Kunal Sen

Artist, Atheist, Engineer, Inventor, Scientist, Technologist

I grew up in Calcutta, India -- my father a film director, my mother an actress. Our living room had a constant flow of artists of all colors. In this background of arts and artists, my main passion drifted towards science and technology. After completing my graduate studies in Physics, I got interested in Computer Science and went back to graduate school and then moved to Chicago to obtain a Ph.D degree in Artificial Intelligence, specializing in Machine Learning. For the next twenty years I have been involved with various aspects of digital technology – designing electronic medical systems, writing technical books, and running the technology group at Encyclopædia Britannica. During all this time I continued to draw and paint, though very sporadically. In 2011, during a trip back to India, I decided to take up art more seriously. I have been reading and thinking a lot about how, in the recent years, science, philosophy, and art are coming together. I wanted to express my understanding of these fundamental changes through my art. This time I did not want to restrict myself to just painting, but rather take advantage of my training in electronic technology, my programming skills, my understanding of the digital world, and my painting skills to tell the complex story more effectively. I am fortunate to have a privileged seat while watching this profound and spectacular shift in human culture. I can enjoy an insiders view of the scientific and technological changes, and hopefully have the ability to capture the essence of it through art.

Physics, understanding of the human brain, evolution and other self-organizing and emergent systems, understanding of consciousness, philosophy of science, arts and why we need them.

As a member of the human race there are two things that I feel most proud about -- our ability to create science and arts. It is almost unbelievable that this little creature with a tiny brain can figure out how the universe works, makes predictions, and decades later it turns out to be absolutely precise. I am equally astonished when I read a good piece of literature and realize that the author, who does not even know that I exist, somehow discovered the deepest secrets of my mind. While one may think of science as a process of discovering existing patterns and art as creation of new ones, I am no longer sure the distinction is really that clear. However, there is a great asymmetry in our appreciation of these two modes of thinking. It is far easier to find a person of science who is passionate about arts than an artist who is just as passionate about science. Our human culture can take a great leap forward when this asymmetry is removed.

Artificial Intelligence, Electronics, Physics, Visual Art, Web Technologies

Designing electronic systems and making stuff