Art and Science

ArtSci - ISSN 2515-8767 - © ISTE Ltd

Journal issues

Recent articles

This special issue highlights the convergence of art and science on the French Riviera in celebration of the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) and the One Ocean Science Congress (OOSC) hosted in Nice in June 2025. It explores the region’s rich legacy of marine research and naturalist traditions alongside contemporary cultural initiatives such as the Biennale des Arts et de l’Océan. The issue pays tribute to historical figures, pioneering scientists, and modern researchers whose work continues to shape our understanding of marine life and ocean sustainability.

We outline the critical importance of the ocean for planetary health, economic prosperity, and human well-being, while highlighting the urgent threats it faces from climate change, pollution, overfishing, and poor governance. It presents the One Ocean Science Congress (OOSC) and the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), scheduled for June 2025 in Nice, France, as pivotal events aimed at promoting ocean sustainability through science-based policy, innovation, and global cooperation. The OOSC will deliver scientific recommendations to Heads of States and Govern-ments, while additional high-level events—the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Summit and the Blue Economy and Finance Forum—will address climate adaptation and sustainable investment. The outcome of these efforts will be the Nice Ocean Action Plan, comprising a political declaration, voluntary commitments, and strategic priorities focused on multilateral processes, financial mobilization, and enhanced scientific knowledge to advance the Sustainable Develop-ment Goal 14 and ensure a resilient, thriving ocean for future generations.

Science has always been a source of inspiration for artists. In this spirit, the Tara Ocean Foundation works closely and organize exhibitions with artists to cultivate fresh perspectives on its scientific expeditions and on the Ocean itself. Through residencies aboard the Tara schooner and Tara Polar Station, artists can harness their unique vision and creativity to capture and reinterpret the richness of the Ocean, the essence of scientific exploration, and the rhythms of life at sea. The goal is to awaken public awareness of the Ocean’s beauty and essential role in our world.

Early in his long career, Ernst Haeckel (1834 - 1919) twice visited Villefranche-sur-Mer. First, as a student, in 1856 during a sampling trip to Nice, and again in 1864 when sent to Nice by his parents for a change of scenery following the untimely death of his first wife. The two visits appear to have been key events in the development of Haeckel’s science and art as they are the beginnings of his studies, first on radiolarians, and then on medusa. During the 1856 visit he observed for the first time living radiolarians, the group of microscopic planktonic protists, the subject of his first monographic work in 1862 that brought him fame at a young age. During the 1864 visit he resided in Villefranche-sur-Mer. There, for the first time, he made detailed observations on the development and morphology of medusa. He subsequently produced monumental monographs on both radiolaria and medusa, e.g., the Challenger Reports, which remain today his major scientific contributions. Haeckel’s artistic fame is largely from his Kunstformen der Natur. The book relies heavily on illustrations of both radiolarians and medusa, more so than other groups of organisms, and contains iconic images of medusa and radiolarians, suggesting a major importance in Haeckel’s art for the two groups linked closely with Haeckel’s visits to Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Through his illustrated books featuring the region, Albanis Beaumont was as an early contributor establishment of the region of Nice, now known as the Côte d’Azur, as a destination for the wealthy and the curious of Great Britain. His were large-format works, presenting attractive and remarkably detailed scenes of the countryside and in particular views of the coast. Beaumont’s texts covered aspects of both ancient and natural history, topics of interest to the aristocracy of the period. Although well known in his time, Beaumont is today a forgotten figure and his works known to few, save collectors of rare books. Here first is presented a brief account of the unusual life of Albanis Beaumont and the equally unusual life of his artistic collaborator, Cornelius Apostool, the engraver who created many prints from Beaumont’s drawings. The biographies are followed by an ’exhibition’ of his works featuring views of the region including notes on their reception at the time. These are the 1787 "Voyage Historique et Pittoresque du Comté de Nice", the 1794 "Select Views of the South of France with Topographical and Historical Descriptions the 1795 "Travels through the Maritime Alps from Italy to Lyon across the Col de Tende, by the way of Nice, Provence, Languedoc, etc.", as well as the unauthorized translation of the 1787 work, published anonymously as "An Historical and Picturesque Description of the County of Nice" (1792).

The article explores the interactions between performing arts and ecological sciences through the Imaginary Futures cycle, organized by Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne and the University of Lausanne. It highlights how theatrical performances reinvest scientific knowledge by making it tangible and embodied. Three main axes are developed: the theatricalization of ecological knowledge (performed lectures, staging of knowledge), the animist transformation of ecological theater (decentering perspectives, body metamorphoses), and the (re)politicization of ecological knowledge (environmental justice, decolonial issues). The article emphasizes how these art-science encounters reconnect knowledge with lived experience, mobilizing emotions and imagination to transform perception and action in response to ecological crises.

Corneille de Lyon, a famous Renaissance portrait painter, is known for his many small-scale painted portraits. Analysis of six of his female portraits shows that each of them has an internal geometry. Corneille de Lyon’s geometric approach is close to that followed by Jean and François Clouet.

Black has always been enigmatic and paradoxical. Absence of light, and therefore non-color for physicists, it is indeed color for chemists and artists. Matter or energy (still in the form of lack) for astrophysicists, it has never ceased to inspire philosophers and poets. This article begins by examining the evolution of scientific and artistic disputes over the nature of black. It then looks at the forms of its presence on Earth (mineral, vegetable and animal), and describes its pursuit in the cosmos (black holes, dark matter, dark energy). Returning to Earth, it looks at the processes involved in producing the color black, up to and including Vantablack and outrenoir. Finally, it traces the artistic uses and functions of black in relation to light and other colors and concludes with the infinite quest for black in its poetic and metaphysical resonances.

This article explores phenomenological and enactive approaches in the fields of artistic creation and pedagogy. The author begins by sharing their personal and professional journey, emphasizing the importance of resisting "disciplinary capture" as well as the interdisciplinarity in their work. They describe their discovery of Francisco Varela’s enaction theory and how this theory has influenced their artistic and pedagogical practice. The author provides several examples of enactive practices in both artistic and pedagogical domains. For instance, they mention the use of mind mapping as an enactive practice "without knowing it", and a pedagogical experiment at the University of Evry where students were given great autonomy to create a collective performance. They also discuss their photography practice in the giant sequoia forest Muir Woods Monument Park, where they experimented with camera movement to capture the energy of the place. Finally, the author discusses intentionally enactive projects, such as their participation in a Cerisy colloquium on chance and creation, and The Haiku Project, where they explore the concept of haiku in various artistic practices.