Bridging Arts & Sciences
The Arts are a wide range of human activities that serve the purpose of expressing creativity, storytelling and interpreting the richness of cultural and historical human civilisations. Science, on the other hand, is a systematic study that builds and organises knowledge in the form of hypotheses and predictions, aiming to expose human civilisations to the unknown and expand our understanding of the world we live in.
Both fields of study seem to have nothing to do with each other. Nevertheless, as an environmental engineering student and an instrumentalist myself, I have always pondered the connection between Arts and Science in our natural world.
In this article, we will embark on a journey through different orders of magnitude, from as small as the size of atomic particles to the vast expanse of the universe, to reveal that the world that we are living in is not only governed by sciences, but it is also a masterpiece of art.
The Nanoscopic View of Our Universe
During the ancient philosophical era (5th century BCE), Greek philosophers proposed the idea of atomos, the smallest indivisible particles that make up all matter in the universe. As human civilisation progressed, scientific advancements allowed John Dalton to discover the atom based on experimental evidence, laying the foundation for modern atomic theory and enabling humans to understand matter at the microscopic level.
In today’s world, atoms have been the study focus of many particle physicists and chemists. However, have you ever dreamed that atomic particles could be the “main character” of a film one day?
No? :(
Well, I do, because I’m an atomic nerd! So I’m going to share my joy with you because my dream has come true!
In 2013, scientists from IBM Research produced an animation short film called “A Boy and His Atom” using carbon monoxide molecules under a scanning tunnelling microscope. Fun fact, this short film was recognised as the World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013.
I found this animation film fascinating because it has brought human society closer to atomic particles, and even brought it right in front of our eyes with the aid of visualisation arts and technology. Indeed, this short-motion film has shared the atomic-scale world with laymen like us in a fun and accessible way. I believe the beauty of Science is not only in how much it has improved our standards of living but also in how many possibilities there are in Science that we can explore in the future. Try to imagine… what if one day we can create musical instruments and paintings with atomic particles? It sounds so cool, doesn’t it?
Most Beautiful Chemical Structure, but MAGNIFIED
Buckminsterfullerene, also known by its nickname buckyball, is considered one of the most beautiful molecules ever discovered due to its unique symmetric geometry. It is made up of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a structure of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, forming a perfect truncated icosahedron. This symmetry is a rare and captivating example of nature's mathematical beauty.
Discovered in 1985 by Harold Kroto, James Smalley, Robert Curl, and Sean O’Brien, the structure of buckyball was identified using lasers to vaporize carbon in a supersonic helium beam. Their groundbreaking discovery earned them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.
Beyond the chemistry industry, it also impacts the “domed-shaped” architectural designs that we might see today. For example, the Eden Project in the United Kingdom, which is currently serving as the world’s largest indoor rainforest, has adopted a similar structure that consists of polygons to form a dome, just like half of the buckyball!
Beyond that, the discovery of atomic structure has allowed people to gain inspiration from it, magnifying it into the architectural building design we see today as well. In 1958, designed by André and Jean Polak, Belgium finished the construction of The Atomium in the City of Brussels, which represents an iron crystal that is magnified 165 billion times! Currently, it is serving as a museum, an art centre and a popular cultural destination.
It is interesting to see how humans have adapted the inspirations from nature and magnified them into the daily architectural design of infrastructure and decorative designs that we see in our surroundings.
The Musicians of Our Mother Nature
Early in the morning, when you open your window, what is the first sound you hear? If you listen carefully, you might hear the best musicians of nature—the bird calls.
For example, you, as a resident of Raffles Hall might wake up to the calls of the Asian Koel, a bird species from the cuckoo family. The male koel’s distinctive, high-pitched “Koo-ooo” has become a familiar natural ringtone that wakes people up every morning.
The significance of bird calls is beyond our natural alarm, but to ensure the survival of the species as well. In the context of ecology, bird calls are often used by male birds to find mates. A good and bright-sounding bird call is an indicator of a healthy bird, which, therefore, could be used by female birds as a criterion for mate selection.
Fun fact: Do you know, the bird calls that you found annoying in the morning can in fact benefit us as it can lighten our mood!
Nature is the best music teacher for humans. Artists have often drawn inspiration from bird calls. In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven completed his well-known Symphony No. 6, also known as the Pastoral Symphony. In the second movement of the symphony, Szene am Bach (Scene by the brook), Beethoven mimicked bird calls using three woodwind instruments: the flute (nightingale), oboe (quail), and clarinet (cuckoo). These musical imitations bring the sound from nature into the concert hall, blending art and the beauty of soundscape ecology seamlessly.
Try to find the bird calls in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony from the manuscript above if you can! Or perhaps, when you are walking in the forest, try to listen to the sound of our natural ecosystem. Maybe you can be one of the greatest composers in the upcoming few years, just like Beethoven and many other composers did!
Geographical Landscape – An Art Masterpiece
Nature paints its masterpieces across the globe, crafting diverse climate zones and biomes that dazzle the eye and inspire creativity. The Earth is divided into distinct climate zones — each unique climate system and ecosystem supporting specific biomes, such as tundras, rainforests, grasslands and a lot more that are waiting for you to explore!
Living in Singapore, we experience a tropical climate zone, surrounded by tropical rainforests in neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Tropical rainforests, also known as the green lung of the Earth, are biodiversity hotspots that consist of diverse species that humans have yet to explore completely. They are also known as the “jewels of the Earth” and “the world’s largest pharmacy” as many medicines have been found and obtained from the tropical rainforest.
The beauty of nature has inspired artists all around the world, including Ansel Easton Adams, a photographer and environmentalist, well-known for his black-and-white photographs, capturing the natural landscape that he observed. His photography skills not only contributed to the arts scene but also showed his effort in environmental conservation during the 20th century when environmental degradation started to increase.
What if… in the future, we could only see these beautiful natural landscapes through these black-and-white photographs? Or what if… we can’t see it anymore? Well, I do not know the answer to those questions, but I believe that would definitely be a miserable and pathetic fact to accept…
Into the Infinity Space
The origin, evolution, and nature of the universe have fascinated and confounded humankind for centuries. The formation of our galaxy, the Milky Way, can be traced back to approximately 13.6 billion years ago. The birth of the first stars and small, irregular protogalaxies began shortly after the Big Bang. Over time, the Milky Way evolved and formed the universe that we see today, inspiring many artists’ expressions.
Between 1914 and 1917, English composer Gustav Holst wrote the well-known seven-movement orchestral suite, The Planets. In this orchestral suite, each movement is named after a planet of the solar system and with a description of its supposed astrological characteristics. This cosmic inspiration extended beyond music to film, such as the iconic Star Wars series, which begins with the famous line, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”
Humans’ curiosity to explore the infinite space can be reflected in multiple aspects, from artworks to animations that we have started watching since our childhood! We have been expanding our curiosity to many things that are beyond our understanding by applying arts. In other words, arts have been a great channel for us to express our creativity and to showcase the endless possibilities that we, as humans, can create and explore.
Fostering Connection, Inspiring the Future
Arts and Science share a connection that we rarely talk about and explore. They influence each other’s development directly and indirectly, resulting in the complex studies and creative works we see today. Nevertheless, humanity plays a critical role in shaping the future of both fields.
The Arts serve as a powerful and useful tool for us to have a better understanding of our natural scientific world. This allows us to appreciate the fact that we are surrounded by the most wonderful things, that is, the natural system itself. Nevertheless, human development might lead to the vanishing of some of the arts in nature. Yet, not to worry, together, we have the power to conserve the beauty of our natural surroundings and allow our future generations to enjoy the masterpiece of artwork of the natural system.
PS: What are some of your favourite artworks? Is it a song that you have been looping with your Spotify for months or a piece of painting that you have been studying for days? How does the Science industry influence the artwork you are studying and how does your artwork contribute to human civilisation in the Science industry?
Share with us in the comments section down below. Can’t wait to see the special tastes of art of our fellow Rafflesians!
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