It was a cozy dinner party at my friend's apartment. The food was great and we were all in a good mood for intellectual exchange. After a few drinks the guests started to contribute words of pseudo-wisdom like 'The word nice came from an old latin word for stupid' and 'There was a naked woman directing traffic in Central today'. Were we not in boxers and college sweatshirts, we could almost mimic a group of avant-garde artists if observed from afar.
Among the guests was an Italian guy, who was doing his doctorate in bio-engineering in a college near mine. I never had any talent in Science at school but I have all the respect for scientists, as they are doing what I would never be able to or want to do. Someone has to calibrate that something or find out if that ancient ancestor of gerbils has wings. So by default, scientists are all good in my book.
'So, what do you study?', asked the Scientist, with a cigarette in his hand.
'I am in Translation right now. I used to study Theatre Arts'
'Ah. So tell me, is the meaning of a piece of artwork determined by the perception of the audience or the intent of the artist?'
'I would say intent of the artist, but it's just me'
To me, art is a very personal thing. It is a means to express yourself, but not necessarily to anyone. Say, an artist drew a portrait of his deceased wife in memory of her. I strongly believe: even if no one ever sees the portrait after the artist's death, the meaning (remembrance of the artist's wife) is still there.
'No, it should be the audience's perception', said the Scientist, sternly.
'OK, fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions'
No, you don't understand. I am a doctor of bioengineering, I can map minds.'
Well then surely you can map out how much I want to kick you in the quad.
I will not argue with the power of science. It allows us to map genetic sequences, clone a sheep and french-kiss someone on Skype. However this should not grant one such an amount of arrogance, so much as to believe 'if I am a scientist, I don't need to make valid statement in arguments. I just need to state the fact that I am a scientist'.
'Uh huh'
He spent the remainder of the night yelling 'demineralized water can kill us' while body-blocking us from the bottles of water we bought; I spent mine hiding behind a nacho chips mountain I built, trying to focus on the sound of my own munching.
Among the guests was an Italian guy, who was doing his doctorate in bio-engineering in a college near mine. I never had any talent in Science at school but I have all the respect for scientists, as they are doing what I would never be able to or want to do. Someone has to calibrate that something or find out if that ancient ancestor of gerbils has wings. So by default, scientists are all good in my book.
'So, what do you study?', asked the Scientist, with a cigarette in his hand.
'I am in Translation right now. I used to study Theatre Arts'
'Ah. So tell me, is the meaning of a piece of artwork determined by the perception of the audience or the intent of the artist?'
'I would say intent of the artist, but it's just me'
To me, art is a very personal thing. It is a means to express yourself, but not necessarily to anyone. Say, an artist drew a portrait of his deceased wife in memory of her. I strongly believe: even if no one ever sees the portrait after the artist's death, the meaning (remembrance of the artist's wife) is still there.
'No, it should be the audience's perception', said the Scientist, sternly.
'OK, fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions'
No, you don't understand. I am a doctor of bioengineering, I can map minds.'
Well then surely you can map out how much I want to kick you in the quad.
I will not argue with the power of science. It allows us to map genetic sequences, clone a sheep and french-kiss someone on Skype. However this should not grant one such an amount of arrogance, so much as to believe 'if I am a scientist, I don't need to make valid statement in arguments. I just need to state the fact that I am a scientist'.
'Uh huh'
He spent the remainder of the night yelling 'demineralized water can kill us' while body-blocking us from the bottles of water we bought; I spent mine hiding behind a nacho chips mountain I built, trying to focus on the sound of my own munching.
