Art and Science Linked for Exhibition

Creativity is a hot topic today. We as a society are fixated with asking, “How are creative sparks ignited? And can these sparks lead to new ways of looking at the world around us?” Well, Oxford University asks: What could happen if artists and scientists partnered to explore its possibilities?

Recently, a group of artists have been paired with 16 health science researchers to produce unique and creative pieces of art. The images went on show last week at an exhibition at the East Oxford Community Centre in Princes Street.

PhD students at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics were paired up with local artists for the project, Oxford Mail reported.

Among those taking part was Lain Potter, of Oxford Printmakers Cooperative, who worked with Ken Hoehn, who is researching how genomes evolve and can change from one generation to the next.

Exhibition organizer Brian Mackenwells, of Oxford University’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, said, “We contacted the cooperative and paired up 16 of our PhD students with the artists and they produced a piece of work based on the research of different students.

“It’s all about human health, so there are artworks on various aspects, mostly about genetics in one form or another,” he said.

“Beside each work there is a panel explaining the nature of the scientific research,” he added.

The exhibition finished on November 22 at the community centre and will switch to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for six weeks from January 21.

The University of Oxford is a research university located in Oxford, UK. While having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest university in continuous operation.