The old Tetley brewery headquarters in Leeds, now converted into a contemporary art gallery and learning space, is currently hosting the exhibition “The Scientific Method”. Until January 22nd, they are showing the works of artists such as Yorkshire-based Amelia Crouch, Spanish video artist Patricia Esquivias, Edinburghian multi-talent Siân Robinson Davies as well as American visual artist Liz Magic Laser and the artist duo Semiconductor. In an attempt to make sense of the continuous flood of information we’re faced with on a daily basis, the exhibition promises to tackle “potentially unanswerable questions of contemporary science” and to query conventional wisdom through the use of humour and irreverence.
The exhibition consists of a series of moving image and video artworks, where especially the two videos in the work Spectral Evidence by Amelia Crouch and the twelve-minute science doubting “Do you think Science?” by Semiconductor stand out. In two different videos, Crouch discusses our experience of colour and light and also why Newton was obsessed with the colour red in a playful, informative and aesthetic manner. Artistic partners, Semiconductor, gathered a group of astrophysicists to ask them if they believe science is able to answer everything. Their answers formed the foundation for a video work that raises questions like “Can the brain ever understand itself?” and “Can science explain our concept of free will?” As the only non-digital contribution to the exhibition, Tagebuch by the German painter KP Brehmer explores whether statistical and mathematical methods can be used to describe emotions and well-being. Through the use of colourful bar charts, Brehmer has created a fascinating work by recording hourly how he felt about love, health, job and money, during an entire month in 1977. Many of the artworks make use of delivery formats that are well-known in science and teaching like lectures, TED talks and demonstrations; while the contents are thought-provoking and challenge the concepts of science we know today.
The Tetley is open daily 10 am to 5 pm and until 8 pm on Wednesdays. Entry is free. Why not head down on Friday for their Friday Social event (4 – 7 pm) and start the weekend with some cheap fizz in the cross-over land between science and art?
Louise Müller