Skip To Content
NSF Logo Search GraphicGuide To Programs GraphicImage Library GraphicSite Map GraphicHelp GraphicPrivacy Policy Graphic
OLPA Header Graphic
 
     
 
 
 
perpetual perceptual: An exhibit by Jessica Bronson INFILTRATE: An exhibit by Ken Goldberg and Pietro Perona CHEESE: An exhibit by Christian Möller BODY ELECTRIC: An exhibit by Malcolm MacIver and Simon Penny Einstein's Dilemma: An exhibit by Jennifer Steinkamp
The SCIANCE exhibit featuring computer terminals in an office setting that visitors can use to log onto the SCIANCE website.
  Photo Credit: Courtesy of Art Center College of Design
  Return to homepage
 Skip To Page Navigation
Additional Links
SCIANCE homepage
Martin Kersels’s homepage
Peter Schröder’s homepage
California Institute of the Arts
CNSE homepage
Caltech
Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design
University of California at Irvine
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
NSF Newsroom
NSF Division of Engineering Education and Centers
NSF Home
   Skip To Page Navigation SCIANCE: An exhibit by Martin Kersels and Peter Schröder
  Ask and ye shall receive

On its surface, the exhibit consists of a simple office, a number of PCs, and a flashy banner – the bobbling hula-dancer kitsch on the desk a testament to the eccentric nature of both the display and concept. SCIANCE is what you put into it, an interface between yourself and the potentially infinite cadre of scientists and non-scientists conversing with you via the web. Post a question, any question, and allow idle banter and informed discussion to drive the query toward an answer.

Martin Kersels, a multi-talented artist and co-director of the art program at the California Institute of the Arts collaborated with Peter Schröder, a professor of computer science and applied and computational mathematics at Caltech, to create the database forum where science questions meet scientific – and unscientific – answers. Communication is the goal, a transcendence of preconceptions and jargon, where discourse is king.

The word sciance etymologically combines science and séance (in this case referring to a deliberative body assembled for discussion).

For further details, see Kersels/Schröder under the “projects” heading on the NEURO website:
http://www.artandscience.us
 
 
 
 
     
 

 
National Science Foundation
Office of Legislative and Public Affairs
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
Tel: 703-292-8070
FIRS: 800-877-8339 | TDD: 703-292-5090
 

NSF Logo Graphic