Laboratorium

At first glance, the artist and the scientist don't seem to have very much in common. One deals with aesthetics, emotions, and visual power, while the other works with facts, verifiable proof, and academic rigor. At another level, however, we find similarities: both artists and scientists work in the realms of imagination, of asking what is possible, of experimentation. One of the ways that these similarities find their expression is in the workplace: the artist's studio and the scientist's laboratory. Laboratorium explores the laboratory and the studio on the basis of their various concepts within different disciplines. Drawings from distinct yet interrelated domains, the book singles out complex scientific and artistic investigations into the limits and possibilities of the places where knowledge and culture are made. Published on the occasion of an exhibition in Antwerp, it presents, in a volume designed by Bruce Mau, the experiments, laboratories, and projects initiated by participants from various fields in the arts and sciences. In addition, there are several essays and interviews that trace the intellectual implications of the workplace and process of investigations.