Alex WellersteinVerified account

Same background as @LVeneer and agree with comments but might be more to it... although I've noticed recently that the traditional type of 'art' I like has some kind of STEM link...

Yes, I've been asked several times recently about what might make art that could link industry and culture/creativity - I try to start by pointing out that engineering is actually creative, but usually end up by suggesting some kind of sculpture...

@LeapingRobot I am sure has thoughts on all of this...

Given that artists and engineers both manipulate the world to make things, it is odd. But then the House of Art has many rooms, one of which - as you note, Alex - is music.

Totally agree, but to different ends, would you say? Do artists want to make beauty and engineers to make function, or is that too facile?

I think if you try to put artists in a box, they always cry, "don't put me in a box!" (I mean, I get that. Even if it's a really nice box.) So I try not to generalize about what they "want." (They want... EVERYTHING.)

But I do think that there are intersections of intentionality and aesthetics that help characterize that nebulous thing we call "design," and that this is often very understandable to engineers, whereas "art" can feel more disconnected from intent.

I think engineering students get intentionality (I made X to evoke Y feeling or encourage Z behavior) and control, so if you show them that something humanistic gives them that, they are usually happy to learn about it. This is how I sell them on improving their writing skills.