Strange Loops – Art, Science & Consciousness: An Exploration of Mind, Matter and Form through the Work of Susan Derges

Pushing beyond the epistemological restraints of practical science, this paper attempts to assimilate philosophically the significance of crucial scientific and mathematical discoveries. Through the lens of the British photographic artist Susan Derges, concepts underpinning quantum mechanics, fractal geometry, chaos theory and more are discussed. Comparing reductionist versus holistic world views the causes of the psychological fragmentation of our time are explored and through an artistic standpoint 'occupying' a 'host' field of science, novel insights are sought into our understanding of mind, matter and form. The journey to uncover the meaning of our reality is a task that requires skills of both the scientist and the artist. Susan Derges' captivating photographic work is thus interpreted through the discoveries and theorems of such scientists as Wofgang Pauli, one of the fathers of quantum mechanics and Einstein's student David Bohm, while Descarte's 'Cogito Ergo Sum' is viewed through the lens of the logician Kurt Godel's 'incompleteness theory'. Originally written in 2004 as a BA Fine Art Painting book under the tuition of Dr Paul O'Brien, NCAD, Dublin IE.