I was first introduced to the concept of an embedded art practice by the work of Frances Whitehead. Over the years she has applied her skills as an artist to many fields outside of the art world: public works, land and water remediation, architecture, and city planning. And in her role as an embedded artist, she began to keep a list, mostly collected from the observations of non-artists she was in contact with.36
“Artists compose and perform, initiate and carry-thru, design and execute,” bullet number four of “What do artists know?” explains. “Synthesizing diverse facts, goals, and references… Artists are very ‘lateral’ in their research and operations and have great intellectual and operational agility,” reads another.37 It’s a document that validates a radical notion that artists (and those who love them) have been arguing for years: art and artists are good for something.
My work in science can be situated as an embedded art practice. Working within a non-art setting rather than without gives me a more nuanced understanding of the needs of that setting, and has fostered a rich discourse that has proven beneficial to all parties. Further, it has led me to the current line of inquiry: primate aesthetics.
36 Isé, Claudine. “Frances Whitehead, Embedded Artist.” Art21 magazine. n.p., 24 Aug. 2010. Web. 7 April 2016.
37 Whitehead, Frances. “What do artists know?” The Embedded Artist Project. ARTetal Studio, n.d. Web. 7 April 2016.