079 Taste

“Not anyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere”

This is a series of entries about the topic of what art is to us, and where art lies in our heart…

Part 1: Is science and art immiscible? (which is just a fancy science word for “cannot mix”

Just like oil and water? Or is it more like wine and water? The topic of whether art and science can ever mix is an interesting one. We have often heard how art students and science students can never agree on how things should be done…

This is a story a friend of mine once told me. He once met a group of university students building a float (parade float, to be exact, not ice cream). They were arguing about a how a particular part of the float should be built, the science students focused on functionality, while the art student emphasised beauty. The conversation, as I was told, was something like this…

Art: Take that ugly thing of the float, it sticks out like a sore thumb and it is ruining my perfect design
Science: Well, it’s supposed to make the float work, if it’s not there, then there is no point building the float in the first place.
Art: I don’t care; find some way to make it work without that distasteful protrusion.
Science: I’m telling you, it has to be there, who’s the engineer? Me or you?
Art: There is no way I am going to allow the float to go on display with that… that thing on it.
Science: So tell me what are you are going to do about it?
Art: I WANT IT REMOVED!!!
Science: I SAID IT CAN’T BE REMOVED!!! (and ad infinitum…)

So, it is definitely a matter of functionality against aesthetics, who has the upper hand? At the most basic level, functionality should take precedence, after all, what good is a pretty contraption if it can’t work. The first televisions, computers and radios were ugly, huge things, and a nightmare if you were moving to a new house, and now the only nightmare comes from moving that grand piano, somehow some things can never be small. However, as the functionality becomes refined, and perfected, the only other selling point is its beauty. Now, face it, anyone knows how to build a television, (I mean, even the people in China know how to build DVD players, let alone television sets, for a minimal price). The classical manufacturers have to be one step ahead. Functionality has reached the ceiling for many household appliances, and the only thing that separates an Ikea chair from the plastic chairs that the caterer supplies at parties is the aesthetic aspect. Why does the Ikea chair still sell despite its higher price? It is the combination of beauty and functionality, of course. We fancy these chairs over mass produced plastic chairs even though they both provide us with a place to sit on.




Now these are some pretty chairs, as compared to these things...

So yes, art and science can mix, and suddenly it seems, art has gained an advantage over the functionality of science... But there is more...

To be continued...