**1. Introduction**

Knowledge specialization has resulted in a divide between so-called "scientific" and "artistic" research. Often, there is a top-down authority relationship between the two research types, with hard sciences and engineering knowledge holding the upper hand [1] (p. 9). Innovation-based economy relies mainly on technological knowledge [2,3], sometimes with the help of human sciences to uphold the process in order to validate technological developments in design and systems compliance. Occasionally, the artistic approach can also be associated with technological developments, mainly as a communication tool [4].

Our working hypothesis considers the artist as a "transmitter of signifiers" beyond the designer and the technologist as s/he refers to the collective unconscious [5] through the creation of imaginary-based sensations and emotions. The artist talks about our "*not yet unfolded world*" as described by the philosopher Ernst Bloch in Hans Dieleman's paper [6] while incorporating his or her own subjectivity and vision [7]. As a result, says Dieleman, the artist helps us to imagine our future by connecting to our own subjectivity and imagination.

Neuroaesthetics, of which the "main objective is to characterize the neurobiological foundations and evolutionary history of the cognitive and affective processes involved in aesthetic experiences and artistic and other creative activities" [8] and other cognitive science fields have identified connections between the artist's gesture and embodied aesthetic experience whether we talk of visual art [9] or dance and performance [10]. All address the interaction with the art piece as a sensory experience. For the purpose of this article, we understand the "artist's gesture" as described by Hans Dieleman: A way for the artist to engage his/her inner self in the creation process, which is also considered as a condition in creating the required change of paradigm toward sustainable innovation and climate change mitigation (regardless of whether the artist's intention relates, or not, to sustainability itself).

We examine traces of the artist's gesture on developed technologies (Box 1) and with the audience of the studied art-tech installation—an interactive still life made of fruits and vegetables, which light up when touched by people (Figure 1). We question whether the artistic gesture would impact technological development of the art piece and how it would relate to sustainable innovation and climate change mitigation. We ask if artistic practice is a powerful tool to infuse ethical and sustainability elements within technological developments.

In our opinion, the materialization of the artist's vision and inner self engagemen<sup>t</sup> through works of art and furthermore, through interactive devices, helps in: (1) Taking into account non-mobilized features in mainstream innovation methodologies and (2) creating a qualitative dialogue with users and designers to generate subtle sustainable innovation indications.

Our research intentionally merges two very different approaches as an opportunity to examine intersections between art and innovation. Thus, each of the co-authors brings in some combination of skills: Céline Verchère is a sociologist, whose research focuses on new usages, and is also a dancer. Jeanne Bloch is both the creator of the artistic installation used for the survey, and the co-author of the research made from it. By writing this paper, she relates to a practice of self-reflection as used in research-creation methodology [11–15].


**Figure 1.** Interactive installation, Cité des Sciences, (2017). Photo: Anne Charignon ©.

#### **2. What in the Artistic Practice Can Help to Mitigate Climate Change?**

We can identify four elements within the artistic practice that can help climate change mitigation. First, the artistic gesture based on the artist's inner self dialogue; second, the value of subjectivity in the creation process; third, the importance of leaving the audience free to experience the work; and fourth, the development of empathy.

Hans Dieleman's article "*Transdisciplinary Hermeneutics; Working from the Inner Self, Creating Ecologies of Knowing*" explains what Jeanne Bloch intuitively experienced during the artistic process. The artist who connects sensory experience during creation including technological developments helps the audience connect to their sensory and emotional spheres while interacting with the artwork.

Hans Dieleman describes the concept of the artist inner self engagemen<sup>t</sup> and how it contributes to "what the German philosopher Ernst Bloch called anticipative consciousness ( ... ). To realize a dream and create a new reality, we need to be in touch with our emotions, 'want' and motivation and thus with our inner self". Ernst Bloch, as quoted by Hans Dieleman in the same article, vividly links the intimate process and the impulse that lead to creative action: "Connecting to our intimate world mobilizes our creativity and our imagination. Free thoughts are floating inside us which ge<sup>t</sup> turned into actions and impulses are energy to convert into actions these thoughts that live inside us as a result of our experiences".

From Ernst Bloch's description, we can deduce the notion of subjectivity as our imagination relates to our intimate world, which is infused by our past experiences as individuals: One cannot engage one's inner self without engaging one's subjectivity. In addition, the philosopher highlights the value of myths, folk stories, and tales as a qualitative and symbolic forms of our historical conscience [16–19]. The artist refers to the above when creating new signifiers and opening up the possibility for new worlds.

The artist relates to Ernst Bloch's "Principle of Hope [20] as a theory of the Non-there ye<sup>t</sup> ( ... ) as for Bloch the human world is full of latent worlds that tend to the concretization of the Utopia intention" according to Michael Lowy [21]. The artist's setup includes conditions allowing a space for latency. By creating surprise or featuring unexpected experiences, s/he is able to open up an imaginary space literally and trigger the audience's imagination.

In addition, the stimulation of empathy is key to the artistic experience: "*viewers of works of art report bodily empathy*", according to art historian David Freedberg, who examined how relevant empathy is to aesthetic experience and what neural mechanisms are involved in the case of experiencing figurative as well as abstract art. Thus, could we consider the encounter with artwork as an opportunity to emphasize our empathetic nature? Would this contribute to building an intimate relationship with our "eco-surroundings"?

When, as Freedberg describes, the audience connects with the artist's gesture and when this gesture is based on the artist's dialogue with his or her inner self, could this specific gesture contribute to raising awareness about sustainability and climate change? Could it engage the audience?

In Jeanne Bloch's work, in the case of art and technologies, the artist's gesture and inner self engagemen<sup>t</sup> as well as the space for latency and empathy in her setup allow the emergence of new types of relations and connections between imagination and engineering, which is a relevant approach for engaging technological developments at the service of climate change mitigation.

#### **3. Artistic Installation and Research Methodology**

#### *3.1. The Art Installation, "an Interactive Still life" Developed for the Choreographic Piece, "The Temple Windows Were Askew!"*

In the specific case of the art piece that was examined for our research, the artist underlying considerations relate to:


The S*till Life* installation developed by Jeanne Bloch, is created as part of Jeanne Bloch's dance performance, *The Temple Windows were Askew!* and is presented, along with an interactive installation. It recalls chiaroscuro paintings and German expressionist film aesthetics. The installation features interactive fruits and vegetables that light up in different manners when you touch them. The performance developed from this installation includes additional objects such as several light projecting chairs installed on stage and three performers. A technological framework developed along the artistic creation runs the interactive lighting set. Jeanne's choice of using produce in her art piece is a step forward into her exploration of physical, organic, and technological frontiers. Her artistic approach apperceives technologies, human beings, and natural resources equally as matter and all as subjects. These operate according to the same universal physical principles that describe a single system of life and tech. In this sense, Jeanne relates to the *Metahumanist Manifesto* from Jaime del Val, artist–researcher, and Stefen Lorenz Sorgner, philosopher and specialist of ethics of emerging technologies [23]. In their work, del Val and Lorenz Sorgner lay the foundations for a world where new technological developments are human based. They propose, "*to deepen the understanding of reality as an unquantifiable field of relational bodies or metabodies, in changing and constitutive relation with one another. Herewith, we attempt to finally overcome the Cartesian split between body and mind, object and subject, by proposing a view of the mind as an embodied relational process, and of the body as relational movement, that operates from the molecular and bacterial, through the individual and psychic, to the social, planetary and cosmic levels, and in other dimensions of experience*".

At the time of our research, the light–produce installation included one Adafruit NeoPixel Jewel 7 × 5050 RGB LED and one Adafruit NeoPixel Stick 8 × 5050 RGB LED. Each group of LEDs is carved into a different fruit or vegetable after being protected from vegetable juice with a thermo-plastic envelope. For the presentation, we used cables to connect various produce to capacitive sensors and micro-controller. We are currently working on a wireless version of this project with different types of LEDs. In addition, Jonathan Perret, software performer (ut7.fr), developed a computer interface to control the lighting display (color variation and intensity). One part of the installation consists in manipulating "instrumented" produce displayed on a table placed in an obscure room. This particular context of manipulation (dark room, lighting effects) generates a series of reactions that are discussed with the audience. Then, we discuss the artist's intentions and research work and the participants' expectations and perceptions. Before stepping into the very dark room, one of the survey participants is invited to wear on a luminous t-shirt (Figure 2) helping the group to find its way to the installation in the completely dark room. The luminous t-shirts were developed during a previous dance and light artistic research [24] run by Jeanne Bloch. They include one or two 5 mm LEDs (blue or red or white) and some reflective and diffusing fabrics. A new version is in process in order for Jeanne Bloch to delve into her movement and light work.

**Figure 2.** Light and dance t-shirt. Photo: Jeanne Bloch ©.
