Science, Art and Industry as the Brain, Heart, and Muscle
Morton Heilig equated the role of science, art and industry in the social body to the role of the mind, heart, and muscle in the human body. I found this very insightful into showing how harmony exits only when there is balance between these three areas.
A mind with muscle and no heart can do a lot of harm. (Science and Industry without the Arts)
A mind with heart and no muscle won't get much done. (Science and Arts without Industry)
A heart with muscle will feel that something needs to be done, but may not know how to best go about doing what needs to be done. (Arts and Industry without Science)
Okay, did I confuse you? Ha.
Anyhoo, I just want to write a bit about the heart, the Arts.
On the first page of chapter 1 of Chris Crawford's book, Interactive Storytelling, there is a fantastic paragraph. It says:
“Storytelling isn't an idle leisure activity that humans developed to while away the hours. It evolved for serious purposes, as a necessary component in the development of human culture. Without storytelling, humans could never have communicated complex information. Storytelling isn't merely characteristic or even definitive of the human condition – it's absolutely necessary to the existence of human culture.”
After doing research on the Coast Salish for James' class, I know this to be absolutely true. The Coast Salish, who did not have a written language and did not even have a word for art, survived in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years due to the VITAL information that was passed down each generation in the form of stories. The VITAL information included knowledge about the land, plants, and animals in addition to the wisdom gained over the generations from ancestors both in the real and spirit realms. Had the Salish not carried the information down in the form of stories and dances and rituals (which were but other forms of direct communication), the culture would not have survived.
Their technology consisted of canoes, baskets, blankets and so much more. Their science consisted of knowledge gained over the generations about the best ways to make these various technologies. All three areas – the arts, science, and industry insured their survival. And, all three areas overlapped, so that making a piece of “artwork” was just as much a part of the process of being involved in “industry” or “science”.
So, in today's world, it's imperative that the arts be taken off of the peripheral wall and plugged in properly to balance the equation. As Heilig said, the arts have a role to play. They are to “digest this knowledge (of science) into the deeper realms of feeling, generating emotions of beauty and love that will guide the crude energies of mankind to constructive actions” (Heilig 240). And, with the machine as a tool the artist of today will have a very powerful base from which to work. Crawford points out that that one machine, the computer, can become more than a tool, but in fact a medium, when it is used for interactive storytelling (Crawford 44). Because such storytelling will involve participants at a deeper level than if they were merely passive recipients of information, the messages conveyed will have a stronger effect on the individual. With such interaction, it will be easier for the audience to have the “aha moments” that will snap their “webworks” into new positions of understanding caused by insight (Crawford 44). If such interaction can be take place in mass, using interactive stories that enable individuals to have “aha moments” that can help move our world in a positive direction, what effect might that have on the larger social landscape?
The artist of today also has the ability to dig into the content of the past, bring it into the now, and re-contextualize and re-mix it to arrive at new meanings and help the collective mass of people grow in experience by recognizing our “shady past and [by] analyzing more completely and objectively his present problems” (Bush 141). Decades of information compiled with forethought in a coherent AND engaging manner, by an artist-researcher/ artist-scientist, could provide instant insight through the powerful effects of the image mixed with sound and other techniques to lead man's attention. Many more people will be capable of this role, adding to the diversity of voices, largely because of the internet, various digital technologies and online social networks.
I'd like to touch on the muscle and brain – Industry and Science – but that will have to wait for another post.
Toodles ~Shamar
A mind with muscle and no heart can do a lot of harm. (Science and Industry without the Arts)
A mind with heart and no muscle won't get much done. (Science and Arts without Industry)
A heart with muscle will feel that something needs to be done, but may not know how to best go about doing what needs to be done. (Arts and Industry without Science)
Okay, did I confuse you? Ha.
Anyhoo, I just want to write a bit about the heart, the Arts.
On the first page of chapter 1 of Chris Crawford's book, Interactive Storytelling, there is a fantastic paragraph. It says:
“Storytelling isn't an idle leisure activity that humans developed to while away the hours. It evolved for serious purposes, as a necessary component in the development of human culture. Without storytelling, humans could never have communicated complex information. Storytelling isn't merely characteristic or even definitive of the human condition – it's absolutely necessary to the existence of human culture.”
After doing research on the Coast Salish for James' class, I know this to be absolutely true. The Coast Salish, who did not have a written language and did not even have a word for art, survived in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years due to the VITAL information that was passed down each generation in the form of stories. The VITAL information included knowledge about the land, plants, and animals in addition to the wisdom gained over the generations from ancestors both in the real and spirit realms. Had the Salish not carried the information down in the form of stories and dances and rituals (which were but other forms of direct communication), the culture would not have survived.
Their technology consisted of canoes, baskets, blankets and so much more. Their science consisted of knowledge gained over the generations about the best ways to make these various technologies. All three areas – the arts, science, and industry insured their survival. And, all three areas overlapped, so that making a piece of “artwork” was just as much a part of the process of being involved in “industry” or “science”.
So, in today's world, it's imperative that the arts be taken off of the peripheral wall and plugged in properly to balance the equation. As Heilig said, the arts have a role to play. They are to “digest this knowledge (of science) into the deeper realms of feeling, generating emotions of beauty and love that will guide the crude energies of mankind to constructive actions” (Heilig 240). And, with the machine as a tool the artist of today will have a very powerful base from which to work. Crawford points out that that one machine, the computer, can become more than a tool, but in fact a medium, when it is used for interactive storytelling (Crawford 44). Because such storytelling will involve participants at a deeper level than if they were merely passive recipients of information, the messages conveyed will have a stronger effect on the individual. With such interaction, it will be easier for the audience to have the “aha moments” that will snap their “webworks” into new positions of understanding caused by insight (Crawford 44). If such interaction can be take place in mass, using interactive stories that enable individuals to have “aha moments” that can help move our world in a positive direction, what effect might that have on the larger social landscape?
The artist of today also has the ability to dig into the content of the past, bring it into the now, and re-contextualize and re-mix it to arrive at new meanings and help the collective mass of people grow in experience by recognizing our “shady past and [by] analyzing more completely and objectively his present problems” (Bush 141). Decades of information compiled with forethought in a coherent AND engaging manner, by an artist-researcher/ artist-scientist, could provide instant insight through the powerful effects of the image mixed with sound and other techniques to lead man's attention. Many more people will be capable of this role, adding to the diversity of voices, largely because of the internet, various digital technologies and online social networks.
I'd like to touch on the muscle and brain – Industry and Science – but that will have to wait for another post.
Toodles ~Shamar
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