Le Laboratoire, a new laboratory that promotes the links between art and science, has opened in Paris. Le Monde’s Nathaniel Herzberg spoke with Le Laboratoire’s director David Edwards, who is also a biology professor at Harvard University. The idea for the laboratory began at Harvard, which hopes to become more open to the arts and is one of the funders for the project.

While similar to MIT’s Media Lab and the Wellcome Trust in London, Le Laboratoire is “a scientific structure that accepts doubt about scientific progress” while also providing “a place for experimentation.” Practically, the project involves collaborations. As examples, Edwards cites James Nachtwey’s photographs of infectious diseases, and Mathieu Lehanneur’s air purifier, the latter being the result of a collaboration with Edwards himself. “In all of these cases,” explains Edwards, “it’s the encounter of two worlds that has allowed for innovation. That’s the reason for the Laboratoire.”

Taken from Artforum (December 4, 2007)