Hacking Hearts: establishing a dialogue in art/science education

This paper discusses Hacking Hearts, a transdisciplinary educational collaboration between the art school Central Saint Martins (U.K.) and a science and engineering university, the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan). The concept of performativity---which was brought into the construction of the workshop setting---is used to explain the mechanisms of interaction across disciplinary boundaries commonly accepted in these institutions and academic areas. The collaboration transformed performative elements into a resource by creating an educational environment that enabled communication through encounters “on stage” between research scientists and art/design students. The discussion is situated within a growing literature on art/science education and offers lessons for establishing collaborative workshops between diverse participants.