____T.H.E. .P.A.S.S.

____The Arts vs Science Debate.

Is it possible to be artistic and scientific at the same time? As an engineer, is it possible to admire the recent art exhibits? When did arts become science anyway? I mean, freak, there is this so-called artist who made a shirt of magnets or something and then a wall of metal, and then claimed it to be an art piece. And then she said something along the lines of "You know how an art exhibit attracts attention and draws people go closer to it? Well, now you have an art piece which literally does it..."

Come on, how cheesy is that?! I almost choked on my dinner from laughing while watching that particular news extract.

How Leonardo Da Vinci is renowned for being an artist and a scientist at the same time is really intriguing. To me, would he not drive himself insane with the clash of perception and mindset when going about with his work? I know I am driving myself nuts though. This modeling project for my IA is pretty upsetting. Motion capture for engineering is different from motion capture for animation.

For engineering, besides the visual aspects of the capture, other data is required as well. Important kinematic and dynamic data such as forces. For example, motion capture of a crash car also requires the capture of speed of car, deceleration, and impact forces. And then through this capture, graphic modeling is done and optimization will determine which crash structure is best for design.

For animation, you just need the positional data. x, y, z coordinates and then that's it. Fit it into your graphical model and drive it using some animation software and you have a wonderful movie called "Cars". Of course, certain database needs to be done to recreate things like damping of the car's suspension when braking and turning, but these algorithms need not comply with real life statistics. All you need is for the animation to look realistic enough.

I'm pretty okay with it until I think about the millions that movies are raking in. Holy crap. I pity those engineers at BMW and Mercedes - thinking till their heads explode just to balance the suspension and mass of the car and then nobody knows how to appreciate the "artistry" in their work.

Unfair ain't it? Even that word is called artistry too. For the engineer in me, it's scientistry. Just imagine the civil engineer's reaction when he sees the architect's design for the building of "School of Arts, Media and Design" in NTU - I bet his eyes almost popped out. When describing the architecture of a building, people really should go "Wow, what scientistry it takes to design that!"

On the other hand, imagine the conflicts when Insane Poet decides to counter Mr Professor - the footballer in me is now indignantly screaming to have some of his thoughts heard. Football should be loved by what it is - as an art. Aesthetics is the key to admiring Zidane's gravity-defying turns and Ronaldinho's wonderful ball control. But must the scientists from Chelsea all spoil it by throwing on robots into the fray and then start playing like a machine team to spoil the beautiful game?

Shame on Jose Mourinho. The Special One is famed to provide statistical data of the team's opponents to every member of his team. This data was reported to also include the styles of the exact member of the opponent that a Chelsea player will be facing. For example, if Chelsea plays Manchester United, Chelsea leftback Ashley Cole will be provided data of Manchester United rightwinger Cristiano Ronaldo. Sad now because this would mean the fall of the likes of Ryan Giggs and the rise of players like Robbie Savage. Heck, even his name spells trouble for the sport.

Also, the whole game is spoilt by the bloody statisticians who come up with the odds for gambling. Shame. Shame on the smart intellects. Look at the Italian Serie A. I bet the players must all be gutted by the fact that they train and play so hard only to have the results of matches to be manipulated by gambling forces.

It really should be "artistry" then. Because what has Kaka's ability to split the opponent's defence just by a single pass got to do with science? Absolutely nothing!
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And then the equivocation goes on and on. The Professor versus Insane Poet - if a war breaks out between the two identities in me, the battle will be more exciting than a World Cup Final...

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