121–130 of 167 posts
Those who don't know about computers have two choices. Accept that it is a lack in their knowledge. Or fight fiercely that their ignorance is somehow justified.
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We have more people who graduate with degrees in dance than we do people who graduate with degrees in mathematics. This is not true. Dance programs are extremely small and one can join by audition only. The U of MN only has about 10 dance majors per year. In contrast they graduate about 100 math majors per year. I know this because I'm from MN and majored in math, and my girlfriend majored in dance. You can verify ac…
my bad man. been up too late, I meant theater and performance. From the link http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/11/col... "In 2009 the U.S. graduated 89,140 students in the visual and performing arts, more than in computer science, math and chemical engineering combined and more than double the number of visual and performing arts graduates in 1985." As for the museums, unfortunately kid science ce…
This talk of "right-brain" revolution has become so popular that no one even realizes the fundamental irony of it all. The fallacy that the "creative" arts have been under appreciated in society is the largest piece of bollocks I've ever heard. I voluntarily teach math at a school here in MN, so i get some insight into what's going on at the schools and the fact is, while the politicians and corporations are sounding…
>That "left brain/right brain" business is the stupidest, most egregious display of a lack of understanding of basic neuroscience. This is the first thing that I wanted to say, and I'm glad to see it already represented in this thread. The only myths that get to me as much as perpetuation of the Left- vs. Right-brained business are statements that assume a zero-sum model of economics/trade, or statements that imply a…
Its actually a fantastic book for its purpose. It remains today a classic book still widely used - better than even most more recent books on the same topic. Whilst its use of the 'left-right' thing is obviously fundamentally flawed scientifically, in the book it is more or less a model presented to the reader in describing how to 'think' to aid in drawing - which mental processes to turn on/off, focus on or ignore. This more practical side of the book has proved very helpful and effective to its readers and is the real achievement which has led to the book's enduring success. The success of this has however led to the propagation of the 'left-right' thing which the book does basically claim is a scientific basis for everything described.
My only point in saying this is that there's complexity to stories like this - ideas can be helpful even if the scientific base they pretend to be based on is incorrect.
This talk of "right-brain" revolution has become so popular that no one even realizes the fundamental irony of it all. The fallacy that the "creative" arts have been under appreciated in society is the largest piece of bollocks I've ever heard. I voluntarily teach math at a school here in MN, so i get some insight into what's going on at the schools and the fact is, while the politicians and corporations are sounding…
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If ever a time comes when one could sustainably make money selling art Now is that time. Poetry is another thing altogether, but more visual artists are making more money right now than they ever have at any other point in history.
I think the time was probably in 1970. While you have a much larger audience today, and computers have kicked the artistic potential of individuals into overdrive, I think the main factor in a healthy arts economy is a wealthy society. The America of the 70s hit around its peak wealth per person - it has been going down ever since. I don't think the advances in artist productivity trump the fact people make significa…
The average North American is significantly wealthier today than they were in 1970. Compare an average car from 1970 and an average car today. Today's econo-boxes are Space Shuttles compared the caveman-cars of 1970 (Ford Pinto?). Both cost approx the same in inflation-adjusted work-hours.
Think about the TV that your average family was watching in 1970, and the average TV today. 60" 3D flat panel TVs for <$1000 in 2013 compared to ~$2200 (inflation adjusted) in 1970 for a 16" Motorola color TV.
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I see this a lot here and I feel that I should point it out; industrial design is an engineering discipline. It is similar to architecture in many respects.
Thanks for the clarification. I actually watched "objectified" - http://player.vimeo.com/video/50944978 today, a good documentary about industrial design.
1. a UI
2. a 3D movie
Most 3D artists I know are 100% self taught.
It's not clear why the author seems to be optimistic. Maybe because the recent economic crisis has led the prices up in the elite art market? If anything, the examples of youtube, deviantart etc. prove that (the visual) arts are becoming increasingly a cheap commodity. So, from the standpoint of "creating an impact" the visual arts (and the performance arts) in particular seem pretty doomed. How long can it be before we have screenplay-to-movie generators? On the other hand, storytelling and music seem to be having a renaissance.
In any case it's bad advice to tell people to study only art or only science as both are necessary for the "advancement of the human condition".
I'm an artist. Honestly I'm not gonna hold my breath for this GIANT SOCIAL CHANGE where ART IS IMPORTANT!!!! to happen. Right now pretty much all creative media that are digitizable are passed around online. Music, movies, comics, still art - if it's not painfully obscure, you can probably get it for free on the bittorrents. Hell, if it's painfully obscure, you can also probably get it for free. Maybe you'll tell you…
One of the "problems" with art is the low barrier to entry. I've known a lot of people who were 'artists' who didn't really work at anything solid but rather spent some time emoting when the mood struck them then tried to capture that emotion in some sort of sketch or painting or poem. (I also know artists who are working very hard, have their own modes of expression and are trying to keep things together to make a living. Maybe I'll ramble back to them...)
One of the things that has happened to programming in 'recent' years (I'm old) is the barrier to entry for programming has dropped dramatically. For people who have an analytical bent, it's pretty easy to set up a linux box with a bunch of programming tools (even Windows box I suppose), find some tutorials for building web page widgets, and start building stuff.
They can put themselves out on a freelancing site and make short money building crap software. I've hired some freelancers, and every now and then come across one that thinks he is "all that" but he's really crappy. (I had one recently that tried to upsell me to his servers. Now get this: I have my own, with ssh key access, and told me to send me his public key. He sent me his PRIVATE key. He sells hosting. HOLY SHIT!)
There are a lot of people out there that don't know the difference between good and bad- and, for the moment, they don't care enough to ask the questions that allow them to distinguish. They just want their damn blog up with the mouseover animation- or whatever. And they'll pay for it.
At the higher end, programmers have more of a credentialing mechanism (degrees) which aren't perfect, and perhaps are archaic, but can nevertheless provide a first barrier.
As the person who wants the blog with the mouseover widget, I don't know shit about design or art. If I'm buying art, how do I know what's good? How do I know what's worth paying $300 for and what's worth paying $30000 for?
What's different about the people at the top of the food chain? There's a lot of garbage in the system (does every artist still 'play guitar?') and it can make it a real challenge for the authentic practitioners to be visible without some help with the filtering process.
Picture a writer. You've seen him countless times in tv shows and movies. Brow furrowed, pencil gripped tight between teeth, hunched over a typewritter, tearing pages out and throwing them into an overflowing waste basket, staring at the ceiling praying for inspiration. Picture a developer. Brow furrowed, hunched over a keyboard, the room is dark but he glows from the light of the monitor, a pile of empty mountain de…
Programming these days isn't really like what you describe, unless perhaps you are an indie game dev. Most software development nowadays requires extensive collaboration with other programmers, interacting with a lot of non-programming people and building on top of existing systems, rather than creating something from scratch.
But it's more fun on my own at home. :)