An Unlikely Collaboration

Jessie Ross

On Monday, October 24, it was announced that the Master Studio and the AP Physics students were merging to collaborate on a project. The task at hand was to take an arrangement of data and bring it to life in the form of an art representation. Little did we (the art students) know how this entirely new task was going to be formed.

The students were separated into several groups—with about two Physics students to one art student. The Physics students explained what their project was: each group was given the task to create an arm-like structure with limited resources. Once they had designed and created their “arm,” they were to test it though adding specific weights to see how much their structure could hold. After testing their structures, they were to compile the tested data and record their findings.

I confronted my group with an open mind and was ready to assist in developing a new perspective on their project. My group consisted of Tian Ooi (11), Jia Qi Tan (11), Annabelle Teoh (11), and myself. Ooi described how they liked the idea of drawing an actual arm and fitting the designed structure inside of it. To demonstrate the bearable weight, they wanted to have it color coordinated.

I thought their idea was rather practical and clever - taking something visual and interpreting it in a literal sense. However, after the Physics students left and the Master Studio students regrouped, we figured out something rather interesting. We all ended up with the exact same requests. All the groups wanted a literal arm to represent their structure.

It could clearly be seen that two different types of minds were at work, being the artistic and scientific. From a scientific point of view, the AP Physics students looked at representing their creation in a literal sense; they see things logically—what is in front of them is what they need to represent.

Whereas the art student wanted more of a core message, or symbols—something beyond what was right in front of them. It became a battle of the structured, logical minds integrating with the more abstract, artsy minds. Each person was trying to bring his or her talent to the table. For the Master Studio students, our task now is not only to develop an art piece that brings both the science and artistic voice to life but to break a barrier between two conformities.

The question now stands: will the two opposite brain-types be able to collaborate further, or will this project fail to generate a sensible outcome?