Artists working with technology are frequently informed and inspired by exciting scientific innovations, and often turn to contemporary philosophical interpretations of these events, which positions them in between the “two cultures,” a position that creates the potential for a “Third Culture,” as predicted by C.P. Snow himself. This emerging culture is not composed of the scientific elite as some propose, but will emerge out of triangulation of the arts, sciences and humanities.

This article, shaped by the author's interest in convergences between art and science, presents scientists and philosophers of science who explore that convergence. However, since their expertise lies in science, they each speak from a principally scientific point of view. In fact, a common ground that emerges among them is an overt interest in point of view, which takes the form of examining the modeler's investment in and engagement with the model. Each speaker finds some potential there, rather than limitations.

The author discusses her interactive architectural installation art. As an artist who works with new media, she finds herself refitting existing genres and creating new languages for her particular art form. Her artwork consists of projected interactive computer animation installations. She investigates illusions that transform the viewer's perception of actual space in a synthesis of the real and the virtual.

The authors have experimented with the Web to develop its potential for creative, collaborative expression and to explore and sculpt the boundaries between physical space and cyberspace. Their work grew directly out of Nina Sobell's interactive video installations of the early 1970s, in which she used the medium to sculpt space and time and to create bridges for shared human experience. Their inspiration in Park Bench has been to address the physical disconnectedness of the information age by creating a safe place to congregate in cyberspace.

In the art world, technological advances have implications similar to those in science and industry. Digital art exists in a “development stream” that parallels software design; a curator must be skilled at rapid upgrades. On the other hand, the permanence of digital information allows a more complete documentation of artistic development in a swiftly maturing medium and fosters equal access to work from throughout the world.