Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc P.
The emphasis of the program is "Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". Art means many things to many people- to some, it's music, painting, and writing. To others, it's a false color representation of otherwise non-visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum produced by a NASA scientist from the Hubble Space Telescope. In the engineering world, there's an entire artistic category called Industrial Design- FRC even has an award for it, sponsored by General Motors, which "Celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge."
The bottom line is, art is significantly more than music, painting, poetry, crafts, or whatever stereotypes are generally associated with the word. Art turns the math and physics of electric propulsion into a Tesla Model S, or internal combustion into a Porsche 911/Bugatti Veyron/(insert favorite supercar), or audio decompression algorithms into an iPod, or an FRC game into an aesthetically pleasing and highly functional robot. I would argue anyone who doesn't think an FRC Team 118 robot is a work of art has no understanding of the word. Art is the fusion of form and function, the look and feel of something complimenting how it works. Art is being able to communicate how a design came about, or the inspiration for a component. It's sharing and expressing ideas. Art is whatever you make it, and it has as much of a place in science and engineering as the math and physics. Whether it's a stunning visual representation of infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray wavelengths of a distant galaxy, or the "poetry in motion" of a perfect two boulder autonomous, there are few things more inspiring than art, and if that isn't the emphasis of the program, I don't know what is. |
Saying everything is art does not compel me to incorportate art into STEM.
When people refer to art education, they mean the fine arts, such painting, filmography, music, etc. When people say STEM, they generally are speaking in the context of education.
If STEM become STEAM, and especially if everything is art, then the entire point of emphasizing STEM education is out the window. We essentially are saying all education is important, which while true, is an aimless statement.
Again, not that there is no point to art, nor to say the art doesn't belong in FIRST, but rather, where does it end? If we start including everything that may be involved with FIRST, then how big are we willing to let the acronym get? I think a letter relating to professionalism/teamwork is more important AND relevant than art.