Session I Report //// Revisiting Cybernetic Serendipitiy

Session One of the 2018 Sackler Colloqium, Creativity and Collaboration: Revisiting Cybernetic Serendipity, revisited Cybernetic Serendipity as a catalyst for research breakthroughs. The speakers, Roger Malina, Patrick McCray, Curtis Wong, and Sara Diamond examined both the historical relevance of the original Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition and the further implications it had for collaborations between the Arts and Sciences.

All of the speakers pointed to the importance of collaboration between the arts and sciences and how relationships between different disciplines can encourage innovation. Roger Malina called for new social systems to enable interdisciplinary work, a topic Patrick McCray picked up on in his discussion of how interests in technology comes in waves and leaves behind different systems, like the journal Leonardo, or a general place for computer science in the arts. Perhaps, this new interest in the relationship between computer science and the arts will leave behind new structures to develop relationships between arts and sciences?

I was also struck by Curtis Wong’s discussion of “The ‘Paper’ of the Future” and the power of design to bring to life and accessibility to scientific papers and visualizations. As a designer and an outsider to scientific publications, The “Paper” of the Future feels like a huge step towards bridging the gap between scientific study and real world communications. Providing a viewer with interactive infographics and the ability to explore a visualization on her own terms provides opportunities for building greater understanding and new relationships.

The panel itself had a hopeful tone, suggesting that building relationships between the arts and sciences can push innovations and philosophies.