As one of the protagonists of Clare Boothe Luce’s novel notes, “the height of sophistication is simplicity”. This dialectical intertwining of simplicity and complexity accompanies us in everyday life when we discover that seemingly simple phenomena hide complex mechanisms, and understanding them requires considerable cognitive effort. The complexity of simplicity is also experienced when we try to synthesise the chaos of phenomena, theories and opinions that surround us. We observe it when the oversimplifications typical of populist discourses lead to tragic political consequences. At the same time, complexity and simplicity can be perceived as aspects of the relationship between human perception and the forms of its expression that constitute social reality. A sign, a thing, a simulacrum appears to us as simple or complex not only due to our cognitive condition but also our emotional, ethical and aesthetic disposition. We note that openness to the complexity of perspectives and simplicity of expression has always been a virtue as well as an ally in our human attempts to understand the world, both on the paths of science and art.

The multidimensionality, diversity and complexity come easier when we are not alone in the cognitive process. Shared reflection and exchange of thoughts support synthetic approaches that allow complexity and simplicity to be reinterpreted over and over again. And this was the main motivation underlying another act of the unique endeavour, namely the interdisciplinary project “Excess and Lack” implemented within the Academy of Young Scholars and Artists in Wrocław in 2013 (Huculak et al., 2013). One of the fundamental objectives of the Academy is to improve and foster communication between outstanding representatives of various fields of science, the humanities and art. Thus the idea behind “Excess and Lack” was to present various perceptions of the concepts of “excess” and “lack” from the perspective of different disciplines in order to reveal similarities, differences and fresh perspectives, thus proving the complementary nature of all these contributions. The importance of the ability to understand a given concept across multiple different languages refers back to the ideas of many great scholars and artists, including Ludwig Wittgenstein’s notion of “seeing-as”.

In this context Complexity and Simplicity should be considered a follow-up and a further step along this path, driven by many enthusiastic responses to the former project. This time, to close the gap between the sciences, humanities and the arts, and replace it with a unifying and holistic perspective on human cognition, 57 scholars and artists were asked to present their perspectives on the concepts of “complexity” and “simplicity” in terms that referred to their own specific disciplines. The essays that emerged from this project are characterised by scientific excellence and anchored in state-of-the-art research, while at the same time being written in a language and style that facilitates their comprehension by an audience new to these specific fields. Also, all authors were asked to present fruitful ideas relating to the broader horizons of their particular disciplines rather than just focusing on their cutting-edge discoveries. Hence, the articles presented in this compilation may serve as an interdisciplinary source of inspiration for a wide variety of readers. These contributions are presented in a complimentary manner alongside works by artists that touch on the issues of simplicity and complexity in the language of art.

Such an interdisciplinary approach seems particularly justified precisely in the case of simplicity and complexity. The search for comprehensive pathways to capture the tension between these two qualities has a long tradition, just to mention Spinozian thought attempting to delineate the chaos within an existing whole and harmony. Although the very issue of complexity and simplicity can be considered within each of the individuated scientific and artistic disciplines, it can and should also become a subject of reflection on a higher level of abstraction. Our book, then, can also be read in these two ways, as an overview of the detailed, diverse grasps of simplicity and complexity, and as a kind of tracing of a common interdisciplinary denominator in order to discover the deeper nature of the title opposition. As with the Deleuzian assemblages, the success of the latter approach requires finding a unique fusion of material interdependencies and constellation of perspectives.

Simultaneously, the paths of reflection quickly branch out into a thicket of parallel intellectual endeavours that the reader may wish to follow, leading us to more contemporary research undertaken in the fields of new materialism, critical realism, but also reflections on the posthuman condition and interactions between the human body, technology and machines by Braidotti, or investigations in heuristic theory of value by Cantó Milà. It is not clear whether adding further crossroads will simplify the matter or make it even more intricate. Nevertheless, this is the risk we have chosen to take in this publication, adding a handful of our own insights to the long-lasting debate on complexity and simplicity.

This unique fusion is presented to the reader in the form of a mosaic of scientific texts and selected works of art. As in Cortazar’s Rayuela, the reader can choose his or her own path of travel through the meanders of simplicity and complexity by assimilating this publication according to an individually chosen key and sequence. At the same time, in the opinion of the editors of this volume, one of the natural and firmly grounded paths of cognition is to move from the level of detailed scientific investigations concerning the biological, chemical and physical structure of the human being, through theories describing the functioning of individuals, communication theory and the social sciences, to narratives touching on metareflections on the very mode of cognition, expressed many times so successfully through artistic lenses.

Following this approach, the reader may begin this journey from the text delivered by M. Rowińska-Żyrek “The beauty and simplicity of the complex biological chemistry of metals”, where the interaction of metal ions with a variety of biomolecules, including proteins, peptides and human ribozymes is described. Despite the sophistication of these phenomena, the author demonstrates in a highly accessible way how simplicity and complexity intersect in modelling these interactions. The article “V(D)J recombination: How simple elements lead to a complex system for antigen recognition” explains, in turn, why flexibility and complexity seen as a feature of the immune system of vertebrates are key factors in their evolutionary success. Importantly, thanks to excellent guidance by the author, M. Cebrat, this fascinating journey through genetic invasions and attempts to model them in the language of modern biochemistry proves comprehensible to the reader. Another aspect of the functioning of the human body at the molecular level is proposed in the paper by A. Krężel “The complexity and simplicity of zinc proteins: Minimum form, maximum substance”, in which the author shows us how the differentiation of the kinetic and thermodynamic stability of the zinc complex in proteins depends on the enormous complexity of these macromolecules related to their biological function. Along a natural process, the simplicity of the building blocks is combined here with the complexity of the structure, leading to the creation of an object with extremely intricate properties: the zinc metalloproteome.

The complexity and simplicity of chemical models of human body functioning are also addressed in the text by M. Drąg “Degrees of complexity in the recognition of substrates by proteolytic enzymes.” Interestingly, proteases from the exopeptidase family are subject to relatively simple mechanisms, whereas the mechanism of binding and recognition of substrates in the case of endoproteases turns out to be complex. Proteostasis is also the subject of “Shocking harmony” by M. Dubińska-Magiera and E. Błaszczak. As argued by the authors, the preservation of life requires the maintenance of dynamic equilibrium, and it is the harmony of the proteome that is needed to maintain it. This harmony, the so-called proteostasis, observed at the level of a whole set of proteins finds its surprising counterpart at the level of the synchronisation of the cognitive system’s responses with the frequency of incoming sounds, as described by A. Foltyn in the text “Can consonance be explained by mathematical proportions? Simplicity and complexity of harmonic relations in music.” The very diversity of applications of the concept of harmony combined with the structural parallel between the paths of perception of the world and the paths of its scientific modelling shows us something fascinating about the paths of our human cognition.

In the paper “Why do we use simple organisms to model complex human diseases?” M. Migocka-Patrzałek in a yet different manner tackles the phenomenon of explaining and modelling complex objects by analysing the simpler components on the one hand and the subtleties of structure on the other. The author explains how the use of simple organisms, such as worms or fruit flies, allows us to say so much about the functioning of the much more complex human organism. A medical perspective on the issue of simplicity and complexity can be found in the text by U. K. Komarnicka and E. Błaszczak, “Simplifying complexity: Copper(I) complexes with phosphines derived from peptides as potent anticancer drugs”, which addresses the complexity of the effects of anticancer therapies and their relevance to the side effects of contemporary therapies. A different standpoint on the issue of complexity is presented in the paper of K. M. Zoń in “Some Comments Regarding the Digitalisation of the Health Care System in Poland during the COVID-19 State of Epidemic: Selected Legal Aspects”, where the legal dimension of the digitalisation of the healthcare system in Poland is described. The increasing complexity of science itself has serious practical and material consequences and translates into the development of administrative processes and legal solutions organising human cognition, which is of considerable importance.

In the text “Reinforcement learning tasks: From complexity to simplicity” the reader encounters an intriguing fusion of computer science and psychiatry specific to the field of computational psychiatry. D. Frydecka and J. Drapała discuss how the behaviour of the human brain varies during decision-making, where some processes have a surprisingly simple explanation, while others require complex modelling. The complexity of signals in a world of information overload, this communication jitteriness, leads to confusion, which, at the level of socially diagnosed aspirations and attitudes, points to a need for simplicity, more and more frequently expressed by individuals. On the other hand, the simplest processes, such as everyday conversations, turn out to be places where complexity creeps in. An interesting study of this issue is presented in the text by K. Striżyk, P. Kruk, J. Ziółkowska, B. Skowron, and M. Witkowicz “The complexity and multifacetedness of conversation.” Paradoxically, human attempts to escape complexity can fuel its presence. On the borderline between linguistics and philosophy, we find a text by M. Krajewski “The simplicity and complexity of philosophical discourse: Two different ways of reasoning about the Stoic postulate of premeditation of evils (praemeditatio malorum)”, where the author shows how decisive the question of interpreting words and their meaning is. And so the very understanding of simplicity, as considered from a literary-persuasive and analytical perspective, is of great importance for our life and cognitive choices.

Eventually, an ontological analysis of the phenomenon of simplicity and complexity itself is provided by the text B. Skowron “On simplificatory and diversificatory aspects of the presentation of an object”, where the author makes use of the concepts of K. Twardowski, who is well known in Poland as the master of masters of philosophy. Structure complexity analysed from a contemporary communicative perspective becomes the subject of K. Kopecka-Piech’s paper “The complexity of the new media.” From this analysis, we learn how the complexity inherent in the culture of our thinking and communication ultimately translates into our perception of the world. In the text “Algorithmic Truth Theory (ATT),” R. Zarzycki presents the challenges of the very process of cognition and points to the growing information complexity, in which a lost individual begins to seek a qualitatively new criterion of truth.

K. Boczkowski takes us to another dimension of the phenomenon of complexity, by addressing the topic of the performative exhibition of the world in the space of the theatre. The complementarity and tension between complexity and simplicity present in the concepts of acting are discussed in his text “A dispute over acting methods.” The subtle game of complexity is described in the text “A particularly sophisticated simplicity” by Ł. Huculak, in which the author invites the reader to a fascinating journey through the dialectic of simplicity and complexity, illustrated with vivid and unique insights of artists from past epochs. Another journey, no less interesting, is proposed by J. Jernajczyk in the text “The complexity of a straight line”, where he combines mathematical modelling and visual imagination to approach the main concept of this volume from yet another angle.

The second path through the book is marked by reproductions of pieces of art addressing the dichotomy of complexity and simplicity by purely artistic means, at the same time reflecting its geometric, topological, statistical, semantic, cultural, social, aesthetical, political, and philosophical aspects, not always expressible by verbal means. The authors of these works, coming from the Wrocław artistic community (mainly from the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław), represent various subdisciplines of the fine arts, such as painting, sculpture, graphic design, print making, media art, ceramics, glass, and design. In this sense, although the path of science and the path of art touch on the same phenomena in a complementary way, they are mutually incompatible.

Often, a work of art can convey an idea in a much more simple way than even the longest book. This does not, however, mean that it is not complex. Following Gadamer, a work of art can be perceived through the prism of a complex game between the author and the recipient, who, through an extraordinary fusion of horizons, becomes its co-creator. If, in accordance with chaos theory, we consider that everything that is past (or at least everything within a certain light cone) influences a given work of art, and on the other hand, a given work of art inspires everything that is future (within another light cone) in a similar way, it turns out that simplicity reveals infinite layers of complexity reconstructable in relation to the continuum of contexts extending arbitrarily far back and into the future.

This non-verbal journey through complexity and simplicity consists of several works made using the acrylic on canvas technique, which present intriguing painterly insights into the essence of complexity and simplicity: Cordyceps by Ł. Huculak, The Power of a Seemingly Simple Interior by A. Kołodziejczyk as well as Adoratio by J. Baśnik. Each of these works illuminates certain aspects of complexity through a subtle play with the means of artistic expression. We observe another interesting instance of this play in the lithograph on marble SHADES_07 by A. Trojanowska.

The interpenetration of the complexity of form and the stubborn simplicity of the material is manifested in the glass works by A. Joszczuk-Brzozowska (Materialization), by B. Mak-Sobota (Onestring), and A. Leśniak-Banasiak (Amoria). The austerity of form is also a feature of the slumped glass and metal composition The Stijl by M. Krzemińska-Baluch. A disturbing disruption to the seemingly simple form is proposed by the works Proximity I, II by B. Sacharczuk, made using the stoneware moulded on a potter’s wheel technique. The expression of the works of A. Skowroński, Wrocław Sienkiewicza (digital print), and M. Mierzicki, PLAY MY BOY (object, steel) seem to be particularly efficient, achieving a seemingly outstanding depth of political and existential interpretations, despite the simplicity of the form.

D. Sobolewska’s exhibition RGB exposes the viewer to an individual encounter with complexity through contact with simple installations. This spatial arrangement of nine cubes made of transparent plastic in the basic additive colours was carried out in cooperation with WRO Art Center. Also K. Freino’s work Cataract conducts public space intervention to highlight yet another aspect of the tension between simplicity and complexity. A performative approach to the phenomena can also be found in the printmaking performance by Z. Dyrda, I’m Just a Pawn, where the meaning of complexity is related to the established game code, in this case, defined by the rules of chess. What makes a pawn just a pawn? I. Juarez touches on simplicity and complexity in an exposition of the series of wooden elements under the title Insect City, while M. Grzybowska uses steel and textile rubber in her Sketches for space. The issue of symmetries, expansions and dimensionality of the space can be found in the oil-on-canvas painting Third Diagonal Symmetry by K. Moskowczenko as well as a drawing by J. Grulkowski, The Expansion, but also in the mechanistic discussion with the recipient initiated by P. Jędrzejewski by his installation 67/68.

Reflection on simplicity and complexity using more anthropomorphic means of expression can be found in the pieces of art Priestess by P. Baśnik (oil on canvas) and Wonder emptiness – I’m waiting for you by M. Gorzelak (intaglio, relief printing). A simple aesthetic provocation exposing the recipient to his/her utilitarian experience has been offered by K. Szymanowska in Sensitive Point. Words contrasted with artistic expression are to be found in the proposal of E. Smoliński, On the matter of simplicity and complexity, where the functional aspects of a folding ruler are being challenged. The issue of measurement also appears in the work of T. Dobiszewski (Tracking the Sun), where the complexity of the movement of the sun is captured in the simplicity of the equipment aimed at measuring it. The play with the simplicity of the form and shadow as an element of artistic expression is proposed by J. Żak in the work Written by shadow (Pâte de verre).

In The Great Gatsby P. Kmita addresses the issue of complexity emerging from the composition of simple elements, namely shots taken from the famous movie under the same title. Recognizing a repeatable and reproduced pattern creates a kind of tunnel between the world of complexity and the world of simplicity, showing that neither complexity nor simplicity are features of reality but of our cognition. A similar discussion seems to be undertaken by M. Kociński, who used the ceramic mosaic technique to create Shield 7, and M. Grzyb in Stories, where the complexity of human biographies becomes trapped by the tyranny of simplicity of form. The arrangements of small ornaments create complexity, which is then tamed by the recognition of the pattern.

A synesthetic proposition of K. Marusińska (Cacophony) deals with complexity expressed as communication chaos emerging from ceramic, acrylic, and resin forms. The complexity in the work by U. Lucińska and M. Knychaus (Diaphane) is reflected by a multi-layered pattern made of stainless steel and brass. Plus minus by W. Gołuch is based on a dialogue between the simplicity of the sign and the complexity of the meaning. J. Jernajczyk presents The Knot of Cuts, which prompts reflection on the representability of lower-dimensional (simpler) objects by higher-dimensional (more complex) ones. Finally, the image of excess (some kind of complexity) can be found in the work of J. Opalska-Brzecka.

Although it is impossible to summarise the complexity of artistic expressions in a simple introductory description, we believe that at the end of the quest the reader will be able to recollect the common core of the artistic and scientific reflection, which we tried to preserve throughout the volume. Simplicity and complexity do not seem to be either better or worse, in the way they accompany us on our cognitive journeys. In the modern world, filled with cheap sensations, where ignorance turns difference into a threat, and digits replace emotions, we feel that in the common-day sense, pluralism proves its value. And it is this pluralism in perceiving the world that we would like to present to the reader once again to save us all from blaming simplicity for primitivism and complexity for sophistication.