Kunst og naturvidenskab under samme tag

Kollokvium om at udstille kunst og naturvidenskab. Steno Museet, Danmarks Videnskabshistoriske Museum, Århus, 25. september 2006. In the fall of 2006, the Steno Museum (Aarhus, Denmark) exhibited the installation Room One created by the American artist Rosamond Purcell. This installation consists of a full-size model of Museum Wormianum, the Danish physician Ole Worm’s curiosity cabinet, dating from the 17th century. This is a work of art – yet it depicts a naturalist’s laboratory. When one adds that it has also been called the first museum in Denmark, it seemed an obvious step to make the artwork the occasion of a symposium on the relationship between art, science and museums. At this symposium, the artist, along with a number of science historians and museum curators, discussed the definitions of art and science then and now, and spoke about the attempts to transcend the disciplinary boundaries that take place within the museums. Different ways of exhibiting were brought into focus, and Purcell’s installation formed the basis for many interesting discussions about the museum as a place of learning and of aesthetic experience.