Overview

Scottish zoologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s visionary ideas in On Growth and Form continue to evolve a century after its publication, aligning it with current developments in art and science. Practitioners, theorists, and historians from art, science, and design reflect on his ongoing influence. Overall, the anthology links evolutionary theory to form generation in both scientific and cultural domains. It offers a close look at the ways cells, organisms, and rules become generative in fields often otherwise disconnected. United by Thompson’s original exploration of how physical forces propel and shape living and nonliving forms, essays range from art, art history, and neuroscience to architecture, design, and biology. Contributors explore how translations are made from the discipline of biology to the cultural arena. They reflect on how Thompson’s study relates to the current sciences of epigenesis, self-organization, biological complex systems, and the expanded evolutionary synthesis. Cross-disciplinary contributors explore the wide-ranging aesthetic ramifications of these sciences. A timeline links the history of evolutionary theory with cultural achievements, providing the reader with a valuable resource.

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9781350191112

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D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, in his beautifully written book, On Growth and Form, describes how if artists wanted to look for beauty in nature, they would have to turn to science. The present new volume is a fitting tribute to this accomplished thinker. * Arthur I. Miller, Emeritus Professor of History & Philosophy of Science, University College London, UK and author of The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity * The life and work of D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson is a reminder of what can be achieved when we remove the silos into which so many academic disciplines have been confined. By revealing Thompson's immense influence, this book offers a profound argument for the interdependence of art, science and technology. * Eleanor Heartney, Contributing Editor, Art in America and Artpress, USA *

Author Information

Ellen K. Levy, a past president of the College Art Association, has exhibited her art internationally and at NASA and has published widely on art and evolution. Before earning her doctorate in art and neuroscience in 2012 from the University of Plymouth, UK, she was Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Arts & Sciences at Skidmore College, USA. She guest-edited Art Journal’s special issue, “Contemporary Art and the Genetic Code” (1996), the first in-depth academic publication about genomics and art. Charissa N. Terranova is Professor of Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. She researches the relationship between culture and science, focusing on the history of evolutionary theory and biology in art and architecture. She is author of Art as Organism: Biology and the Evolution of the Digital Image (2016) and Automotive Prosthetic: Technological Mediation and the Car in Conceptual Art (2014), and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Biology in Art and Architecture (2016) with Meredith Tromble.

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