ABSTRACT
The objective of my presentation and paper is to present a case for the use of aesthetics as a method for engaging group interaction around a series of works of art that expose a dynamic relationship that opens a dialogue between the arts and sciences. From Plato’s cave through Kant’s Critique of Reason, inquiry and aesthetics facilitate the unfolding of the complex layers that reveal both a linguistic and visual language that can be linked by interdisciplinary knowledge modalities. The “new perception” that C. P. Snow advocates in The Two Cultures and a Second Look follows closely behind the advent of Aesthetic Education that takes its aim from the writing of John Dewey who understands the role of choosing the right “medium” and further developed by Maxine Greene’s role of reflection as “noticing” and “attending” the work of art. My own work as a digital artist and teacher of aesthetic education at Hunter College, Lincoln Center Institute and the Museum of Modern Art provides the framework for 25 years of research and practice that culminates in the age of hypermedia with the vision of Ted Nelson where a database becomes an instrument and work of art.
