News:

Welcome to our site!

Main Menu

Human ingenuity knows no bounds

Started by Plu, November 08, 2013, 02:39:43 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Plu

A clockwork machine that can write in beautiful cursive, 250 years old. And it still works. Think about that the next time you discard your two year old phone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa7oBsSDk8

Plu

Yes, human ingenuity and craftmanship are amazing despite human greed and opression.

It seems fitting to me that we remember the artefacts and laud the designers and tinkers of old, instead of those who had the money and power to let them work under bad circumstances for their own gain. Time has eroded much of the nobility of old times and preserved the memory of its engineers, scientists, inventors, etc.

The full series actually goes into the whole subject of opression and bad conditions surrounding these devices quite well, you should check it out, you'll like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rVevX-YXqo

AllPurposeAtheist

Funny Shoezie.. That still happens today to a degree. As a very young man, before nerve damage I was pretty good with a pen and pencil. I majored in art, but had no skill in sculpting. Later I learned how to do autobody work which is labor intensive, but requires (or did) some sculpting skill along with painting skills, mechanical, etc..I've worked on a lot of restoration vehicles which usually have a lot of curves so sculpting became part of the gig..
The owners of those cars however sometimes would treat the guys working on their fancy, expensive cars as mere laborers never appreciating the skills and time involved in taking an old rust bucket into what most people see as works of art..
Could be why I no longer care what cars look like as long as they go from point A to point B.. :-k
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

AllPurposeAtheist

When I studied art my instructor tried to hook me up with the patron crowd, but with long hair, funky clothes and all I just never felt comfortable in their world so I walked away from the tuxedo, evening gown and champaign sipping party and caught the bus home. :wink:
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

Solitary

AllPurposeAtheist, I'm sorry to hear that, I can relate because I have the same problem now. I think creativity and skill are the highest achievements one can have intellectually. Even something as dumb as a rock falling can destroy and make ugliness, but it takes great skill and creativity to make things beautiful, even ourselves. Actually it can also make things ugly too, as I have often done:  :shock:  :lol: Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

AllPurposeAtheist

Meh.. I'm a starving ex artist now. :)
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

Solitary

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"Meh.. I'm a starving ex artist now. :)



I was a starving artist most of my life. There is no job that is exploited more than artists even if you are lucky and get famous. It cost me more to make a painting in fine art than I could sell it for. The galleries actually want 60% of what you can sell them for. Any other business it is 10%. When you see rich artist there are millions for each one that can't make ends meet without a well paying job. And commercial art is a ball buster that makes you feel like an android even if you make lots of money.

I went to get a job at Disney after being trained by an artist that used to work there. I could work at a grocery store checkout counter and make more. I have a friend that has stayed with it, and if it wasn't for his wife having a business he would have starved to death. People think that making a work of art is like taking a picture and don't realize how hard or amount of time it takes to do great works. I think you have to be a neurotic compulsive and driven to be an artist. I decided I didn't like that and stopped soon before I couldn't, so no big loss, and I'm happier now. Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.