Science Art as a Media Model of the Possible Future

Section: Discussion

This paper examines the interaction between science, modern art and new media technologies, which generated the systemic phenomenon of science art as an aesthetic form of cyberculture. There is a genetic link between the emergence of science art, new media technology and the evolution of microcultures — stable groups of informal communication. Their interrelations are viewed in the context of systematic representations of interdisciplinary discourse. The media and socio-cultural factors, which stimulated the emergence of science art are also described. The author of the paper stresses the leading role of the scientific and technological revolution and the importance of its semiotic consequences for the emergence of new forms of cyberculture. As a possible interpretation of the term “culture” in the cybernetic aspect, it is a suggested to understand it a source of virtual resources to increase human creative potential. The evolution of cultural forms is presented in terms of conflict of two opposing trends: progress in modern technologies and consequent regression (alienation) of the personality in the industrial environment. The idea of progress determines the optimistic message of this paper. Progress is opposed to regression. Most clearly, the regression trend manifests itself in the dehumanization of relations between the personality and the “system”, as well as in existential protest responses observed on the level of microcultures. An attempt to dialectically synthesize these two trends makes it possible to argue that it is the media dialogue between science, art and technology that suggests the direction of search for a compromise. The concept of science art arising in the dialogue identifies the landmarks in the search space. Apart from the purely aesthetic value, science art has instrumental functions. First, media discourse with the involvement of science art implies the production of new meanings of man’s being in the cognitive pattern of the future. Second, science art serves to eliminate from culture the destructive layers of the outgoing industrial era. And lastly, the works of science art as models of the “possible worlds” appear to possess cognitive and predictive functions.

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