Paper short abstract:

Incubations are processes to experimentalize the relationship of lay people and experts. We discuss crucial features of incubations and how these negotiate the boundaries between STS and artistic practices: 1. experimental setup. 2.Pressure and containment. 3. mixing of materials 4.consumption contexts.

Paper long abstract:

In our contribution we discuss "incubations" as an approach to combine STS research with artistic practices that the authors have developped over the previous years. The term incubation refers both to the pressure cooker, a device to apply pressure and speed up processes, as well as temple sleep, a healing process that is used when usual forms of treatment do not work. Incubations are thus processes to experimentalize the relationship of lay people and experts. We discuss five crucial features of incubations and how these negotiate the boundaries between STS and artistic practices: 1. The creation of an experimental setup: the need to create an organisational context that is not easily classifiable as either art or social science . 2. The application of pressure to produce new forms of provocative containment: To create an experimental setup using pressure which allows to create unexpected and new socio-material formations. 3. The mixing of materials: to use both as research materials as well as output materials visual and auditory devices and data and 4. The creation of consumption contexts: to create contexts for dissemination which are neither purely scientific not artistic.