Art & Citizen Science

As Citizen Scientists, we explore a wide range of species and observe all kinds of perceivable phenomena. These explorations lead to meaningful experiences—experiences that can inspire and shape artistic expression: Art & (Citizen) Science?

The connection between experience and art is at the heart of a theory proposed by philosopher John Dewey in his 1934 work Art as Experience. Dewey argued that experience is the central element of the artistic and aesthetic process. He notes that while not every moment in life qualifies as an experience, certain experiences stand out—shaping our understanding, leaving a lasting impact, fostering growth, and playing a vital role in both education and creative practice. 

Citizen Science, through its hands-on investigation of nature and human life, offers fertile ground for such transformative experiences. We believe that when art and Citizen Science come together, they create a uniquely enriching combination—one that deepens our understanding of the world and enhances our engagement with it.

In the following blog post, we share insights into our most recent projects—creative collaborations and artistic initiatives that either emerge from or work in tandem with Citizen Science.

Collected Seaweed transforms to Art & Citizen Science

Along the art-based adventures, the COSEA App, funded by Horizon Europe and running on the SPOTTERON Citizen Science App Platform, has been involved in an initiative called #FindWhereFound. The roots of this initiative lies in Ireland – where a team from University College Cork in cooperation with colleagues from Portugal and us here in Austria, developed an ocean literacy activity which involves art-based herbarium specimens of seaweeds from coastal areas of Ireland. 

The name #FindWhereFound represents the idea that the viewer can find the exact place the seaweed was found. Each specimen's information is linking the exact location at which the specimen was collected with a QR Code on a digital map, which is part of the "COSEA" Citizen Science open platform for collaboration of marine and coastal community projects running on SPOTTERON. 

The art-based herbarium in public venues is accompanied by an activity for the public to co-create an 11-word poem - #SeaweedPoetry. The participants are invited to make a poem guided by a self-selected seaweed herbarium specimen and a question: How do you feel when you are near an ocean or sea? The recent expo of 40 art-works took place at European Maritime Day in Cork, Ireland. Although we were not present ourselves there we loved the end results and contributed with designing postcards and posters to accompany the activity.

ArtSpots Citizen Science App

And just recently, we were involved in a very creative adventure where our own community based App – ArtSpots was applied to explore the link with Plant awareness and street art. At the Swiss Citizen Science conference CitSciHelvetia'25 colleagues from Ireland, Latvia and the Netherlands were presenting the first outcome of student work who analyzed seven thousand entries of street art from ArtSpots App (particularly murals and street sculptures).