The Art of Innovation

The Science Museum

Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, SW7 2DD

Free with pre-booking required

Art and Science has always been at odds. Whilst art is passionate, science is practical, whilst science is rooted in reality, art has always been more fondly associated with the world of dreams. Science can affirm our beliefs in the way something is, however, art can affirm our beliefs in the way we feel. In recent years, science has broken the boundaries we thought possible, allowing us to recreate and alter our species to such a degree we start to question the morality of our new found omnipotence. Whilst there are incredible advancements in the world of science and healthcare, people are ever more concerned about the rise of science and technology and the affect that this will have on our earth and our minds. These recent advancements have helped to blur the line between science and art in a way where we can no longer deny their similarities: with great design comes great progress.

As you can probably tell, I have a lot of thoughts on this particular subject and I’m fascinated by the ways that art and science can interact to achieve truly spectacular results. When I saw the opening of this particular exhibition at the Science Museum I was intrigued, not only has the subject of innovation always been a great passion, but earlier this year it became a large part of the day job too. The exhibition considers 20 stories that highlight different interactions between scientists and artists. It displays how they share tools and technologies, both relying in imagination, creativity, and a little madness: the first guy to proclaim the earth was round was met with hostility and disbelief – the same feelings that we now have towards that small proportion of flat earth theorists left on this crazy planet. As we continue to interrogate (and ruin) the natural world around us, it is important for us to start asking ourselves the ways in which we can remedy our mistakes and preserve our wondrous planet.

The exhibition opens with the first ever contraptions used to display our solar system – an orrery. These are a fairly obvious work of art and science combined, which begins the exhibition in a matter-of-fact way. It then goes on to talk of textiles, and how scientific developments have aided that industry as a whole, the medium of photography – the camera itself being an incredibly scientific work of art, the pictures produced not only being a marvel of beauty but also of logistics. It explains how Edwin Land based his logic for the creation of colour film for polaroid cameras on the human eye and how the eye and the brain interact: allowing us to recognise colour in different settings.

As we move through the exhibition, these obvious connections get lost a little. Rather, we are met with the first dispenser of nitrous oxide, coupled with a painting of a load of posh blokes getting smashed on it for the first time. It then goes on to display the first set of artificial limbs, and how these are depicted in German Weiner art. Further through the exhibition we are met with the infamous Concorde, designed to beat the speed of sound. This was quite nicely represented in a painting, which shows it physically ‘breaking’ the sound barrier: helping the viewer to visualise this somewhat abstract and far-fetched concept.

Was the exhibition interesting? Somewhat, yes. It was cool to see some of these original contraptions, such as the artificial limbs, which have developed today beyond recognition and thanks to science can now move reactively as if they were the real-life limbs of the patient. However, for a title promising so much, I feel as though ‘The Art of Innovation’ could have gone so much further, pointing to the future and exploring the truly remarkable mechanisms we have in flux at the moment a bit more, rather than dwelling solely on the past. In a time that’s rapidly changing, it’s important that the big museums such as The Science Museum keep up momentum and relevance: showing their audiences what they really want to see.

*It is worth noting that there is a smaller, but more exciting exhibition Science Photographer of the Year currently on in the gallery next door to this one. Full of detailed and microscopic images of all areas of human beings, animals, diseases and organisms. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re in the building but won’t take you more than 15 minutes. From anything from close up dinosaur bones, to close up moisturiser particles: this is where the real art of science comes into play.