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Technology as Art

Each individual conceptualizes art in many different ways. What appears to one person as art is viewed by another as just a pile of junk. In some cases what makes something art is intent rather than substance. For example I once saw a display that was nothing but ripped cardboard glued to a large piece of plywood. It was framed and displayed with a fancy name and that is what made it art. None of the constituent pieces of this display made it art. If you saw this pile of cardboard randomly glued to plywood sitting in the dumpster you would think, "construction refuse", not art. But because the intent of the artist was to create art, and because someone accepted the artist's intent, the display became art.

Sometimes it seems like it is possible to find art where art was not intended. Maybe it is because we are predisposed to finding beauty in the world around us. Perhaps it is because we are predisposed to creating beauty when we can. Perhaps that is our intent. To see art when we can.

Do engineers see art in their work? I suspect so. I know I see art in the designs, shapes and textures of technology. Is this their intent? Do we share a common view? Does their art appeal to them because of its function, its adherence to carefully crafted rules and systems? Or do they also find an avenue for expression in the shapes, lines and surfaces of their creations? I sometimes wonder if it is there intent, or only mine?