<<" This divorce of art from technology is completely unnatural. It's just that it's gone on so long you have to be an archeologist to find out where the two separated. Rotisserie assembly is actually a long-lost branch of sculpture, so divorced from its roots by centuries of intellectual wrong turns that just to associate the two sounds ludicrous." ZAMM, chapter 14. Seen in the light of MOQ, why are art and technology divorced? What is their role today? Is this divorce definitive?>> ________________________________________________________________ ~ Formerly When Art was strong and Technology weak, people mistook symbolism (form) for purpose (function); now that Technology is strong and Art is weak, people mistake purpose for symbolism. The above statement shows the current status of the "Question" in our western world today. But it also exposes the absurdity of the question itself. Because the fact remains that Everything is Valuable. It's All just a system of Values. I consider myself an artist, but I was born from an "almost dead" technical school that instructed me in the "art"/skills of metalsmithing needed to do repair and construct jewelry as well as set gemstones. I continued my career with a careful study of gemology, which enhanced my ability to appreciate the skill required for setting different varieties gemstones with care by understanding crystalline structure. I now am able to combine my knowledge with skill attained through practice and perseverance in order to create works of art that have meaning to the clients at the jewelry store where I work. The clients may not understand metallurgy, gemology or craftsman technique such as welding, but they do understand the beauty of the jewelry because for them it has meaning. Conversely, I may not fully appreciate the design of a certain piece but I can always find value in the construction of the piece. The flip side is that I can also always find imperfection and the client will never find contentment in the meaning of their jewelry. Alas, there is only the content of Value! I feel that both my career and my personal path give me a unique perspective of this months question. Of which, I consider both fertile and futile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ � I've seen a recent Cleveland artist, paint beautiful (although dark) scenes of Industrial landscapes as well as the WWII closely-knit houses that surround them. � I've seen a lady that worked at a potato chip factory, sift through the rejected burnt potato chips in order to find ones that looked like works of art to her. She saw doves, bears, dogs and even Richard Nixon's portrait all depicted inside of burnt potato chips. She kept these treasures wrapped inside of velvet cloth like valuable gemstones. � I've seen beauty depicted in poverty, so much as to make abundance appear to me as nauseating and repugnant. � I've seen apprenticeship and labor appreciation die while self-rationalization and egotism are encouraged with barren social rewards. � I've seen flags raised by half-dead men with honor and flags pissed on by vital-men with anger. � I've seen assembly lines that suck the life out of employees and I've seen ones that are able to grant 13-week paid vacations. � I've seen machines that pollute and machines that purify. � I've seen Art powerful enough to make people worship it with sacrificial reverence, and Art powerful enough to make people despise it with selfish profanity. � I've seen Technology so great that it kills and destroys life by hundreds of thousands both slowly and in a single moment. And I've seen Technology so great that it can create and save life by hundreds of thousands of both the young and the old. � I've seen art and technology make love in unity and I've seen them rape each other in discord. � I've seen them as one and I've seen them as two. United, Divorced, Reconciled, and Separated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So then, <<"why are art and technology divorced?">> The one reason they are divorced is the same one it has always been and shall always be. The reason in one word is "Progression". And by that I mean an ongoing progression, for the separation is essential in order for growth. <<" What is their role today?">> Their prime role is competitive. Of which, I mean to say that they compliment each other by means of confrontation. They teach each other by taunting each other. One may even summarize their roles as, "compassionate competition" or "competitive compassion". <<" Is this divorce definitive?">> For the whole, "Yes", the divorce is definitive, because the separation is a primary need for motion and activity. In addition, You can never get everybody on the same page at once. Anyone that seeks this 100% unity pact seeks decay and ruin. For the individual, The divorce is both real and fictitious. It is like the fear a child imposes upon himself when confronted with the darkness of his own room. And so it is possible for the individual to reconcile the divorce within themselves. When this 1% unity is sought it produces vision rather than decay because it never really dissolves the separation. Rather it sees past the division with a kind of sympathetic intuition and appreciation. They are both put of the undefinable Quality. They both have value, and it is all just a system of values. "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also!" Camp A: Tech Lovers Camp B: Art Lovers Camp C: Motorcycle Enthusiasts (We all belong in camp C, whether we know it or not.) Peace, Todd "I really didn't do the topic justice here, but I hope that you all will forgive my shortcomings." MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
