A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Scientific and artistic researchers rarely mingle professionally. For historic and cultural reasons, they are not natural collaborators, and society at large suffers because of it, says biomedical engineer David Edwards. To foment collaborative projects that blend these two disciplines, he has established Le Laboratoire in Paris. He calls the concept Artscience, which he articulates in his just-published book, Artscience: Creativity in the Post-Google Generation (Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press, 2008).

Located in the 1er arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Louvre, Le Laboratoire opened its doors to the public in October 2007. The idea had its genesis earlier this century at Harvard University, where Edwards holds a chair in biomedical technology.

“Starting in 2000, there was a lot of interest at Harvard in getting faculty members to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries,” says Edwards. “There was a sense that tackling the big problems of tomorrow would require interdisciplinary collaboration.”

Because Edwards splits his time between the Boston area and Paris, the conversation about the intersection of art and science quickly engaged European thinkers, as well. “I began to notice that everyone I spoke with told a similar story,” recalls Edwards. “These people were innovative in their fields, and a great deal [of their creativity came from] jumping back and forth over this artificial boundary that divides science and the arts. This experience had catalyzed their work,” he says. “The idea for Le Laboratoire came from that: a utopian notion that we might create a place where we would only perform experiments involving the arts and science.”

The “utopian notion” stepped into reality in October 2007, when Le Laboratoire presented its first two exhibitions. The one that garnered the most attention was a collaboration between French visual artist Fabrice Hyber and MIT luminary Robert Langer, known for his work on drug-delivery systems and tissue engineering. They settled on the theme of a stem cell transforming into a neuron. Titled Food for Thought, the exhibition explored the larger idea of transformation through paintings, sculptures, and installations. Sharing the gallery space was a smaller exhibition titled Bel-Air. For this project, Edwards collaborated with French designer Mathieu Lehanneur to build an “air filter” based on NASA research. Both of these exhibits were torn down in January to make room for Attention!, which opens on 10 February for six weeks.

This new experiment brings together celebrated photojournalist James Nachtwey, who has documented countless conflicts around the world for Time magazine since the 1980s, Asa Mader, and a group of scientists dealing with the global impact of diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

“Every experiment we do at Le Laboratoire has a similar sort of structure,” explains Edwards. “The process begins with an artist dreaming and ultimately formulating a hypothesis with the collaboration of a leading international scientist.” The social impact of the experiments varies, however. “The stem cell installation was a cultural experiment, while Bel-Air was industrial. Attention! has a humanitarian element,” says Edwards. Edwards cautions that it will be a powerful experience with some hard-to-stomach images. If you are familiar with Nachtway’s unflinching eye for the human condition, that will not come as a surprise. Edwards promises a change of pace in March, when Le Laboratoire hosts an experiment involving a physicist and French chef.

Whether the subject is a grim examination of world health or a frothy look at culinary physics, Le Laboratoire is certainly worth a visit. It may even spark some creative thinking that can be applied to your world. There are some obvious parallels between what is being attempted at Le Laboratoire and the med-tech industry’s need to build multidisciplinary teams to develop next-generation combination products. Hmm, that might even warrant a business trip to Paris. . . .

For more information about Le Laboratoire’s hours of operation and upcoming exhibits, go to www.lelaboratoire.org.