The Superposition

Artistic-Led Concept Experiments
Were Key to the Art, Science and
Making of ‘In Transition’
Cat Scott
“I can’t understand why people are
frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened
of the old ones.”
(John Cage in Conversing with Cage,
page 221, 2003)
The work and practices of John Cage
have inspired and influenced my artistic
practice since before I started working
with artists, scientists and makers from
The Superposition collective. Conceptual
art and improvisation are key to my work.
They are an inherent part of the artistic,
scientific and making processes and are
the core of experimentation itself.
“Conceptual art is based on the notion
that the essence of art is an idea, or
concept, and may exist distinct from
and in the absence of an object as its
representation.”
(Guggenheim Collection Online, 2018)
“The term ‘fine art’ was used to differentiate
works by artists who were the sole
agent of creative expression from works
that were created by commission, or
objects with utilitarian functions that fall
into the category of craft or decorative
art.” (What is Fine Art? Canvas - blog
by Saatchi Art, Evangelyn Delacare,
17/11/2016)
“The avant-garde movement prioritised
concept and intellectual purpose over
aesthetics. Modern works such as
‘The Fountain’ by Marcel Duchamp and
‘Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh are
in accordance with the definition of fine
art as they express the true intentions of
the artists without restriction placed by a
patron.” (What is Fine Art? Canvas - blog
by Saatchi Art, Evangelyn Delacare,
17/11/2016)
What is an experiment?
Artistic-led experiments are led by
intuition and curiosity. To me, the process
of experimentation is creating something
led by my ‘child-like’ sense of curiosity,
where I ask questions and my intuition
guides me through the decision-making
process. An experiment also allows me
to explore an idea without the restrictions
of having an end point or function, or
in other words using ‘blue sky thinking’
(thinking without restriction). The process
of creating artistic-led experiments are a
personal journey, with little or no context
in mind, during the creation of a work.
Whereas the scientific method takes a
theory and turns that into a hypothesis
(an explanation of a phenomenon that
can be tested where each test has a
yes or no answer) and an experiment
is a reproducible series of tests that are
measured and recorded. Furthermore,
an experiment in artistic terms is led by
improvisation, in contrast to the ‘scientific
method’ which is led by discovering
facts about the physical world. Overall,
experiments in both art and science are
there to either prove facts or to learn
something new.
I am a philosophical thinker who uses
‘blue-sky thinking’ for experimentation in
the early stages of a project, where the
concept for the artwork has not yet been
decided. Improvisation and blue-sky
thinking are at the heart of my experimentation,
providing me with free-space
to think without restriction.
It is the role of the project leader to determine
the dynamics of the experiments. I
strongly feel that the conceptual element
deepened the work In Transition. For
example the Composer and Sound Artist
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