设计人文研究所 | 皮尔斯·罗伯特:找到新的方式与世界互动

设计人文研究所主持人姚之洁：面对复杂而不确定的世界和未来，我们将在设计研究中运用复杂性、跨学科的手段，去研究不同系统之中共有的涌现行为和统一性规律。我们需要跨越不同领域的维度，去理解进化、开放与封闭的关系；观察设计在不同时代与社会生态的关系和演化过程，并尝试去绘制一条“复杂性”进化的路线，从混沌、聚集、涌现走向新陈代谢和不断的进化升级。

Piers Roberts 皮尔斯·罗伯特 博士 英国

英国“伦敦设计周”创始人

英国“设计师部落”策划公司创始人兼总经理

DesignersBlock 策划设计师活动的组织

DesignersBlock 创始人

有一种普遍的误解，认为艺术和科学是截然相反的，科学是关于理性的而艺术是非理性的。事实上，艺术和科学有许多共同的传统和特点，两者都试图理解和描述我们周围的世界。是的，我们可以探讨它们之间的差异，但我们也可以从思考两者之间的关系中获益良多。

中国古代的阴阳概念向我们介绍了二元论的概念，描述了在自然界中看似对立或相反的力量实际上可能是互补的、相互联系的和相互依存的。它们的属性可以单独考虑，但两者之间的关系才是最重要的。过多的阴或过多的阳都会导致混乱。我们唯一能达到的和谐来自于尊重和包容两者。

当代西方思维的根源可以追溯到文艺复兴时期，艺术和科学在15世纪和16世纪的意大利佛罗伦萨发展迅速。我们知道皮耶罗·德拉·弗朗西斯卡的艺术，但他的同时代人视他为数学家和几何学家。他是第一个提出透视规则并将其应用于创作使之更“现实”的艺术品的艺术家。在同一时期，列奥纳多·达·芬奇既是一位伟大的艺术家，也是一位杰出的科学家、工程师和发明家。

反过来，科学在很大程度上依赖于探索未知事物的艺术性的想法(非线性空间)，以质疑我们的假设并发现新的见解。我们通常认为科学是固有的,可靠的和可预测的，但16世纪的科学家，如伽利略被教会质疑是因为他们敢于提出一个简单的想法——我们原来相信是真实的事，事实可能不是如此。

正统观念可能受到挑战，新理论的提出依赖于科学根本的方法。有了新命题，就需要检验，检验的结果将决定这些新概念是否可以取代旧的假设。

当代艺术家让我们质疑和探索我们看待事物的方式，提供新的视角，让我们对自己和周围的世界有一种生机勃勃、新鲜的感觉。在创作新作品时，艺术家们会充分利用科学和材料方面的创新。科学的应用在摄影上，使得我们可以用2D手段表现3D世界。摄影帮助打开了抽象艺术的大门，通过摄影，艺术家的“不现实”作品可能比使用具象的技巧更有力和微妙地唤起我们的“理解”。

在我发展自己的思维（围绕社会科学的非线性方法)时，我特别受到了混沌理论的启发。“古典”科学适合线性框架，而混沌理论探索非线性空间的本质，微小的变化和细微的差异可能会导致不可预测的结果，但这个空间不是随机的。

这告诉我的是，更加理性地去接受我们复杂的世界，需要由一直在发生的线性和非线性交互作用而成。我们最好是探索非线性的本质，而不是在有序和控制的驱动中不断排除不确定性。

这种认识也有助于我们理解商业创新，也就是将融合了严格控制理论的传统商业方法和创意与寻找新的解决方法相结合是必不可少的。

我们需要超越普遍的文化假设，即线性是可靠的、牢固的、可依赖的，而非线性是可疑的。形成这样的文化假设只是因为我们产生某种想法和开发新解决方案的方式难以解释，同时，我们还采用迭代的方法，而这种方法依靠我们的想象和直觉。

探索未知可能会令人不安，但如果我们想找到新的方式，以更有成效和可持续的方式与我们周围的世界互动，这是必不可少的。这样的探索所带来的回报可能是令人惊讶的，也会挑战之前的假设。但这就是我们所面临的挑战的令人兴奋之处，也是找到可行的替代解决方案的潜力的来源。

There is a commonly held misconception that art and science exist at polar opposites to each other; that science is about rationality and art is... irrational? The truth is that art and science share many common characteristics; both seek to understand and describe the world around us. Yes we can explore the differences but we also have much to gain from contemplating the relationship between the two.

 

The ancient Chinese concept of Yin and Yang introduces us to the concept of dualism, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world. The properties of each may be considered independently but it is the relationship between the two that matters most. Too much Yin or too much Yang both lead towards chaos. The only harmony we can attain comes from allowing for both.

We know Piero della Francesca for his art, yet his contemporaries saw him as a mathematician and geometer. In the 15th century he was the first artist to work out the rules of perspective and apply them in the creation of more 'realistic' artwork. In the same period Leonardo da Vinci was both a great artist as well as an extraordinary scientist, engineer and inventor.

The application of science was essential in the emergence of photography and the creation of realistic 2D representations of our 3D world. Did photography help open the door to abstract art; where the artists' 'unrealistic' work may more powerfully and subtly evoke our 'understanding' than might be achieved using representational techniques.

Science in its turn relies massively on the artistic idea of journeying into the unknown (the non-linear space) in order to question our assumptions and discover new insights. We like to think of science as being solid, dependable and predictable, but in fact the very reason 16th Century scientists such as Gallileo (the father of science) were looked upon with such suspicion by the church was because they dared to propose one simple idea – that what we believe to be true (the biblical story contains all the answers to the nature of being) may not be so.

This open-ness to the idea that orthodoxies may be challenged and new theories proposed lies at the root of the scientific method. With a new proposition comes the need to test, and the results of testing will determine whether these new concepts may replace old assumptions. Artists too challenge us to question and explore the way we see things, offering new perspectives with a vital fresh sense of ourselves and the world around us.

 

In the development of my own thinking (around non-linear approaches to the social sciences) I was particularly inspired by Chaos Theory. Where 'classical' science fits into the linear frame, Chaos theory explores the nature of non-linear space. Whilst small changes and minor differences may result in unpredictable outcomes this space is not random.

What this tells me is that it is more 'rational' to accept that our complex world consists of both linear and non-linear interactions taking place all the time. We would be better off exploring the nature of non-linearity than we are seeking to exclude uncertainty in a drive for order and control.

This realisation also helps us to understand business innovation; where a combination of traditional business approaches involving rigorous control systems mixed with creativity and the search for new solutions is essential.

We need to move beyond common cultural assumptions that linear is reliable, solid and dependable whilst non-linear is somehow suspect, just because the way we generate ideas and develop new solutions is harder to explain; employing iterative approaches that rely upon our imagination and intuition.

Journeying into the unknown can be unsettling but it is essential if we are to find new ways to engage more fruitfully and sustainably with the world around us. The reward that comes from such an exploration may be surprising and challenge previously held assumptions. But therein lies the excitement and the potential for viable alternative solutions to the challenges we face.

编辑：设计人文研究所

审定：创意城市

版权声明：本文由创意城市发布，转载需经授权。

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