic pain using virtual reality and another is re-imagining the sculptural form through 3D printing utilising metal powders. In other leading edge research, haptic and robotic technologies are being adapted to see if they can make dance performance more accessible to audiences who are deaf-blind, blind or vision impaired. 

The Synapse residencies are a joint initiative between the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) and the Australia Council for the Arts and have been awarded annually since 2004.

Australia Council director for emerging and experimental arts, David Sudmalis said the residencies enabled long-term partnerships between artists and scientists in academic settings.

“The Australia Council supports creative partnerships and development opportunities for artists and the Synapse residencies enable them to work with scientists on an equal level,” Dr Sudmalis said.

“We have recognised that the methodologies of the arts and sciences can be similar in their creativity and rigour.”

ANAT director Vicki Sowry said, “Synapse residencies support interdisciplinary partnerships to pursue research that is both experimental and speculative, leading to unanticipated and exciting outcomes.  We have also been very pleased to see past collaborations continuing well beyond the initial 16-week residency period.” 

Building on her 2014 Arts Access Australia residency, Amplify Your Art, Eugenie Lee will work with Dr Tasha Stanton and Prof. Philip Poronnik – in a collaboration with Body in Mind at the University of South Australia, Neuroscience Research Australia and the University of Sydney – to create simulations of chronic pain within a virtual reality environment. 

The team will investigate how altering sensory perception using virtual reality technologies could contribute to the development of a therapeutic tool for chronic pain management.  This builds on Ms Lee’s work in investigating the complexities of chronic pain in installations, sculptures and performance.

John McCormick – in partnership with Motion.Lab and the Centre for Intelligent Systems Research at Deakin University – will continue his work over the past decade, researching movement tracking and simulation techniques for live performance environments. Dr McCormick will join Prof. Kim Vincs and Assoc. Prof. Douglas Creighton to explore haptic and robotic technologies in assisting the hearing and vision-impaired to experience live performance.

Dr Trinh Vu will partner AMAERO Engineering and the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing at Monash University to continue her extensive work in additive technologies through a project with Prof Xinhua Wu and her team. They will test the constraints and potentials of 3D printing with metal powders, focusing on the characteristics and conventions that result by bringing together digital technology and sculptural form.

An independent artist, Leah Barclay, was awarded a residency in 2014 to work with researchers at the Australian Rivers Institute.

“Synapse has been a fantastic opportunity to experiment and to develop a truly interdisciplinary foundation for a creative idea that we hope will have a lasting impact,” Dr Barclay said.

ANAT has been at the forefront of the interdisciplinary and experimental arts practice in Australia and internationally since 1988.  The organisation has championed creative risk-taking and been a proactive catalyst for experimentation and innovation across art, science and technology.

www.anat.org.au/synapse-art-science-residencies

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