The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Artist or engineer? Wordsmith or scientist?
I think, given that this is a group of bloggers, the answer to this one is already fairly obvious.
Given the choice of being an artist or an engineer -- a user, or a creator of technologies to be used -- what would you choose to be?
Instead of simply using the technology to speak, to be heard, to change the lives of others, would it be better to create new technologies for future generations to use?
Which is more important: the person that discovered stonemasonry, or Michelangelo's sculptures?
I posted about it this morning (http://blog.mrseb.co.uk/2009/08/art-or-engineering/), but I figured the topic might be of interest to such an outspoken bunch of individuals!
If we all simply speak and paint and take photos -- if we all consume the technologies around us, but no one is there to create the next generation, what happens?
(I know this one is pretty philosophical, but try to get your teeth stuck into it :)
Given the choice of being an artist or an engineer -- a user, or a creator of technologies to be used -- what would you choose to be?
Instead of simply using the technology to speak, to be heard, to change the lives of others, would it be better to create new technologies for future generations to use?
Which is more important: the person that discovered stonemasonry, or Michelangelo's sculptures?
I posted about it this morning (http://blog.mrseb.co.uk/2009/08/art-or-engineering/), but I figured the topic might be of interest to such an outspoken bunch of individuals!
If we all simply speak and paint and take photos -- if we all consume the technologies around us, but no one is there to create the next generation, what happens?
(I know this one is pretty philosophical, but try to get your teeth stuck into it :)
Tags: art, creativity, engineering, philosophy, science
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mrs. B on -
"If we all simply speak and paint and take photos -- if we all consume the technologies around us, but no one is there to create the next generation, what happens?"
Agreed, but if everyone is doing and creating their own thing, without users, wouldn't our world be filled with disjointed, unconnected devices. You know the saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well, I guess if what we have available to us meets our needs, there's no need to reinvent the wheel.
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on -
With that kind of rationale, we'd still be sitting in caves, honing our deer-hunting skills.
The reason innovation occurs is that someone thinks something could be better. That's why the wheel was invented! They noticed that round tree trunks helped roll things along... but what if you cut a segment off...? Holy shit, a wheel!
But yes, it's a two-way flow. The creators and the users; each one is nothing without the other.
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Permalink Reply by Vincent Ng on -
That's a hard one, I think creating new technology is more important to me than art. For example, the creation of new technology definitely creates more of the art that's out there. The writing, the ability to share what we do feel. Yes Michelangelo's David was definitely important, but without the planes or boats that were invented, many of us would have ever saw it. But if I lived in a world without art then then I probably wouldn't be very happy at all, especially since I use to dedicate a lot of my time to drawing.
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on
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Well, anyone can draw. People drew on cave walls with ocher and charcoal (after fire was invented, of course :) -- but art can be a personal thing, or something you share.
I wonder if Michelangelo crafted David purely for himself, or for the city of Florence.
I know the Sistine Chapel was done under duress. He didn't want to be there, but the Pope made him. But it's still considered one of the (or THE) most important works of art in the world.
I think for the sake of argument, we're talking about art that impacts the world. But of course, people should not be oppressed from making their own art, for their own sake :)
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on
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I read your little treatise on art! Interesting, but I still think it runs a lot deeper than 'there are plenty of tech heads, so let's make lots of creative, transient pleasure/emotions'.
You could also look at it this way: engineering (science) has also made us more-fully appreciate the 'senses or emotions'. We now know better ways of effecting those emotions and senses -- through shock, or passion, or colour, or just general aesthetics.
Again, without the engineers, we'd still be stuck appreciating coal-on-cave stick drawings.
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Permalink Reply by Duke Fandango on -
I'm not sure the two are as separate as you make out. Art and technology were, for millennia, the same thing. Look at Da Vinci, both an artist and an engineer, indeed I don't think it was until after the Renaissance that the distinction was made. There is art in technology although many of us fail to see it and I feel that the force to create is the same regardless of whether it is a poem or a painting or the HTML code to a blogger gadget.
If you're drawing the distinction between apparent functionality then I believe that all art and technology both have functionality in their purpose. A new technology may well revolutionise our day to day lives but it never made anyone fall in love, or go to war, or believe in God. We see technology as 'more useful' because society is predicated towards viewing it as such and has been since the Industrial Revolution.
'Tiss an interesting point sir; certainly has me pondering.
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on
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I like your point on them only recently being separated! Da Vinci was the only name I turned up when trying to think of people that have mastered both art and engineering, by the way. I don't mean 'good', I mean MASTERED. The fact that so few people become master engineers and artists got me thinking -- I don't want to become one but forsake the other. I love both... but will I be the next Da Vinci? Hmm...
People have gone to war over technology -- but it's often shrouded by talk of God and faith... :)
And you're right, I think we naturally revered the artist for millennia. It's only recently that engineers have started to become the STARS.
Though having said that, I don't think many artists were stars before they died...
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