Buy a painting of your team number!

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Gabe

Who on Earth bought our team number 604??? Who else would ever need our number? WHERE IS 6-0-4?!?!

Next, who would ever be foolish enough to buy this?

Uhmmmmm I have it. How much are you willing to pay?

If you dont buy it from me I will kill it on July 4th and eat it for dinner!

[nuggetsyl]

If this guy is really selling the number paintings for that price i think i want to do it in red then Moe green then Buzz yellow.

[John Gutmann]

I got it!!!!!

The 256 ascii character paintings.....

I said it first you all heard me......

*starts to list on ebay*

[Cptn Patches537]

Upon further review, thats bad. But go make one in graphic arts or something.
-Eric

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Cptn Patches537

Ok guys, heres what you do. Don't buy these silly things, get the tallest person on your team to take down your pit marker from a regional/nationals. It's free, and it even has the first logo on it. Hang that up on your wall, it will mean a lot more in memories then some random painting ever will.
-Eric

Read the manual first. Taking those is officially considered theft.

[lukevanoort]

Originally Posted by EricH

Read the manual first. Taking those is officially considered theft.

Eric is right, but there is a legal way to get a copy of that particular sign.
1) Bring a (good) digital camera to the competition (ideally one that can deal with low light)
2) Somehow block some light to the sign to reduce glare, turn off your flash
3) Take a picture
4) Go to a nearby copy store like FedEx/Kinkos to get a large print that is laminated
5) Hang on wall

You could also figure out the fonts and copy the sign, print it out and laminate it.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by EricH

Read the manual first. Taking those is officially considered theft.

I found that quite odd when it was announced at Waterloo... it's one of those things that's buried in the manual that I'd never noticed. We took ours (not knowing it was against the rules) at Great Lakes, but had new ones when we got to Waterloo. It makes me wonder if they actually re-use the signs, or if they just thought they might...

[Ebolagirl]

Ok, so I sat here and thought about this for a while, and I also dug through the number art web page a little. And I came up with a few thoughts:

First of all, I think people are being most ungraciously unprofessional in expressing their opinions about this particular subject. These people came up with and idea and it's been a hit. Calling what they are doing "stupid", etc. is very unFIRST-like. True, artists are accustomed to being criticized, but, that is an inappropriate manner for this situation.

Something I've noticed in the engineering and science worlds is a lack of appreciation of art and related subjects, and vice versa. "This is an experiment of art and mathematics, on the web". Art is not suppose to make sense. It can be logical or illogical, abstract or realistic. And while you may not necessarily like the kind of art being displayed you should at least appreciate what the artist has put into it. I went to school at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy for high school (I just graduated). Before my freshman year the academies were seperated into two schools,when they were combined there was a lot of heat between the science/math people and the liberal arts people. Most of the tension was created by attitudes like this from both sides. I'm not saying that you have to like what the other side is doing, but at least have an understanding of where they're coming from. Instead of furthering the tension between liberal arts and science/math by bashing the other side, we need to respect what they do.

"My favourite number is already sold. Can you make a copy for me?
Absolutely not! The limit is the art - each number exists only once. I will never make a copy of any of these paintings." This is from the Q&A section on the website. The purpose of this quote is to emphasize that these numbers are ART.

[KenWittlief]

art is a reflection of the inner nature of the artist. When you look at a painting an artist has created what you are really seeing is the world through the eyes of that artist

which tells you a great deal about that person. If you connect with the artist through their work, then you have connected with another human on a very deep and profound level.

That being said, a lot of nonsense has been passed off as art over the years, esp since the invention of photography, when many artists said "what are we going to do for a living NOW?"

You cant judge an artist by one work. This series of number paintings is in essence one piece of work. The question is, what else has this artist produced?

If the answer is nothing, then this is a shallow attempt to make money on the internet. Looking at the website I see no reference to any other work by this person, so I am leading toward the negative.

By contrast, if someone like Andy Warhol had done something like this it would be taken more seriously, because of the wealth of things he had created during his life.

[Tetraman]

174 is still open....If I had a piggy bank I'd crack it open.

[Dan Zollman]

WOW. Are those numbers really what's shown on the bottom of the front page? The plain blue ones with the white background?

I understand that art can be anything and art can be simple. A collage of cutouts from a newspaper can be art and a nail glued to a yellow piece of paper can be art. I can out the letter A in Times New Roman on a normal piece of paper and cut it out, and that's art...right?

Second, we make better paintings of numbers (any color, any size, any font, directly on any surface) for less than a dollar by printing and cutting out letters or numbers, tracing, cutting out of poster or foam board, and using a little spray paint.

I don't know why anybody would pay $60 for one of those or why people would want it enough for the prices to go up that high.

I think it makes a certain statement about our culture, both because those numbers are honored as art and also because such art is valued so highly.

[windup zeppelin]

this has got me to think about makeing the team #'s in coligraphy

[Ebolagirl]

Originally Posted by worldbringer

I understand that art can be anything and art can be simple. A collage of cutouts from a newspaper can be art and a nail glued to a yellow piece of paper can be art. I can out the letter A in Times New Roman on a normal piece of paper and cut it out, and that's art...right?...

I think it makes a certain statement about our culture, both because those numbers are honored as art and also because such art is valued so highly.

If you are trying to make a statement or you have certain intentions behind creating that piece of art (perhaps Dada-istic intentions), then yes, that would be considered art. But, this is all art philosophy, a very fluffy subject, but one I am passionate about because I create "art" on occasion (when I'm not consumed by other things, like building robots, etc.)

And yes, the kind of art we value now-a-days in totally a reflection of our culture. If you look throughout history every time there has been a major cultural change (and even minor cultural changes) the has been a revolution in the types of literature, music, and art produced. One of the most prominant example is the change that occured at the end of the Victorian era into the "Modern" era. Modern art came about and the older styles of painting (landscapes, etc.) became less popular. Artists began experimenting with different mediums. Even the rank of artists in society changed, from highly revered and respected to more outcasted. So yeah, basically art says a lot.

[mechanicalbrain]

Mines sold already!

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Art is perception. If you believe something is art then it is art.

Saying it is 'stupid' though tends to be rather shortsighted. Just because it does not match your description of art, does not not make it art.

Personally, I don't think this is art, but I don't have any issues with those that do believe it is art. I also don't believe that those twisted, mangled pieces of iron in front of the library is art, even though they call it modern art [but thats probably just my perception].

What this 'artist' is doing is being an entrepreneur, and selling something that (apparently) the market wants. Its no different than selling pixels on a web page or pet rocks for your bedroom.

I won't buy one because I don't see it as art. If someone else does....who am I to disagree.