What can science and technology studies learn from art and design? Reflections on Synthetic Aesthetics

What can science and technology studies learn from art and design? Reflections on Synthetic Aesthetics Jane Calvert Pablo Schyfter

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What can science and technology studies learn from art and design? Reflections on Synthetic Aesthetics 2017 10.1177/0306312716678488 what-can-science-and-technology-studies-learn what-can-science-and-technology-studies-learn.txt, the project's staged copy 932e811d5cd9e3e47ec47a6b6e0927af0e407dfe cc-by philosophy-of-art

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0 spans located by searching the stored text for the quote's exact words, allowing any whitespace between them the collaborations between STS researchers and artists/designers who engaged synthetic biology on the Synthetic Aesthetics project, focused on three paired residencies Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. what science and technology studies can learn from art and design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. the argument that engaging closely with art and design can enrich STS by helping it develop an emergent, co-produced form of critique, rather than by treating art/design instrumentally Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critique Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. the similarities (shared objectives of 'opening up' and 'critique') and differences (making tangible artefacts, play and humour) between STS work and art/design work in engagements with synthetic biology Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. field-study field-study Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The exchanges were made reciprocal - artists/designers spent time in the science lab and scientists/engineers spent an equal time in the art studio - so obligation ran both ways and the creative process was shared. reciprocal residencies Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 'Opening up' works by drawing attention to the implicit assumptions underlying a technology, letting new questions be asked and marginalised perspectives and alternative pathways be surfaced. opening up implicit assumptions Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Critical designers produce speculative objects that make abstract ideas tangible and open to discussion, using design to provoke reflection rather than to sell. speculative objects make ideas discussable Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. By using the same tools and materials as the laboratory and getting one's hands 'wet', the maker becomes implicated in manipulating life and cannot take a distanced stance. getting hands wet implicates the maker Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. An emergent critique is generated because it is co-produced by people from different disciplines, so what results is more than and different from what any single discipline could produce. co-production of critique Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Because the artefacts have a materiality and an immediacy, they can travel and be discussed more widely than academic papers, driving conversations well beyond the objects themselves. tangible artefacts travel Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. There is a danger of putting art and design into an instrumental role that merely performs a service for STS, which the authors are wary of. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Warmer uptake of art/design by the field raises the risk that their critical interventions are co-opted, assimilated and neutralised. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 'STS' is notoriously heterogeneous, so any account of what STS can learn rests on a contestable characterisation of the field. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The paper explicitly declines to set up a hierarchy with art/design above STS or to claim art/design has nothing to learn from STS. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Experimental collaborations of the kind advocated are necessarily risky, because their outcomes are not obvious from the outset. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Non-verbal artistic work carries a heightened danger of being misunderstood, misframed or misused against the artist's intentions. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. science and technology studies science and technology studies Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. STS STS Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. art art Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. design design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. synthetic biology synthetic biology Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critical design critical design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. speculative design speculative design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. commercial design commercial design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critique critique Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. emergent form of critique emergent form of critique Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. opening up opening up Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. making making Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critical making critical making Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. tangible artefacts tangible artefacts Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. matters of concern matters of concern Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. logic of ontology logic of ontology Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. logic of innovation logic of innovation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. logic of accountability logic of accountability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. interdisciplinarity interdisciplinarity Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Constructive Technology Assessment Constructive Technology Assessment Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Responsible Research and Innovation Responsible Research and Innovation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. upstream governance upstream governance Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. problem finding problem finding Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. problem solving problem solving Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. epistemic partners epistemic partners Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. participants participants Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. spectators spectators Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. logic of ontology → collaboration On the logic of ontology, something that would not have happened otherwise comes about through the collaboration. — the relation stated: The logic of ontology holds that the genuinely new emerges through collaboration. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. emergent form of critique → collaboration An emergent form of critique requires an experimental, necessarily risky type of collaboration. — the relation stated: An emergent form of critique requires experimental collaboration. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. art and design → STS Engaging more closely with art and design can enrich STS work by enabling an emergent form of critique. — the relation stated: Art and design can enrich STS work. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critical design → Constructive Technology Assessment Critical design has much in common with upstream-governance approaches such as Constructive Technology Assessment. — the relation stated: Critical design closely resembles CTA-style upstream governance. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critique - the familiar debunking sense (lifting a veil of appearances) versus Latour's sense of the critic as one who assembles and offers participants arenas in which to gather Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. opening up - Stirling's policy sense (surfacing the implicit assumptions behind a technology) as against the artists' sense of opening new areas to artistic exploration Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. making - the object sense (producing tangible artefacts) versus the 'critical making' process sense (shared construction, conversation and reflection) Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. design - the mainstream problem-solving/solutions sense versus critical and speculative design's use of design to pose questions and open debate Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. success - 'success' in engaging synthetic biology is itself contested, since a warmer welcome for designers may equal co-option rather than influence Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 'matters of concern' versus 'objects'/'facts' - Latour's contrast, in which design foregrounds the disputed assemblages behind an artefact Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. interdisciplinarity - three senses/logics: accountability, innovation, and ontology (the production of new objects and practices of knowledge) Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. the researcher's stance - 'participant' versus 'spectator' in technoscientific worlds (Barad) Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. builds-on → Barry et al.'s three 'logics of interdisciplinarity' (accountability, innovation, ontology) note: The three logics inform the paper's analysis of the collaborations. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. builds-on → Michael's account of the emergent potential of speculative design note: The 'emergent form of critique' is inspired by Michael's reading of speculative design. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. builds-on → Latour's reconception of critique as assembling rather than debunking note: The word 'critique' is drawn from Latour (2010): the critic assembles rather than debunks. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. builds-on → Ratto's 'critical making' movement note: The emphasis on process over object resonates with critical making. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. qualifies → Michael's strict distinction between speculative and critical design note: The authors question whether speculative and critical design can be distinguished so strictly. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. recommends → bringing STS's upstream-governance work and critical design together note: There is rich potential to bring these areas of investigation together. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. critical design —distinct-from→ commercial design critical design commercial design the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.95 · note: Differentiator stated: critical design provokes reflection about technology's complexity; commercial design does not. · the relation stated: Critical designers distinguish their work from commercial design by using design to provoke reflection rather than to sell. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. art —contrasted-with→ design art design the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.9 · note: Actor-stated contrast that recurs across three participants. · the relation stated: Sascha and Oron draw a distinction between art (opening, posing questions) and design (finding solutions, problem-solving). Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but attributed: the span reports Sascha's distinction (interview). Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. speculative design —distinct-from→ critical design speculative design critical design the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.75 · note: Michael's distinction; the authors elsewhere question whether it holds so strictly (q93). · the relation stated: Speculative design's object is coproduced with publics and open-ended, whereas a critical designer's work is often produced alone for a gallery. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. problem finding —distinct-from→ problem solving problem finding problem solving the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.9 · note: The differentiator is finding versus solving; 'problem finding' is aligned with inventive problem making. · the relation stated: Dunne and Raby distinguish their interest in 'problem finding' from the 'problem solving' of commercial design. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. logic of ontology —contrasted-with→ logic of innovation logic of ontology logic of innovation the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.9 · note: Barry et al.'s three logics provide different rationales. · the relation stated: The logic of ontology (producing new objects and practices) gives a different rationale for interdisciplinarity from the logic of innovation (economic growth). Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but the span lists three logics side by side; contrasted-with is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. participants —contrasted-with→ spectators participants spectators the relation itself is separately evidenced · strength of the relation: 0.7 · note: A proposed reframing, hedged ('may also have to'). · the relation stated: The authors argue researchers may have to think of themselves as 'participants' rather than 'spectators'. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The three art/design pairs and the STS researchers shared two objectives - 'opening up' synthetic biology and 'critique'. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Engaging more closely with art and design can enrich STS work by enabling an emergent form of critique. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The most important difference is that artists and designers make tangible artefacts, which the STS researchers' academic texts lack. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A speculative object can be embraced by the very field it critiques - the Scatalog was taken up by the Beijing Genomics Institute to represent a desired research end-point. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Many synthetic biologists appear happier to collaborate with designers than with social scientists, and those collaborations show less divergence in expectations. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Michael separates speculative design (open-ended) from critical design on the grounds that critical design has a pre-defined target of critique. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. How art/design work is labelled matters less than whether it provokes ongoing exploration and discussion. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. the application of engineering principles to living systems (Endy) synthetic biology Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. using design as a tool to provoke reflection about the social, political and economic complexity of technology, rather than for commercial ends critical design Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. drawing attention to the often implicit assumptions that underlie discussions of a technology (Stirling) opening up Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. a necessarily co-produced critique that is the outcome of a shared cross-disciplinary endeavour, not one group imposing its tools emergent form of critique Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Latour's 'things' - the disputed assemblages that constitute artefacts and are usually overlooked as mere 'objects' or 'facts' matters of concern Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. a rationale for interdisciplinarity that produces new objects and practices of knowledge, so something that would not otherwise have happened comes about logic of ontology Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. $10 million — funding made available by the US NSF and the UK EPSRC at the sandpit, from which five projects were funded Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. over 200 applications — responses received to the 2010 call for participants Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. six artists and designers and six synthetic biologists — participants selected and paired for the residencies Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 12 residents — interviewees, each interviewed on at least two occasions Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution.

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