A Framework for Action and Reflection: Using Play to Understand Relationships between Art Practice and Life Science, Parkside Birmingham City University Space 01 Exhibition

Having an artist, like Joanne, conduct research in a core facility lab can profoundly influence scientific work by introducing a creative and exploratory mindset that challenges conventional approaches. Working with an artist encouraged me to rethink my methodologies, embracing experimentation and playfulness as part of the scientific process. Their ability to reimagine data visualization and interpret biological processes through innovative, artistic perspectives significantly enriched my approach to microscopy and imaging. This collaboration cultivated a sense of curiosity and adaptability, enabling me to view scientific challenges as opportunities for creative problem-solving. … Ultimately, this interdisciplinary exchange reinforced my belief in the value of integrating art and science, fostering a more dynamic research

environment.

—Julia Fernandez Rodriguez 2024

This study shows how a play-based approach to art-science collaboration fosters innovation and unorthodox problem-solving. Focusing on the interpretative and critical aspects of art, I gathered technological, ethnographic, dialogic, practice-based and process-led data from three projects. By integrating imaging technologies with artistic methods, the study highlights how play creates creative interaction, enhancing both artistic expression and scientific understanding.

Art Projects 2015–2024:

Over a nine-year period, I conducted three separate art projects at the University of Nottingham’s COMPARE Centre, the Natural History Museum, London, and Malmö and Gothenburg Universities. In each case I collaborated with scientists to challenge microscopy techniques, such as Confocal and Super Resolution Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Multi-Photon Microscopy. These different projects led to novel imaging methods, the redefinition of protocols, the creation of new visual representations and the creation of unique datasets.

In each case, the scientific computer lab became a space for experimental data-processing, a practice unfamiliar to my collaborators. Adopting play as a method for collaboration, I built trust and demonstrated how serious (strategic, industrious, divergent) play can disrupt conventional scientific practices and lead to novel outcomes. Through drawing, I experimented with the collected data and disseminated the results through scientific conferences and exhibitions. In short, the research emphasises the role of drawing in discovery and showcases how integrating play-based practice creates a replicable framework that bridges art and science, fosters creative exploration, and advances interdisciplinary collaboration. All scientists involved acknowledged the value of incorporating artistic perspectives into scientific research, recognising it as a powerful method for disseminating knowledge across both art and science communities.