SCALES of CHAOS - The Dance of Art & Contemporary Science

A full-scale exhibition curated by the Art History majors at William & Mary, from the practicum course The Curatorial Project (Spring 2020).
SCALES of CHAOS presents fresh ways of reading art, and of abstract and figurative artworks that embody a sensible intuition of complexity, through the Chaos Theory. Different from our familiar notions, the ideas of Order & Chaos and Fractal Geometry, introduce a new kind of scale based on change and dynamism in nature. A small impact on a complex system can cause indeterminate behaviors and results. This has ushered in new models of perceiving and engaging with the world. Art and science explore one and the same world, each with its own tools and lens, and at its own pace. As this exhibition shows, art has either been responsive, or intuitive, in its dance with science.
SCALES of CHAOS is organized in two parts. Part I Art & Chaos Theory includes two sections: Order & Chaos, Revealing Emergence; Part II Scales of Perception and Imagination includes three sections Fractal Perception, Unfolding Nuance, and Irony in Art. The exhibition draws upon available objects in collections at the Muscarelle Museum of Art and the Special Collections Research Center of Swem Library, at William & Mary.