About

Crossing Parallels

Outline

Art, science and technology are disciplines which share many parallels: both are forms of research into the unknown and undiscovered and both contribute to the development of new visions. Social, cultural, economic and, above all, ethical issues are becoming more and more complex, and increasingly intertwined with one another. Cross-disciplinary collaborations and creativity are needed to deal with this complexity. With a strong belief in the importance of sharing knowledge between different scientific domains and the art world, TodaysArt and Delft University of Technology founded Crossing Parallels — a platform where artists, researchers and students engage in a multi-directional exchange, integrating their creativity and fresh perspectives with scientific methods and educational formats. The exchange between these two worlds shapes a valuable reflection on today's technological developments and serves as a basis for inspiration flowing both ways.

Striving for cross-disciplinary exchange, Crossing Parallels aims to work as an open platform. To involve people not directly participating in its residency programme, collaborations, processes and content of the projects are documented and published. Furthermore, Crossing Parallels hosts public events such as workshops, talks and exhibitions.

In 2017 Crossing Parallels started as a pilot project with two artists-in-residence; fashion designer Iris van Herpen & Assistant Professor Computer-Aided Design Engineering Jouke Verlinden, and Mike Rijnierse & assistant professor Optics Aurèle Adam. 2018's artists-in-residence were photographer Sujata Mujamdar & Professor Polymer Materials Stephen Picken and architect Philip Beesley, coordinator Interactive Environments Aadjan van der Helm & Assistant Professor Robotic Building Henriette Bier. In 2019, our artists-in-residence were Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand & Fulvio Scarano Professor and Director at the department for Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance and propulsion. In 2020, we welcomed designer Teresa van Dongen & Duncan McMillan, Assistant Professor in Enzymology and artist and researcher Hrvoje Hirsl & Doris Aschenbrenner Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.
As part of our matching program, we also welcomed Gabey Tjon a Tham and Gabriela Prochazka in 2018, Tivon Rice and Mark IJzerman in 2019 and Bas Froon in 2020.