The Innovators Within Art
Self-portrait developed by Dr. Nettrice Gaskins using Google’s Deep Dream computer vision software (Dr. Nettrice Gaskins/Google Deep Dream)
Take a look at the image at the top of this story.
It’s an amazing photo of Dr. Nettrice Gaskins, a researcher who studies the connection between art and technology. It’s easy to look at this image and think it was painted by the stroke of a painter's brush. But in reality, it was actually created by the many keystrokes on a coder’s keyboard.
While people tend to view the arts and STEM as polar opposites - there is an open-source culture these communities share. For example, the practice of sampling or remixing is something that is generally tied to the music industry.
“Sampling a song, taking a portion of a sound from an audio track and processing it through a digital audio device like a drum machine. That sample can be chopped up, looped or arranged to create an entirely new sound,” said Gaskins.
However, sampling an audio track is no different than a coder using open-source resources to produce an entirely new piece of software. This is a practice that both communities share by recycling creativity to generate new ideas.
The College of Information Studies — or the iSchool — hosted a presentation on March 2 by Dr. Gaskins on Techno-Vernacular Creativity and Innovation. In her presentation, Dr. Gaskins talked a lot about American rapper Dre Dilla who utilized these open-source practices to build his own sampling machine to create his music.
Recycling ideas is a process inherent to Black communities and other communities of color. However, with the arts being different from the traditional education most people are used to, innovators and artists like Dre Dilla were overlooked for their invention at the time.
“Remixing, reappropriation, improvisation expand what STEAM means by connecting technoliteracy, equity, and culture through TVC [techno-vernacular creativity] and recognizes the innovations produced by ethnic groups that are often overlooked,” said Gaskins.
STEAM is a discipline that recognizes the contributions of the arts to traditional scientific disciplines. STEAM advocates like Dr. Gaskins hope to recognize overlooked artists who were innovators within their respective fields.
At the same token, it’s important to recognize the difference between reappropriation and theft. The works of innovators of color are often taken for granted and not given the proper credit when used.
Black creators on the social media platform TikTok, often protest their content being taken by white creators without being given the proper credit. Innovators that reappropriate acknowledge the contribution of the original creators, and make an effort to promote their contributions in their invention. The historical appropriation of Black innovation must be acknowledged by the arts and sciences and the proper credit must be given to the artists who have been left in the shadows.
Breakthroughs in STEM come from out-of-the-box thinking and creative individuals. Embracing the arts into traditional scientific disciplines brings new ideas to the table that are often left out.