Around Beauty Meetup #10: Exploring the Future of Society through the Interaction of Art x Science
2022.02.21The Around Beauty Meetup is an event attended by various innovators involved in beauty from both inside and outside of the company. The 10th in the series was called “Harmonizing Concepts on Different Scales.” The theme of the discussion was “Beauty in the World” and featured the bio-artist Yoko Shimizu.
After the opening speeches, participants took part in an ice-breaking session online and wrote their thoughts on “art & science”, one of the themes of the conference. A participant involved in fragrance research said that she felt the presence of art and science in “fragrance”, and expressed her thoughts on the beauty around this.
After the warm-up exercise, the meetup participants got down to business. Ms. Shimizu has a strong connection with Shiseido, having exhibited her work at the “Link of Life” exhibition held at the Shiseido Gallery in 2017. While touching on her past involvement with Shiseido, Yukiko Koga, one of the members of fibona, introduced her to the other attendees. Koga said, “I hope that we will hear her thoughts and feelings towards the question of “What is the future of society?” as well as how she came up with the idea of linking various concepts, and how she will continue to work towards the future through her artwork.”
Art finds questions, design finds solutions
Ms. Shimizu is currently based at Ars Electronica Futurelab, a world-class research institute in Austria. While specializing in bio-chemistry and presenting works that fuse science and technology, she also participates in joint research with companies and educational institutions, as well as creative community development.
For those involved in the art world, “the difference between art and design” is one of the eternally recurring questions. For Ars Electronica, their answer is: “Art is about finding questions, and design is about finding solutions. Art is the process of asking a lot of questions in order to examine a hypothesis from a holistic perspective, and design is the process of outputting solutions to society based on those questions.” Shimizu explained, “We see a similar relationship between science and technology. We are deepening our research on questions found in science and implementing the results in society as technology.” She then cited the relationship between art and design as an example.
Learning from nature and redefining noise and signals
At the meetup, Ms. Shimizu pointed out that the times are changing, away from traditional inorganic technology and towards an organic form. She mentioned that the streaming channel of Ars Electronica Futurelab offers many programs on biological art in response to the changes in contemporary society.
For example, she and Wacom, the world’s largest pen tablet company, developed a prototype of “bio-ink” in a joint project called “Future Ink.” By attaching a special chip to the tip of a digital pen, letters and drawings written in “living” ink contain microorganisms that grow over time. In the workshop titled “Dear Future Me”, the letters and drawings grow rapidly on the medium, creating many beautiful patterns that even the writer did not intend. The theme of this project was “Noise.” In general, digital technology uses only a small portion of the input data that is necessary and omits all other data as noise. However, Ms. Shimizu believes that important information and creativity may be hidden in such omitted data.
Ms. Shimizu has also been involved in activities aimed at learning from nature and co-creating with the universe, under the keywords of art, life and the universe, while also promoting “space art.” As part of these activities, a space art organization called “Beyond Earth” has been established in the US, which collaborates with Twist Bioscience, an American biotech company that provides DNA data storage services. In this project, DNA collages of plants, bacteria, and human beings are converted into binary data, which is then transformed into DNA sequences, and stored as dried microscopic DNA in a metal capsule to be sent into space. Currently, it is not possible to send large objects into space, so research has been conducted on “how to transport small objects and deploy them into space.” This has been done as an attempt to learn from the natural world in the form of DNA.
Dialogue and collaboration as breakthroughs for the future
Throughout the wide variety of collaboration, Ms. Shimizu said, “Collaboration in the creative community is important.” The Ars Electronica Festival is a perfect example of this. The festival was started based on the concept of creating the future of society in a creative direction, as the steel industry in the city of Linz had been in decline for 40 years. Through repeated events, the festival has grown into a world-class art festival that brings together researchers and organizations from all over the world to inspire each other.
In Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, the public event “Hill of Science and Art” takes place every year from October to November at the the villa of Akitake Tokugawa, the last lord of the Mito Domain. This event, which was founded and is overseen by Ms. Shimizu, is characterized by the fact that it is managed by young creators rather than from top-down. This allows children and adults of all ages to experience cutting-edge technology and scientific research as art. The fact that the event is held in a local historical building also helps nurture the seeds of creativity in the community. Tradition and innovation create community, which leads to educational opportunities, contributing to the development of the entire city as the center of local cultural policy.
Ms.Shimizu concluded her presentation by saying, “I believe that dialogue beyond fields, backgrounds, and generations, will act as a great breakthrough in building the society of the future. I would be happy if today we could have a dialogue that inspires us to build the society of the future.”
The lightness and subjectivity of the artist, the analytical ability and objectivity of the scientist
In the latter half, Kenji Noda, who is involved in R&D strategy planning and strategic research promotion at Shiseido’s Global Innovation Center, and Shiro Mukae, who conducts basic skin research, joined the panel discussion. The discussion was facilitated by a fibona member, Takuma Hoshino.
In response to Ms. Shimizu’s presentation, Noda said, “The strategic development I am currently involved in is the combination of art and science. It is not about which one is better than the other because the utilization of each characteristics is important. Science requires objectivity, while art is at the core of subjectivity. Our R&D strategy is based on a back-and-forth between the two,” pointing out the difference in perspectives.
Mukae, who looks at beauty themes on a daily basis as a basic researcher, but is also involved with artists through “shiseido art egg”, said, “I have the impression that artists are more lighthearted about innovation and less concerned about methodology. In contrast, researchers tend to stick to their own expertise and methods. So, I think the viewpoint of artists towards innovation can be a source of learning for researchers as well.” He added to this by suggesting the possibility of an intersection between the two. Shimizu agreed, saying “In Japan, the traditional educational system that separates the arts and science has persisted, however, there are examples like Davinci, who created world-class works of art from scientific analysis and insight. I believe that ideas that do not divide between art and science will lead to historical breakthroughs.”
“Why do we create?” A common thread between non-human-centered philosophy and Shiseido research
In response to Ms. Shimizu’s presentation, Noda mentioned another point: “While the world will become more convenient in the future, such as with DX, I feel that convenience itself does not necessarily lead to happiness.” Introducing his own observations, he continued, “I think it is important to have two things in life: ‘the reason to live’, and ‘the place where each person’s existence is accepted’. I felt that her activities toward forming a community and continuing to ask new questions are creating exactly those two things.”
Ms. Shimizu nodded her head and said, “The question of ‘for what and for whom’ is important in the vision for creating the future. I believe it is important to think about what is meaningful to us and to the entire planet, including other living creatures,” pointing out that society is moving away from a human-centric approach. She added that “Beyond Computing, which is the theme of the Ars Electronica Futurelab led by Shimizu, could be the very essence of Shiseido research and the efforts of fibona. We should not be limited to a digital society, but should research the nature of life in the natural world and provide technology, products, and services for people. Beyond Computing is a place where we can provide and interact with people for the future of society. I hope that there will be more opportunities to provide dialogue for the future of society.”
Participants seemed intrigued by the future-inspired talk. One participant asked, “How do you think art and science will merge and change in significance in the future?” Ms. Shimizu answered, “In order to break away from the human-centered idea of using technology to build an affluent society in the shortest and most efficient way, it is necessary to fuse art and science together while maintaining their respective specialties. I think it could be wonderful if they evolved while interacting with each other.”
Artistic thinking that expands questioning and co-creating communities may create new perspectives
After the panel session, participants broke into small groups to exchange their opinions. The session covered a wide range of topics, but the re-evaluation of “noise” was particularly well received. There were comments such as, “Perhaps the fluctuations within skin could be considered a form of noise, as well as individuality. It is better to see it as life-like.” It seems that this event certainly instilled in the participants an artistic way of thinking that re-examines the evolution of technology.
Finally, Yuko Nakanishi, the project leader of fibona, summed up the event. She also shared her new perspective, saying, “I felt reassured by the ideas of freedom and equality that art has to offer, and at the same time I was made aware of the biases hidden in society and in myself.” In addition, she also commented on the importance of community and interaction, “I was reminded that co-creation is very important. I would like to foster a community where people can feel a sense of security in fibona activities,” bringing the meeting to a close.
When we hear about the evolution of research and technology, we tend to associate it with something digital and inorganic. But there seems to be ample room for discovery in trying to learn from things that have been reduced to noise. The event encouraged the participants to continue asking questions in a 360-degree, all-encompassing manner.
[Profile]
Yoko Shimizu
An artist and biochemist based in Linz, Austria, Yoko Shimizu researches, produces, and presents technology and artwork that fuse science and art on a global scale. She grew up in the United States and was influenced by the art scene in New York City. She majored in biochemistry at university. She began her career as a creative director and consultant for a production company, and later worked in her own studio and lab, researching designs using biotechnology and other advanced sciences while also working with galleries and museums.
Yoko Shimizu - Official Website
https://yokoshimizu.com/
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