Becoming Sensible

Bridging the social sciences, politics, and the arts, Sciences Po Experimental Program in Political Arts (SPEAP) operates at a crossroads of disciplines, as one could likewise say of the work of its founding father the French philosopher Bruno Latour. Created in 2010 by Latour and Valerie Pihet at Sciences Po Paris, this highly selective, multidisciplinary program accepts a circle of about fifteen participants (mostly professionals from the social sciences, the arts, and the political milieu) each year. The program is driven by the key notions of experimentation, inquiry, and representation, with a view to the creation of new operational procedures that combine the social sciences, art, and politics. This implies the renewal of existing formats that serve to define "public affairs", from which the term "art politics" rather than "political science" emerges. SPEAP interrogates the issues surrounding "public affairs" by establishing an experimental space that takes inspiration from pragmatist philosophy, sociology, and the history of science as ,veil as the history of art.