On Apr. 18, the President of Korea National University of Art, Park Jongwon, was invited to POSTECH to give special lectures. Embracing the lecture that KNUA President Park gave, The Postech Times asked him how art and science affect each other. His response is as below.
Techne
“In the Greek period, there was the word Techne, which embraced medicine, rhetoric, technology, math, art, and science. Science and art had passed the middle age and renaissance period together, but suddenly science steeply developed. After the Industrial Revolution, science has lead daily life, and art has kept a critical eye on material civilization. Then after the World Wars, common thinking rebounded toward emphasis on the negative effects of material civilization developed by science. This led to human-centered thinking, postmodernism, which considered art again.”
Art and science, generalized
“A long time ago, special people discussed technology and science. People developing a rocket, for example, probably discussed reducing resistance. However nowadays, tremendous technologies are developed from everyday life and are readily available to people. We now think science and technology are close to us. Current thought is also breaking the concept that art is fragile and far from daily life and the idea that art seeks ease and pleasure. We now know that singing is not only for singers and playing piano is not only for pianists. These things also bring joy to others. Like this, science and art are overgeneralized.”
Virtuous effect circle
“In art there is imaginative and creative power, which predicts what pattern will be drawn with proceeding human life. For example, movies predict and show developed ideas that current science and technology can’t realize. The imagination eventually leads technology. Also, all the tools and forms that can hold arts come from science. Such as media art, IMAX, smart TV and so on. In video technology, for example, image quality has significantly improved. Movies like Avatar couldn’t be created without computer graphics, tools and processes that science has created. Science and technology aim to increase convenience and pleasure, and arts are born to give that pleasure and be useful to many people. Since both science and art are generalized nowadays, a virtuous effect circle has emerged.
Reunion of science and art
“Once again, art gives imaginative and creative suggestion and stimulation, and science gives containers and tools that can serve existing imagination. If art gives imagination, science and technology realize that, and with the result of realization, art makes steps for further imagination. It is an exchange that meshes and turns nicely. Art will have to try to direct the development of human-centered science and technology, always keeping a critical eye on the relationship between humans and the world. It is time to go back to the period Techne existed. This is talk in large scale and also the reason why art and science meet.”
