Columnists
Art, Science & Culture
by I.J. SINGH
I have often wondered what the terms mean.
We all know what art is, or at least, think we do. The definition of culture depends very much on what social stratum of society one comes from. A minimalist like me, who comes from the field of experimental biology, might think of culture only in terms of cultured bacteria, or what transforms milk into yogurt. But bacteria don't buy tickets to the opera, so let's try a broader view.
On this site, sikhchic.com, we have added the ringer of religion. Not only must we explore art and culture, but we must do so while navigating the passions of religion. How we introduce religion into the mix of art, science and culture, I will leave for another time, another column.
I look at art as any human skill, whether an inherent talent or acquired by learning and practice, that has a system of rules. In its larger meaning, even cunning or trickery would be included, but let's ignore them for the purpose of this exercise. Culture goes beyond cultivation of bacteria, or the tilling of land, to training, development and refinement of the mind. In other words, culture is the milieu in which the arts are practiced. Culture and art define each other. What I have effectively done is freed art from its limiting association with certain subjects of study, as opposed to other disciplines that are labeled science.
Art creates culture, but so does science. The pursuit of science requires its own rules, skills and logic. If art is esthetically transcendent beyond words, just look at the equally mystical and mind-boggling beauty and intricacy of the human body, or meditate on the structure of a cell as revealed by an electron microscope.
Art doesn't just go from Rembrandt to Rodin, or from Bach and Ravi Shankar to Bhangra and hip-hop. It spans the labors of the cave man to the structures of atoms and molecules, from the making of a canoe or a two-wheeler to the design of a spacecraft that can explore the universe. Sometimes, the requirements of art demand the skills and mindset of a technologist and a scientist; certainly, the best scientists depend upon intuitive insights of an artist in interpreting their experiments.
Art that comes from the heart speaks to our inner reality only when the head is also involved. Science may seem an intellectual exercise, but good science is never divorced from the heart.
Science and art are interdependent and inseparable. Without some art to it, the best science is reduced to its unimaginative mechanics; without science, art becomes chaos.
[Artwork, top: detail from "In The Nature Of Things" by Simia Pelagi, 2001]
Conversation about this article
1: Prabhu Singh Khalsa (Española, New Mexico, USA), February 28, 2007, 4:47 PM.
I always enjoy your articles. I really like this site and all people who encourage Sikh artists. Thanks. I guess my blog would be my small contribution to the world of Sikh art thus far.