art and science
“My commitment to an interdisciplinary approach was formed early on, through my degree at Oxford in Human Sciences, ranging from genetics and animal behaviour to sociology and anthropology. I became interested in the competing narratives that claim to understand what it means to be human, and what challenges humankind now face. Rather than focussing on any one of these exclusively, I have been interested in achieving a critical stance through crossover projects and multi-stranded methods.”
Celia Brown, 2017
„Im Gegensatz zur Wissenschaft, die um eindeutige Schlüsse, um Kausalitäten und Festschreibungen bemüht ist, sucht die Kunst tradierte und aus Gewohnheit akzeptierte Bedeutungen eben gerade in Frage zu stellen und damit erneut zu öffnen. Als Material boten sich die Mythen aufgrund ihrer Flexibilität, durch die sie von den verschiedenen Völkern und Kulturkreisen zu unterschiedlichen Epochen vereinnahmt und immer wieder neu interpretiert werden konnten, geradezu an. Brown griff auf für sie wesentliche Figuren der griechischen Sagenwelt zurück und formte sie assoziativ in Bilder um, die zeitlose und aktuelle, zeitspezifische Aspekte der sozialen Umgangs miteinander verbinden. Der veränderbaren, neu gestaltenden Komponenten kulturelle Prägung rücken in den Vordergrund – eine spielerische Suche nach Freiräumen in bindendem Erbe. „I like to dwell on the fact that I am a product of thousands of years cultural history.“
„Die Geschichten der Geschichte heute“, Beatrice von Bismarck, Katalog „Dracos Daughter“, 1999
art science works
“Many artists ask ‘why’ as insistently as any scientist. For the artist, as for the scientist, every act of looking has the potential to become an act of analysis.” (Martin Kemp, 2003) With my works based on some scientific findings I ponder on this phenomenon of asking ‘why’.
lecture performances
“It would be best to let the scientists themselves have their say and explain the complex issues they have unearthed. But not in the usual manner. Let’s create a free space, where it may be possible to experiment with connections between difficult scientific propositions and ‘facts’.” Celia Brown 2006
films
“In general, film offers the possibility of combining textual information with visual imagery. This is a compelling option for making art works about phenomena that are invisible to the naked human eye, and/or not so well anchored in the public domain as to require no explanation. My films aim to be intelligible in a scientific sense, while at the same time prompting the imagination of the viewer, enticing them into these hidden and enigmatic realms. …” Celia Brown 2022