Time, Space, and Imagination: The Art of Seeing at McMaster University

Art collections are profound research environments. They steward the creative impulses of past and contemporary societies; provide sites for critical reflection on objects and their multifarious contexts; motivate productive dialogue between objects and beholders; and engage with and reflect upon the values that drive the creation, exchange, and interpretation of the manifestations of human imagination. In the summer of 2019, a workshop hosted by the University of Guelph’s Bachinski/Chu Print Study Collection in the School of Fine Art and Music brought together a multidisciplinary group to examine the contributions of collaborative, interdisciplinary programming that use works of art for purposes beyond the immediate study of art and culture. Art historians, artists, museum professionals, and their co-investigators from a variety of STEM disciplines, along with students and community partners, convened for this two-day event. This book provides the Nexus for Innovation workshop participants a venue through which to further explore and consider more deeply the roles art can play in stimulating multi- and interdisciplinary discourse and developing intellectual and observational competencies. The authors represented in this collection of essays shed light on the constitutive nature of art as both a product and agent of creative invention. The artful encounters examined here demonstrate how the spaces created to confront works of art become important sites of productive visual inquiry.