Art-science collaboration is one of Waag's key research methods, employing creative practices and transdisciplinary methods to encourage society to question and engage with science and technology. For many years, contributing to the organising, awarding and disseminating of the S+T+ARTS Prize, the European award for artistic excellence and innovative collaborations, has been a part of this practice. With Closing the Loop, Waag presents a structural analysis of the impact of the S+T+ARTS Prize in the past 8 years.
The S+T+ARTS programme is an initiative of the European Commission, launched to support collaborations between artists, scientists, engineers and researchers. Where much of the S+T+ARTS programme is based on the (correct) assumption that art-driven collaborations contribute to science, technology, the arts and society at large, the Closing the Loop study presents for the first time the evidence of its impact—beyond the expectations of the programme.
Closing the Loop examines eight years of the S+T+ARTS Prize and identifies the pathways and conditions through which art-driven and transdisciplinary projects shape the excellence of European research and innovation, and how art-driven innovation can benefit industry, policy makers, cultural organisations, and the education and research sector. With this study, we demonstrate how the prize winning works and honorary mentions contribute to understanding technology—insights that lead to new techno-scientific questions, new policy insights, and new cultural and value-driven perspectives on technology.
The study was commissioned by Ars Electronica as part of the S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o project. STARTS Ec(h)o is funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement No 101135691.
