Quodlibetica originated from the desire to write about art and visual culture in ways not confined by academic conventions or journalistic hype. Part journal, part blog, Quodlibetica fosters critical conversations about visual arts in a forum that is accessible, engaging, and committed to quality writing. Based on the Latin quodlibet, which has entered the English language as (1) a statement proposed for disputation, (2) the actual discussion, and (3) the whimsical combination of familiar elements, Quodlibetica is a space to argue eloquently and whimsically about art, find out what’s happening in the Twin Cities art scene, and engage with writers, artists, and critics, who like to think. Contact us if you want to get involved.
Art and Science
Struck by the slew of exhibits invested in the relationship between art, science, and wonder, we decided to devote our June constellation to that very intersection. From electricity to creativity, taxidermy to taxonomy, Greek myth to digital manipulations, this constellation speculates on just how manifold art’s interactions with science can be. For our editorial, please visit the News page.
By Christina Schmid
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
– Albert Einstein[i]
Trust Einstein to articulate what reconciles two seemingly opposite ways of making sense of the world: science with its prerequisite distance to ensure analytical dissection of [...]
Published 6.1.2010
By Colleen Sheehy
In 2009, when Mark Dion created his sculpture Monument to the Birds of Puffin Island, he contracted with a taxidermist to provide him with rats. This piece was one of his macabre sculptures, highlighting the grotesque. Unlike traditional taxidermy that aims to present idealized examples of species in a moment of poised stillness, [...]
Published 6.1.2010
By Jake Ramberg
For this year’s Art-A-Whirl the Rogue Buddha Gallery opened its doors with a new show entitled “Science & Wonder” featuring haunting portrait paintings by Caitlin Karolczak and intricate sculptural assemblages by Michael Thomsen. Sadly, despite the obvious talent of both artists, the work lacks the science alluded to in the title of the [...]
Published 6.1.2010
By Tom Haakenson
Observation is not objectivity, a claim which may appear obvious to some, sacrilegious to others. Yet historians of science such as Lorraine Daston and Peter Gallison have argued convincingly that the history of Science’s supposedly unadulterated observations reveals just how subjective “objectivity” can be. Intended or not, the exhibition of John Bell’s, Ginny [...]
Published 6.1.2010
By Diane Mullin
The subject of this brief essay is temporal scale and its manipulation in the work of composer, performer, digital artist and filmmaker, R. Luke DuBois. In particular, I consider the relationship of this work to the relatively recent idea of “infinite digital reproducibility” in the context of Walter Benjamin’s idea of mechanical or technical reproducibility [...]
Published 6.1.2010
By George Slade
En route to a doctorate in physics, David Goldes realized that he wasn’t a scientist. Scientists reduce complexity, with a goal of distilling unified theory out of chaos and ambiguity. Science likes to name, while art likes open-endedness and is willing to accept multiple answers to questions about unquantifiable, elusive topics such as [...]
Published 6.1.2010
An Erotic Monologue by Dia Felix
and her Dialogue with Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi
I’ve been walking around thinking about the erotic underworld of creative production. Why a certain person might be compelled to complete a major work of art or a scientific investigation, when others might retreat and settle into safer harbors of well-grooved (but less groovy) channels. [...]
Published 6.1.2010