is not perceived as a science nor as a field of invention. Fuller was an
architect with a "design" mind-set in both visual arts application for the
design process and a future studies application of design for
problem-solving.
And here is the rub: even when I bring future studies into the arts, it is
most often scoffed at because the pedagogy for the field of future studies
is often applied to business and futurists are a different tribe of
thinkers. I disagree with this stance because the act of
"conceptualization" is crucial for the process of conceptualization and its
realized invention. Yet, here we find that the word "conceptualization", in
the arts is associated with Conceptual art and that genre is based on much
irony, linguistics and a primary emphasis being placed on the concept and
not on the outcome or work of art.
An invention, in order to be patented, needs to prove that it functions.
This is in line with the design sensibility in problem-solving, but not the
behavioral driving process of an artist, per se.
So, my point is that if artists are to develop the behavior of an inventor,
s/he needs to learn the skills for this method of inquiry, research and
critical thinking, which is not always aligned with the creative process of
flow. Thus, there is a two-fold process and perhaps artists have been
experts at the first part and then struggle for recognition on the second
part, which in and of itself is contrary to the individuated, unique aspect
of producing art.
The issue of being both a creative thinker and a critical thinker of
invention is beyond the arts/science test. It leaps into a domain which
must include strategic thinking, scenario development, environmental
scanning, forecasting, systems analysis, etc.
Natasha Vita-More
-----Original Message-----
From: yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr
[mailto:yasmin_discussions-bounces@estia.media.uoa.gr] On Behalf Of david
mcconville
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 4:23 PM
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] ARTISTS AS INVENTORS ON YASMIN
David,
Your post is a great reminder of the critical link between our individual
and collective cosmologies/paradigms/worldviews and the inventions we
create. This is explicitly demonstrated and documented in the works of
prolific polymath R. Buckminster Fuller, who's "Comprehensive Anticipatory
Design Science" approach ia, like the Hindu concept of rta, predicated on an
understanding of the micro- macro functionings of the cosmos. The recent
Whitney retrospective of his works provided an opening for many design
magazines to discuss the nexus of design, science, and innovation, and the
pragmatic utility of the design science approach continues to be reflected
in the numerous submissions to the ongoing Challenge named in Fuller's
honor, which has many submissions from artists (see links below).
Of course Fuller's approach is closely aligned with the concept of
biomimcry, which involved turning to nature's multi-billion year design
investigations for inspiration. This starkly illustrates the connection
between design processes and worldview - in this case an ecological one -
which Fritjof Capra suggests is a function of comprehending issues of
complexity, emergence, and mutual causality that are at the center of
current paradigmatic shifts in science. In Web of Life Capra proposes that
many of the challenges facing humanity "must be seen as just different
facets of one single crisis, which is largely a crisis of perception." A
crisis he asserts - echoing Fuller
- must be addressed by enhanced comprehension of the working of natural
systems.
I believe artistic approaches are essential not only developing new
ecologically-minded innovations, but also for communicating the broader
cosmological and scientific issues that contextualize comprehensive /
anticipatory / design-oriented / emergent / complex/ system-oriented
strategies and investigations.
cheers,
david
Related links:
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge Idea Index
http://challenge.bfi.org/ideaindex
The Whitney's Buckminster Fuller: Starting with Universe
http://www.whitney.org/www/buckminster_fuller/about.jsp
Fuller's patents
http://bfi.org/node/75
Capra's Principles of Ecology
http://www.ecoliteracy.org/education/principles_of_ecology.html
Database of biomimicry inventions
http://www.biomimicry.net
RISD's Nature Lab featured in I.D.
http://www.id-mag.com/article/risd/
---
david mcconville
director, noospheric research division
http://www.elumenati.com
On Mar 3, 2009, at 9:39 AM, David Haley wrote:
> In many parts of India, women 'perform' Rangoli every morning.
> Rangoli is a popular form of art, usually drawn with sand on the
> threshold to the home. Although the images are often very intricate
> and magnificent, this 'art' and act of worship is swept away and
> renewed each day. Another word, still spoken in contemporary Hindi
> according to Vandana Shiva, comes from the Rig Vedas and is the
> route of the word 'art', via the Greek word, 'erete', is 'rta'. Rta
> means the dynamic process by which the whole cosmos continues to be
> created, virtuously.
>
> Says something about different value systems?
>
> All the best
> David
>
> On 3 Mar 2009, at 00:53, robert.thill@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> Interesting and vivid points, Murat.
>>
>> I think the short answer to part of your final statement that "there
>> should be some sort of a right protection process involved within the
>> art world" is that copyrights can provide protection for art.
>>
>> Since the topic of this discussion was partially inspired by the book
>> "Artists as Inventors / Inventors as Artists" (eds. Dieter Daniels
>> and
>> [discussant] Barbara U. Schmidt), I thought I would draw on an idea
>> in
>> the text to bring out an aspect of the topic you have raised.
>>
>> In the introduction a kind of conclusion is reached that there
>> "exists
>> no mirror-image symmetry between the social roles of the artist and
>> the inventor." The example given to illustrate the point is a quote
>> from Billy Klüver: "But if a person says he or she is an artist, one
>> can't say to that person: 'You are not an artist.' You are not
>> allowed
>> to say that." The text makes the point that "this popular
>> understanding of the term means that being an artist resists external
>> definition, whereas the label 'inventor,' though indeed not the
>> designation of a profession per se, can nevertheless be substantiated
>> by means of objective criteria such as patents." (p. 12-13).
>>
>> While this set of relationships is framed in popular understandings
>> of
>> roles and brings up a key point in the book's thesis (and the text
>> also warns us about generalizations here), it omits the fact that an
>> artist does have an objective criteria to substantiate his or her
>> role
>> and work, which is a copyright. Copyright is the artist's equivalent
>> to an inventor's patent. (This statement is not meant to imply that
>> there are not inventors and artists who don't participate in these
>> two
>> systems or who particularly value them in terms of their own
>> self-definitions.)
>>
>> However, if what I write is accurate and these are indeed two
>> objective ways in which artists and inventors can substantiate their
>> work and roles, the more revealing question might be why are these
>> two
>> systems of intellectual property protection so distinctly different?
>> Why are the terms and values not reciprocal? And should they be?
>>
>> The artist Lisa Schmitz has explored this contradiction by proposing,
>> in 1993, a new institution to be named the World Artistic Property
>> Organization (WAPO), which would operate as a patent-office
>> equivalent
>> for art ideas.
>>
>> Here is a section of a text that I wrote about the WAPO project
>> with a
>> link to the online version (I have stripped out the endnotes).
>>
>> "Most directly, the WAPO installation pondered the distinctions
>> between art and invention through the differences in the legal
>> protections of copyright and patents, asking who benefits from the
>> disparities and how artists might begin a constructive dialogue about
>> how to protect art from exploitative appropriation. Phase two of the
>> WAPO project, which was carried out in Linz in 1995, included
>> collaboration with Norbert Nowotsch and Mark Olson and explored the
>> creation of a Web-based platform and repository for the documentation
>> and disclosure of art ideas. A supplementary text about the WAPO
>> proposed the act of bartering as a potential way of exposing the
>> underpinnings of ownership and valuation to better understand
>> communication, meaning, and agreement in relation to exchange value."
>>
>> Schmitz's project also explored the concept of self-ownership.
>>
>> Please explore the site, especially the history of the project.
>> WAPO, http://www01.zkm.de/~wapo/index.html.
>>
>> I have asked Lisa Schmitz to join our discussion on YASMIN and she
>> will come online toward the end of the week.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Robert
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/2/09, murat germen <muratgermen@sabanciuniv.edu> wrote:
>>> i would like to add couple of things...
>>>
>>> contemporary conceptual art rests heavily on ideas as we know. it's
>>> not the craft in the work but the idea usually that makes the work
>>> valuable these days (i personally value craft as well, in addition
>>> to
>>> "the" idea by the way). art market is an amazingly active market,
>>> even
>>> in the days of economical crisis the amount of sales and activity is
>>> surprisingly substantial. the simple equation goes like this: art
>>> depends on idea, art has a market value, then artistic idea has a
>>> market value too (sometimes millions of dollars) and it has to be
>>> legally protected somehow.
>>>
>>> i visited paris photo last year, japan was the guest country.
>>> there is
>>> one japanese photographer (among others) that i really like; hiroshi
>>> sugimoto. he is especially known with some very minimal seascapes
>>> (http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html
>>> ). sugimoto sells very well, i saw a photo from the seascape series
>>> which was around 70.000 euros and it had 5 red dots on it. when i
>>> was
>>> walking through thousands of images, one seascape photo caught my
>>> attention in another booth and it looked very much like a sugimoto
>>> photo. i approached to see details, saw it was somebody else's and
>>> felt pretty awkward. this particular style is sugimoto's
>>> signature, it
>>> is in a way a reserved slot in these circles and producing something
>>> very similar to it, is taking advantage of the commercial
>>> potential of
>>> the particular expression style. yes, everybody can take sea photos;
>>> but there are tons of other ways to deal with sea and water...
>>>
>>> i am not claiming at all that artistic idea is a more worthwhile
>>> invention than other "types" of inventions that made our lives more
>>> easy, pleasant, rich, etc.; but artistic creation, though not
>>> indispensable and vital, is something that can make our lives
>>> different, enjoyable, excited at times. since creation is directly
>>> linked with idea, there should be some sort of a right protection
>>> process involved within the art world. but i cannot at this moment
>>> propose a particular protection system since i am not
>>> knowledgeable at
>>> all in law...
>>>
>>> regards
>>> murat
>>>
>>>
>>> <<< +90 532 473 8970 (gsm mobile)
>>> <<< muratgermen@gmail.com
>>> <<< http://www.muratgermen.com
>>> <<< http://www.flickr.com/photos/muratgermen/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 01.Mar.2009, at 23:52, robert.thill@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thank you for your comments, Bronac.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, conceptual art practices and patents are not the same thing. I
>>>> hope that my introduction did not confuse or conflate them.
>>>>
>>>> In my statement, I began by describing my area of research, which
>>>> is
>>>> the intersections between patents and contemporary art.
>>>>
>>>> In the paragraph about artist as inventors, I do not mention
>>>> patents.
>>>> The series of quotes by the artist Jakob Fenger of Superflex
>>>> speak to
>>>> parallels between inventing and art-making; he is not referring to
>>>> patents. His comments address our discussion's topic of artists as
>>>> inventors, which he links through creativity.
>>>>
>>>> However, I will add here that Superflex did secure patents for
>>>> their
>>>> biogas system. Nevertheless, according to Fenger, it was not
>>>> intentionally an integral part of the work's concept. The driving
>>>> force for Superflex's patenting was to engage investors in their
>>>> project. At that time (about a decade ago), investors were
>>>> demanding
>>>> an intellectual property position. In an e-mail message on 3
>>>> February
>>>> 2009, Fenger describes the situation and references the related
>>>> shift
>>>> in their newer work, which engages intellectual property from a
>>>> significantly different vantage point, he wrote: "If we were to
>>>> start
>>>> out developing the biogas system today, we work quite differently
>>>> ('copy-shop,' 'free beer,' 'copy right,' etc.) and we do not see
>>>> any
>>>> thread in people copying our system."
>>>>
>>>> I am glad to offer examples of artworks that deliberately attempt
>>>> to
>>>> integrate patent and art concepts as the discussion continues. I
>>>> also
>>>> think the idea of examining the role of design is interesting.
>>>> However, as we begin the dialogue, I think it might be productive
>>>> to
>>>> keep the discussion more broadly on the topic of artists as
>>>> inventors.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Robert
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 3/1/09, Bronac Ferran <bronacferran@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Interesting discussion and I would like to add some comments.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think it is quite provocative and dangerous to conflate
>>>>> conceptual art
>>>>> practice with the notion of a patent (which is a legal device)
>>>>> or a
>>>>> trademark (similar).
>>>>>
>>>>> I attended a talk with a representative of Superflex a few weeks
>>>>> ago at
>>>>> South London Gallery which also had a lawyer who has done some
>>>>> great work
>>>>> with radical art - Daniel McClean. Some of these issues and
>>>>> questions were
>>>>> covered but at no stage was there a straightforward conflation of
>>>>> patenting
>>>>> with concepts - obviously what Superflex have done is go beyond
>>>>> concept into
>>>>> production of goods and services for sale which of course then
>>>>> leads into
>>>>> realisation of objects within a market (with all the legal systems
>>>>> thereby
>>>>> implied).
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope that some of the parsing apart of this kind of conflation
>>>>> can be
>>>>> activated within the process of this Yasmin discussion - and that
>>>>> we may
>>>>> also put a finger on some examples where artistic 'invention' has
>>>>> led to
>>>>> patenting (as the list is very small at present). We should also
>>>>> take into
>>>>> account the role of design which has a much clearer and much more
>>>>> straightforward relationship, here.
>>>>>
>>>>> all best wishes
>>>>> Bronac
>>>>> www.boundaryobject.org .
>>>>> http://uk.youtube.com/iderca
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 2009/3/1 <robert.thill@gmail.com>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Yasminers,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I wish to thank Roger Malina for the opportunity to moderate the
>>>>>> discussion on artists as inventors and our six accomplished
>>>>>> discussants for their participation: Derek Hales, Sylvie Lacerte,
>>>>>> Arantxa Mendiharat, Hideki Nakazawa, Barbara U. Schmidt, and
>>>>>> Colette
>>>>>> Tron.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My interest in artists as inventors stems from my curiosity about
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> intersections between contemporary art and utility patents. I
>>>>>> discovered through research that this seemingly narrow terrain
>>>>>> was
>>>>>> actually an expansive area, which could encompass a wide range of
>>>>>> practices that went far beyond artists' patents. For instance, it
>>>>>> could include elements as diverse as the novel achievements of an
>>>>>> innovator whose self-patent works were reclassified as
>>>>>> "visionary"
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> "outsider" art (William W. Adkins) and a patent institution that
>>>>>> collects contemporary art and displays it in the workplace with
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> progressive idea of stimulating discussion, productivity, and
>>>>>> integration (the European Patent Office).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, the topic of artists as inventors is focused on the
>>>>>> relationship between the roles and practices that are conjured by
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> terms. To this end, I will share comments on the subject by the
>>>>>> artist
>>>>>> Jakob Fenger, who is a member of Superflex, which invented
>>>>>> (with Jan
>>>>>> Mallan) a biogas system. In a conversation via Skype on 12
>>>>>> February
>>>>>> 2009, Fenger told me that "all good artists are inventors,"
>>>>>> adding
>>>>>> that "a concept for a piece is like an invention," and that in
>>>>>> his
>>>>>> opinion there is "no difference between inventing and art-
>>>>>> making,"
>>>>>> referencing the creative process as the link between these two
>>>>>> activities.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I look forward to a lively discussion on the topic of artists as
>>>>>> inventors throughout March.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Robert Thill
>>>>>>
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>
> David Haley BA(Hons) MA FRSA
>
> Senior Research Fellow
> Director, A&E [art&ecology] research unit
> MA Art As Environment Programme Leader
> SEA: Social & Environmental Arts Research Centre
> MIRIAD
> Manchester Metropolitan University
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>
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