Science is not what springs to mind as you wander through your average art exhibition. But there is a long-standing relationship between art and science, one which will be partly unravelled through Flight, the summer programme at the Ark children's cultural centre in Dublin's Temple Bar.

Using sculpture as a medium, six artists will explore the significance of flight - both as a scientific issue and in terms of its poetic potential. According to Martin Drury, director of the Ark, flight has long held a fascination for people involved in both disciplines. "The desire to transcend, expressed in both science and art, is encapsulated in the possibility of flight," he says. "Although technically we have discovered how to fly, the poetic dimension of flight is still a preoccupation for artists, and we are all fascinated by the sense of freedom and escape we associate with flying." The Ark programme looks at science and art as complementary ways of thinking. "Part of our brief here at the Ark is about getting children excited by the possibilities of art, the idea that you can keep pushing out the boundaries. To that end, the artist often has to apply scientific principles, and Flight is designed to explore problem-solving as a shared characteristic of art and science."

Propeller, a piece by Clare Langan, is a video installation which depicts a figure flying through the air. "The challenge I set myself was to make a human fly," she says. "The idea defies reason, so the work is a sort of illusion. Creating illusions is quite common in art, but, at least in this instance, the process has to have a strong scientific basis. I used a climbing harness to suspend a person from a tree and worked out a way she could propel herself through the air. I put plastic in front of the lens filter, which breaks up the image and gives it an ethereal quality, playing with the sense of illusion."

The programme is aimed at children aged seven to 13. Catering for school groups during the month of June, it opens to the public on July 5th. It consists of an audiovisual introduction to flight, followed by a look at the artwork - five commissioned pieces by Langan, Janet Mullarney, Orla Kaminska, Maud Cotter and Joe Butler, with a piece loaned by sculptor Conor Fallon - and culminates in a hands-on workshop. Mullarney's piece is entitled Islands in Perspective. Made of sponge painted bright orange and blue, on one level it is a simple and enjoyable "bit of nonsense, while on another level, asking quite a lot of questions," she says. Two human figures suspended from the ceiling swim through the air, carrying ships on their shoulders filled with various domestic objects.

`Children ask `why?' all the time, and the answer doesn't have to be logical," says Mullarney. "I'm sceptical of science. It only accepts what it can prove; I'm quite willing to believe a lot of layers of any subject which aren't exactly provable, but which you can feel."

Freedom to interpret is also the realm of the artist, and both Mullarney and Langan have explored a range of issues, such as the relationship between air and water, in their interpretation of the flight theme. Meanwhile, Owen Crawford, artist in residence for the duration of the programme, has taken the myth of Daedalus and Icarus as his starting point.

"I am particularly interested in the father/son relationship," he says. "I've also always been interested in birds, from the power of the image of the bird soaring through the sky to the delicacy of their feathers. And I'm deeply impressed by Leonardo da Vinci. I think his art was just his research; he was always exploring things. I believe artists and scientists are equally creative. Both are concerned with problem-solving, interpreting life, and enhancing people's lives. But they choose different means to that end." The programme also looks at the relationship between ideas and materials. "I used sponge, which has an element of lightness to it", says Mullarney. "It also takes colour really well. Unlike a scientist, I don't choose my material because of its efficiency, I choose it because of the way in which it lends itself to what I'm trying to express."

Crawford works in wood: "I'm interested in the juxtaposition of the solidity of the material, with the lightness of feathers, which I will carve in the wood." Langan has used a format children won't necessarily associate with art. "I think it will probably challenge their perceptions of film," she says, "and I hope watching someone fly gracefully through the air will fill them with a sense of wonder."

Flight is open to schools until June 25th and to the public from July 5th-16th. Tel: 01-6707788