Languages of Visual Arts: from Venetian Bas-reliefs to Nucleosynthesis, Pulsars, and Beyond

Can researchers use honest, beautiful, and accurate visual strategies to communicate something that is not visible? Especially with phenomena that are just theoretical concepts, or that are too small or too distant in time or space. Art related to science can be much more than divulgation (in the sense of conveying “second-hand”, or “cold”, research content). Art can bring the general public straight into the core of state-of-the-art research; in some respects, art can become first-hand research in itself (but, at the same time, verge on the edge of fiction), when striving to convey something that science is still trying to define, or to evoke things from an almost obliterated past. We present here some considerations on the above themes, from two different points of view: by an art-historical researcher and art curator, and by an artist active in science communication. In the first part of this article, Gloria Vallese describes the experience of two art and science exhibitions organized by the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, Italy. One of the artworks featured was by Alessia Lorenzi, the other author of this article; her experience in that context, together with other considerations from inside her current scientific visualization practice, is analyzed in the second part of this text. The second part of this article will cover some critical points and strengths of visual communication in science applied to the invisible. Practical examples and solutions will be provided to address the critical points and to reflect on opportunities and responsibilities in these fields.