Embrace Limitations

I found it very interesting how the speakers from our last visit to JPL used art and their creative abilities to not only come up with new ideas, but also to educate others. Watching the Mars in a Minute videos, looking at the Mars visualizations and playing with 3D printed rovers made me realize how important the artistic side of science is in helping me understand complex concepts. We grew up with shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Magic School Bus because they were engaging, but also direct and thorough.

The Mars in a Minute videos reminded me of one of the (many) science YouTube channels I watch called ASAP Science. They use simple marker drawings on a chalkboard and identifiable imagery to help people of all ages to grasp the science behind things in every day life. This one below is perfect for our Optical Illusion project that is coming up - it shows how nearsightedness and farsightedness affects how one may see the world:

Oddly enough, thinking about using art in education made me think of my overall approach to art. The first speaker, Scott Hume talked about all the ways he has "embraced limitations" in his career - this was a phrase he repeated a few times. It makes sense, since in order to reach the masses with tricky science, it's best to simplify in order to make the concepts more universal. Thinking about art on its own, it can be easier for it to speak to people if a grand piece is stripped down to the conceptual. I've been learning about conceptual art in some of my other classes, particularly performance art.

This kind of thinking is starting to change my view on how I approach my work. It's so natural for me to think big and try so hard to make something work. I'm trying to train myself to think big within my limitations, because there are some things I may not be able to execute within the time constraints of an assignment, or with the limited materials I may have available.

All in all, last week's visit made me think more about one of the strongest connections between art and science - the way we approach concepts. Both fields allow people to understand things more deeply, through means that may not be so obvious at first. I hope to keep this approach in mind as I work on my next projects.