Last Friday, Professor Mitch Resnick of the MIT Media Lab invited me to speak about the challenges in crafting an intersection between technology and art+design together with Prof. Geetha Narayanan of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. The context was his new programming system called Scratch and the question I left with was how we might craft a new understanding of the possibilities afforded by Scratch in the context of core studies that can develop new thinking in art and design based upon fundamental/non-digital principles.

I was particularly struck by what Prof. Narayanan reiterated in her talk, “Seeing is not knowing.” To me it epitomized the challenge that is faced by the fact that the computer is an entirely non-visual medium, yet by the images we see on our computer screen we are fooled into believing that it’s just what we see. But it’s not. Her talk was deep, human, and filled with possibilities for the use of Scratch in changing children’s lives in India and the entire world. I was especially heartened when she mentioned one of my favorite writers, Italo Calvino.

From feedback by e-mail related to my own presentation, it is clear that some of the audience wondered if I was being critical of Scratch and its relevance to art and design. I think it was then that I realized that my tendency of sitting with creative people is to engage in critique as practiced at RISD — critique being the act of forming an open opinion subject to debate and discussion:

“A common misconception is that the chief point of a critique is to pass judgment on the work presented. There could be some value or fairness in acknowledging that someone put in a great deal of effort on an assignment or accomplished something very skillfully. The real point, however, is to dig deeper, to gain an understanding of why a drawing is powerful or moving in some way, or to suggest stronger emphasis of a given quality.”
— Prof. Fritz Drury / RISD Illustration Department

Artists and designers are first and foremost self-critical, so some of the time during my lecture was spent in my own head evaluating my own work within the same critical framework of questioning the way we do here at RISD. Also in general I tend to really wonder what the role of technology is in our evolving world. The questions continue to get more complex, and I continue to ask them out loud. All answers are welcome as part of the ongoing conversation.

So in short, I left the Scratch conference believing more than ever that Scratch is “powerful and moving” in important ways that will transform our future. That Geetha’s vision is one of empowerment, and that Scratch is a real enabler. Look out Adobe! Here comes Scratch!