A(S+T+E+M)
How can the manifestation acronym of A(STEM) disprove the dichotomy of art education and STEM education and thus strengthen the nature of the active learner—who must think in both realms instead of having to choose between the ultimatum.
Using the vessel of astronomy, artwork can be made in line with the scientific method to disembody any preconceived dichotomy of art and STEM.
Hypothesis.
If one maximizes an A(STEM) imaginati0n—an artist’s breadth of imagination rooted in the authority of knowledge in STEM and necessary craftsmanship in artmaking practices—to create conceptually explanatory artwork that works within and breaks current theoretical boundaries of art (Jay Griffiths, Jeanette Winterson, Leo Tolstoy, Maxine Greene) and/or invokes new scientific understanding through the coupled use of the scientific method, then a dichotomy of art and STEM can be rendered non-existent.
Concept.
Using the scientific method, an abstract question such as “is art education at a dichotomy to STEM education,” can finally be answered—or at least thought about. Artwork as the experiment, and the artistic process as the procedure, allows one to test their artwork against the current borders of art and the purposes of art education in general.
Sketchbook Initial Planning Page
What is A(STEM) and why is it useful?
A(S+T+E+M)
A(S+T+E+M) is a distributive acronym such that art must be distributed as a variable in each coefficient of STEM. This distinction is important from the current acronym of STEAM because the arts is a philosophy of thought which binds together the different elements of STEM.
Art is more than a design student sitting amongst mathematicians. It is a way of thinking that when used with STEM creates paradigm-shifting results. A(S+T+E+M) is a renaissance of the polymath.
Experimentation
Lunarium
Lunarium (2023)
The Lunarium, a lunar clock, serves as a functional diagram which, encased within itself, holds much of the information to understand how the moon cycles work and what phase the moon is in. The piece speaks back to the antikythera machine and forward to a more modern invention such as the long now. More work is needed, an experiment can always be better. In the future I will add light and dark ends on each laser cut circle and weight the bottoms so they always hold their position relative to the Earth in the diagram.
In order to complete this project, I needed to learn the clockwork. The gear train used in Lunarium is a compound speed reduction similar to the one found in every watch.
Boots Jostled in the Fabric of Space-Time, (2020)
Boots buoyantly stuck in the fabric of space and time, about to be pulled into a singularity; a watch getting ripped apart, gracefully from its leather strap; matter that can almost be something but isn’t at all. The activity of Art is a way to think, perceive, and understand the world around us. This piece rethinks astrophysical phenomenon and Einsteinian gravity in the medium of relatable everyday objects and art materials to further reflect on and learn the world around us.
Lunar, (2020)
This piece, whose artistic procedure was almost entirely rooted in STEM combined with a fervor for deliberate motifs, is a superimposed lunar diagram that serves an educational purpose; the piece forces the viewer to decode the diagram, and visually isolate certain specific lunar diagrams. The moon phases are slightly more invoking due to their being from the southern hemisphere, as opposed to the more well defined northern hemisphere. If one follows the line from the new moon, they will find, at its end, a diagram of a solar eclipse; a full moon, the lunar eclipse. This piece serves as a self-evident warrior against the dichotomy of art and STEM.
Drafting Lunar