The ArtScience research group is part of the Center Leo Apostel for Transdisciplinary Studies (CLEA) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). In ArtScience we pursue a common practice rooted in both art and science: curiosity, play, collaboration and experimentation. We employ the term “artscience” as shorthand to refer to an expanded transdisciplinary field that encompasses all modes of creative knowledge production, including, but not limited to, philosophy, social sciences and the humanities, indigenous knowledge practices, ancient and modern mythologies and cosmologies. This approach facilitates the emergence of new ways of thinking, perceiving and understanding the world. This mission is based on the insight that combining multiple disciplinary perspectives enriches our understanding of complex systems and stimulates the emergence of new ideas. In this, we continue CLEA’s long-standing objective of bridging between the “two cultures” as first expressed in the university-wide “Einstein meets Magritte” conference that CLEA organized in 1995. Through artistic research and creative practices, we focus on systems and processes that evoke a deeper insight into the universe and the way it relates to human beings. Thus, we extend existing CLEA research through a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates diverse worldviews, cosmogonies, principles of self-organization, and creative methodologies. ArtScience is committed to addressing the critical challenges of our time, such as climate change, ecological awareness, the technosocial dilemma, and the implications of artificial intelligence.
Our research is grounded in cybernetics, systems theory, complexity and ecology, i.e. theories that foreground process, interaction, relation and emergence. We focus on the role of play as a methodology where new ideas, connections and possibilities can freely emerge between disciplines and practitioners of all ages. Cultivating an ecosystem of practices where adults and young people learn together, integrating art, scientific research, and education into a holistic worldview essential for thriving in a complex world. Through these endeavours, we not only expand the boundaries of artistic and scientific research, but also explore the potential for cybernetics, emergence and play to serve as interconnecting principles in the process of knowledge creation.
Learn more about ArtScience here.
Current Projects
Systems At Play
The Center Leo Apostel for Transdisciplinary Studies (CLEA) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) organised its first international artscience conference: ‘Systems At Play: A Self-Organising Symposium on Self-Organisation’ in Brussels on February 15th until 18th, 2023. The ‘Systems at Play’ symposium starts from the understanding that art and science are mutually beneficial means of perception and insight creation. It thus provided a transdisciplinary contact zone for artists and scientists to meet, exchange, think, share, take time, and, ultimately, play together. During the symposium, participating artists and scientists created ‘embodied models of emergence’ in the form of live games, scores, presentations, conversations or small algorithmic performances. We offered inputs to this process in the form of presentations, talks and workshops during the day; as well as an evening programme of immersive and interactive performances and film screenings.
Learn more about Systems At Play here.
Imaginary Institute
The Imaginary Institute doesn’t exist. Yet. We invite collaborators from all disciplines to join us in creating a free-thinking laboratory for transdisciplinary research and collaboration. The core theme of collective transdisciplinary imagination will be explored through play and the systems' perspective, together with the arts, sciences and other collective practices. The project is initiated by the ArtScience Department and Systems At Play at the Center Leo Apostel for Transdisciplinary Studies (CLEA) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in collaboration with Science of Singularities, (plus other partners to be confirmed*). This pilot project will run over 8 months, from November 2024 to June 2025, with a series of 2-day in-person symposiums held each month in Brussels, culminating in a final public symposium or festival in Summer 2025 (location to be determined). Please note: This is an ‘open’ open-call. This means that the open call is still open to feedback, suggestions, revisions and additions, before it officially opens. We do this to make the process more open-ended and inclusive of potential partners and collaborators. At the bottom of this page you can find indications of how you or your institution can potentially be involved.
Learn more about the Imaginary Institute here.
Buckmister College
Courses
We offer courses led by members of the Center Leo Apostel (CLEA), a globally recognized hub for transdisciplinary research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. CLEA’s experts specialize in the study of complex systems, collective intelligence, and the integration of knowledge beyond disciplines. CLEA researchers do fundamental research in principles that foster adaptive thinking and innovative problem-solving, such as systems theory, cognitive science, ecology, AI, evolution and complexity science.
What makes our courses especially unique is that with the help of the ArtScience department at CLEA, we integrate this specialist knowledge in complexity, ecology and systems thinking with strategies from artistic practice, theatre, play as well as other embodied practices. Making this knowledge widely accessible, intuitive to understand, by introducing course participants to a wide variety of modalities of experience. By combining CLEA’s transdisciplinary expertise with artistic thinking, embodied cognition, and the principles of play and theatre, the course offers a unique, immersive approach to creativity. Participants will not only encounter intellectual frameworks but also experience hands-on methods that stimulate imagination and foster creative problem-solving. This synthesis of rigorous research and playful exploration equips individuals and organizations to approach complex challenges with fresh, innovative perspectives.
Upcoming Courses:
On Becoming Imaginary, For Real
Date: November 28th and 29th, 2024
Location: De Plek, Brussels
This workshop explores how an emergent collective imaginary—rooted in playfulness, wonder, and shared joy—can arise through our co-constituency with the world. It examines how this delicate sense of play can persist in the face of real-life challenges. While often dismissed as frivolous, play provides the necessary detachment from rigid problem-solving, cultivating space for creativity. To solve problems, we must first release them, not by seeking clear answers, but by softening our focus, questioning assumptions, and tuning into the background conditions where new possibilities emerge. Paradoxically, true systems-at-work are achieved in unity with systems-at-play—moving beyond fixed meanings into the fluid realm of affordances. Free play eventually morphs into games as it meets the symbolic need for structure, serving as a form of preparation for the real world. By re-engaging the imaginary through play, we can soften the rigid structures of life, allowing the rules that govern us to become more fluid. In doing so, life itself can transform back into a game, leading us towards a state of playfulness and creative spirit. This event will be hosted in two separate sessions, November 28th and November 29th, by the Imaginary Institute — Orion Maxted, Damien Rudd — and co-facilitated by Joris de Kelver, Cadell Last at the Multiversity.
To find out more about our upcoming courses, send us an email.
orion.maxted@vub.be or damien.rudd@vub.be
Open Calls
Imaginary Institute
Current Members
Orion Maxted
Damien Rudd
Loretta Mesiti
Elizabeth Doran
Prof. Francis Heylighen