Series 2/3: The Artist and the Engineer – This series reflects on the relationship in between Art and Engineering.

Photo by gfpeck

My wife is an artist, she enjoys learning about process the way things work. The other day she said something quite beautiful when talking about her work. She explained to me that before the age of computer processing, mathematicians would employ people with no scientific background to go through data and find patterns. There are patterns everywhere in space such as the Fibonacci Sequence; these patterns are beautiful and we are naturally intrigued and excited by them. My wife then explained that this is how she creates, she researches different processes and finds the beauty within the process. She then spends hours researching the science behind the process in order to understand how she can further develop the method.

The Institute of Making embraces this engineered creativity, it combines artists and engineers in order to explore and understand ideas. Mark Miodownik founder of the Institute recently discussed the importance of making on Radio 4. Mark believes that making is a necessity and should be a founding block of education. Mark promotes the idea of Hack Spaces in communities where people can come together to make. Making is an important part of who we are, it is integral to our human identity. When we make we learn to be curious and patient, discovering the world around us and how it works. We discover the beauty in creativity; searching for patterns and researching the engineering behind the patterns.

The Institute of Making enables imagination and reality to coexist enabling both the artist and engineer to gain a deeper understanding of their environment. Making is at the center of who we are, it combines engineering skill and creativity. Making brings people together and fuels innovative thinking.