iReflect: Was Steve Jobs an Artist?

An essay I wrote for my art blog shortly after the death of Steve Jobs, and looking into whether or not the man was an artist at heart, or another average-Joe.

             It’s 2:56 am. I’m listening to Voltaire on YouTube because I can’t find my old CD right now, and even though I have the power to copy it off onto my computer, I keep forgetting to do it. I check my email- looks good, nothing too pressing to deal with. No new inquiries on Ask.com. deviantART is quiet. My friends are all (well, probably not all) sleeping, and Facebook remains silent. And so I have the opportunity to write. But what shall I write about? Should I put together the next Photoshop Tutorials segment? Write about 3D rendering and the ten things you need to know about it? The next chapter in my “Let’s Talk about Art” saga? I’m not really feeling interested in those things right now.

            It comes to me as I pick up the object that allows me to do all these things, even write this post, if I so chose to use it for that. That thing is my 4^th generation iPod Touch.

            So I’m sure that we’ve all heard by now, through the power of media- Steve Jobs has left this world. And I’m sure some people are probably very sick of hearing about it. Personally, I’m not sick of hearing about it. You can’t even begin to argue the “not an inventor, a businessman” point with me- it is simply not true. For once, Wikipedia editors got something correct:

"Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 338 US patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages."

            But what on earth is the big deal? Okay, so a man died on the 5^th of October. Sure, I suppose he was sort of important, but really. Why should I care? It’s not like I knew him personally.

            I can’t- and really, I’m not interested in trying to- change your opinion of him. But I can tell you what his life meant and means to me. Steve Jobs’ work allows me to stay sane in today’s high-paced world. I can organize my business information three ways from Sunday, and I have that at my fingertips in any situation. I can listen to music anywhere without walking around bogged down by awkwardly-shaped technology (though, don’t get me wrong. I still actually have and use my Walkman and my stereo and my record player. You can’t go wrong with the classics!), and that’s especially important to me, because I am a musician and a music lover. I can catch up with and make friends scattered across the entire globe, in any language, whether that means I know the language or not. The communication barriers are all but extinguished. What’s more, is that I actually have the opportunity to be an artist, whereas I would not if it wasn’t for Steve Jobs. Allow me to follow-up on that with a personal story.

            I have mentioned before that I am not a rich woman. But when I started out drawing, I was just like any other young child- I doodled and scribbled with crayons on scraps of paper. But I fell in love with it, unlike a lot. It consumed me. My father repaired these things for a living- computers, were they? Odd things. Big, clunky, off-white beasts of burden that were still the “spawn of Satan” in my neck of the woods (mind you, I’m only eighteen- this was the 1990s I’m talking about). They whirred and beeped and made telephone noises and did all sorts of strange things. And how? Sure, they were plugged in and there was electricity going through them, but that never worked like this before! Look- there were pictures that altered themselves! There wasn’t a set series of images, like movies or TV shows. Those made sense. I knew how those things worked at a very young age. But computers baffled and intrigued me.

            Suddenly, life in a technological world was non-linear. It was fascinating. It was nearly a power-trip: you had the power to alter anything, and control the outcome of whatever you wanted. Visually, ingeniously…it was magic.

            I started learning more and more about those incredible devices as a child. My dad showed me a little about how they worked, inside and out. Other times, I’d just sit and watch him work. It must’ve gotten through, because I repair my own and others’, these days. I got my first computer at, oh, six or seven, I think. It was one that my dad built. An old 286, running DOS interfaces only. Now, was that too young for a child to be using a computer? Not when you’re using it to learn to build. It broke down, I learned how to fix it. It stopped working properly, I learned how to repair the system. I also used educational games- the very first Reader Rabbit and the like.

           A 286 turned into a 386, and then that turned into a Pentium II, and on and on until I ended up with what I have now. Perhaps it is horribly blasphemous to mention that that is a Dell tower, but I’m not the one who bought it or picked it out. I screamed Apple!- all the contributing buyers heard was “something I don’t really understand because I’ve never used a computer, but it must be all the same thing.” It doesn’t really work well, breaks down all the time, but it is what it is. Besides, that’s not the point of the story.

            Where did these computers come from, if I was so poor? Spare parts left over from old computers my dad worked on, the parts barn that gave my dad a discount because of his business with them, from people better off than us…All of them were literally assembled at my house from the case up. Nothing was retail. Ever. And for that reason, the PC’s in this house far outlive their life expectancy, hardware-wise. My father’s running 12+ year old hard drives in perfect health (yes, my computer is the only one that has hardware issues, because it was horrible- and the first retail machine ever purchased- to begin with).

            In the meantime, things started getting worse, financially. I couldn’t afford the tools I needed to be able to continue my artistic conquest. It was scrap copy paper and nub-like pencils, for me. I couldn’t afford to paint- the canvases and paint refills were too expensive. Pastels? Charcoal? Forget it, you’ll learn some other time. Sidewalk chalk was my most versatile medium.

            Enter the graphics tablet.

            No, not an iPad, a regular drawing tablet. A UC Logic WP5540, to be exact. The one I still use today. That opened doors. So, so many doors. It was purchased on eBay for a grand total of $40.00 from a wholesaler, and my dad had a copy of Adobe Photoshop’s 5 and 7 lying around from someone who never used them. I went with 7 (which, yes, is the one I’m still using today), and the learning began. Negating the cost of electricity, because I didn’t have the internet, at that point, a one-time fee of $40.00 bought me access to all the artistic tools I would ever need, and I didn’t have to pay for refills or new pencils or lead or paper or canvas or anything. It was a miracle. A true work of genius.

            Does that have anything to do with Steve Jobs or Apple at all? Actually, yes. Quite a bit. Without Jobs’ influence, not even my Dell would be where it is. We all know that- even you hardcore Microsoft fans. And I spent 4 years in a Mac-ruled vocational high school, working with the latest Apple technology available as it hit the market. I was gifted an iPod touch for my eighteenth birthday. I’ve used iPads and iPhones and iJustAboutEverything at some point in my life. During my stay in that high school, I learned more about my trade through those devices than I ever had before. Using the latest iMac’s allowed me to clearly see my work the way I had intended it to look for the very first time. There was no glare, there was no distortion. The colors were perfect, the computers didn’t generate sketchy lines when I wanted to make a straight line. It never failed to work exactly the way I needed it to. Never a crash, nothing. It just worked, so long as you treated it right.

            Now, even back on a PC that barely runs the operating system it came with, I know how to achieve the results I want to see. And I can multi-task using my iPod. Is my file too big for me to run a music-playing program in the background? Yes? Okay, I’ll turn on my iPod and get my inspiration that way. Am I in need of a break? Yes? Okay, I’ll watch a movie or a television show episode or something. Oh, got a message! Yeah, I can answer that. Is my customer wondering where their work is? Yes? I’ll email them and explain my PC is confused again. When they ask how I wrote the email if that’s true, I’ll explain it was from my iPod.

           

            Perhaps you don’t realize what you take for granted. Have you ever stopped to smell the roses when they’re in bloom? You should. I do it all the time, and it is never a dull experience. Don’t you just love the feeling of Egyptian cotton sheets to the point where you can’t get over how great they feel on your skin after every wash? Ever watched the sun set, seen the moon rise, felt the wet dew of morning on your face, and just felt small, yet utterly amazed? Honestly, the technology Steve Jobs and his co-workers gave and give to the world is no different.

            Think about it. I’m sure most of you own an Apple device or have, at least, used one. If you’ve got an iPad, iPhone, or an iPod, especially an iPod Touch 4^th gen, I want you to go get it. Got it? Good. Now. Unplug the headphones if they’re in, place the device, turned off, screen up in your palm, and look at it. Just, look at it. Turn it over and around if you want, but don’t turn it on just yet.

            Do you feel it? Can you sense the excitement building? Okay, now push the button and turn it on. WHAM! Apple logo in your face, seemingly from out of nowhere. Out of the sky, maybe. And then, what’s this? If you have a restrictive passcode, it wants you to interact with it? That’s madness! Pure, strange, craziness! So input your passcode. And I want you to feel what happens.

            See that? It doesn’t question you, it doesn’t ask you if you’re sure you want to turn it on, because it doesn’t have to. There is no need for something like that, like “allow or deny” buttons. Of course you want to turn it on! That’s what you pushed the button and put your passcode in for!

            Alright, look closely at what you see. Have you customized your backgrounds? Even your icons? Do you have it set to make certain sounds, vibrate, and what-have-you? Now, think about this- do those changes you’ve made accurately reflect your personality? That question is 99.9% answered with a yes. I can change the images I see to cohesively show off my mood, an important event, my favorite character from a video game…anything I want. Even just a design. I can also make the layout of the device more useful to me, by arranging and stacking and rearranging everything until it is exactly where I want it. It channels me because I want it to. Because it gives me the option to be imaginative with it. It even allows itself to be jailbroken and edited.

            Now play with the iOS-installed features. Completely ignore any you’ve endowed it with yourself. Look at that, it knows exactly what time it is and the day it is where I am! And, even the weather, too! But what’s this, I want to know those things about Moscow, Russia? Well, with minimal swiping and tapping, I’m now aware of those things there, too. That’s wildly important if you have contacts in Russia. You don’t wake them up at 3 am if the time of day is at your fingertips!

            A camera, too? It does both video and stills? With that much clarity? That’s insane! I can record moments in my life for future reflection with two touches of a button! It’s also a calendar, an organizer, a gamer, a gateway to the stock market, an endless digital mall, a calculator, a memo-maker, a Stenopad, a video-viewer, a map, a visual conversation transmitter, a communications director, and above all, a music player. And that’s just the factory install!

            If you have custom apps, and I’m sure you do, you can look at those now. See what people have done to make it even more incredible? See those beautiful graphics? People had to put those together. People brought you a newspaper from a city you’re not in. People brought you that mentally-stimulating little game you play when you’re sick in bed- and you can play with people around the world without fear of infecting them, too. People let you help other people by answering their questions without even being in the same room as them.

            Are you amazed now? Do you see it as I see it? An iPod, iPad, iPhone, Macbook, iMac…they shouldn’t be taken for granted. I’ve worked with them for years, and I am not lying or embellishing- I get a special charge to imagine the work that went into making a device like my iPod every time I see that iconic, munched-upon fruit when I turn it on. How on earth can such a tiny, thin thing- this flat piece of metal and glass- fit in the palm of my hand, and still be so utterly powerful? Even though I know the mechanics of it, how it fires and functions and converts and displays, I can’t really wrap my mind around something like this being about to do what it does. It’s like I’m incapable of fathoming it fully.

            But Steve Jobs wasn’t incapable of those things. On the contrary, Jobs was a mind that had to put minimal effort into figuring out how to create something like this. But creating the material was half the battle. Getting people to use and accept it was the other half. But he did it. And he did it well. The proof is in your everyday life- the proof is even in the fact that I wrote half this article on my iPod when my PC crashed. Because Steve Jobs wasn’t just an innovator, or an inventor, or an entrepreneur- he was a motion maker, a barrier-breaker, and a man who helped to change the world. In everything he did for a living, he was a true artisan.

            Which brings us to the true topic of this article. Was Steve Jobs really an artist? Or just an innovator? It’s not very difficult to consider technology as separate from art, but it has always been an art form, just as business management and marketing techniques are. Let’s make a list. A list that shows why technology really is art.

• Someone had to build/sculpt/code/generally design the devices and their prototypes
• The artists that created the blueprints are artists
• To look at the disassembly of technology is to be amazed by the intricacy of its parts and pieces. It’s a veritable wonderland of designs and patterns.
• The interfaces of today are visually stunning. A graphic artist had to design every icon you see on your iDevice, as an example.
• Technology doesn’t have to hinder “traditional” art forms, as many fear. It can aid it immensely
• To create concepts that no one has ever come up with before is extremely imaginative, and to visualize those things is artistic.

            There are many, many more reasons, but those are the few I wanted to touch on in this article. Let’s break these down now, one by one, and examine the usual array of arguments used to combat them.

“Someone had to build/sculpt/code/generally design the devices and their prototypes.”

            The most common debate against this is actually very silly, when you stop to think about it. Whenever I’ve discussed this topic with others in person, I consistently hear, “how can you think that? You’re an artist! It’s all machinery making this junk today! No one would ever even know where to start if they had to do it by hand!”

            Stop right there and consider that statement. There’s an interesting, physical paradox in it. Machinery makes things. But who made the machinery? Machines, of course. And who made those? You could go on and on forever with real life examples of machines making machines if you know your factory mechanisms, but at some point, you will come out on the other side of this argument, and the only thing you will be able to come up with is that a person made the machine that made the machine that made the machine. They didn’t just spring from the earth like plants- they were built, screw by screw, piece by piece, using tools, which are, also, ironically, an artist’s best friend- and the earliest form of technology to ever exist in any form. Also created by man.

          

            Even when it is really the machine that assembles the machine, who envisioned the machines? That, my friends, was not a computer. That was a person who saw it fit to create a helpful piece of technology to help others realize their ideas. You wouldn’t get outraged because the visionary interior designer- who is rightfully considered an artist- you hired uses a power drill to install a bookshelf, would you? I highly doubt it.

           

“The artists that created the blueprints are artists.”

          

            How entirely true. And sadly, most draftsmen and draftswomen are horribly overlooked as artistic minds in their field. I honestly can’t say that I understand that. Why someone who draws the design for a car engine is any less of a creative person than a person who designs a brand new house in a traditional, Greek Revival style. How is it different? If anyone can “enlighten me” on the topic of why this is supposedly different, I make no pretense about actually wanting to hear it, to learn to better combat the subject with fact, rather than opinion.

          

            In my high school, there were shops upon shops upon shops. And all of them contained at least one “traditional” artist, who drew with a pencil and paper. But we had craftsmen created beautiful designs, us graphic designers, metal fabricators who made sculptures, hair stylists, fantastic chefs and culinary students, dentists and nurses who understood their trade so well they had a style and finesse all their own…everyone in my high school was truly an artist. In fact, we had a whole shop dedicated to the art of drafting technology. It was very difficult to get a placement-worthy grade in that shop- that’s how good you had to be off the bat. You had to demonstrate engineering knowledge, outside-the-box thought patterns, and above all else, high levels of creativity. All that, as an unknowing freshman in the course of a week. Sometimes, due to vacations or weather, you only had three or four days to prove your worth. They even designed the blueprints for the drama club’s giant, moving recreation of Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors”- and that thing was beautifully complex, without a single hitch or problem! If the people who made that and made it their career from that shop aren’t artists, I don’t know who is.

“To look at the disassembly of technology is to be amazed by the intricacy of its parts and pieces. It’s a veritable wonderland of designs and patterns.”

 

            My point here is short and simple. Not everyone is impressed by the same type of art. It should be respected, but you don’t have to like it. I’ll tell you that while I really respect the sheer amount of abstract creativity and mathematical knowledge that goes into algorithmic fractal art, I’m not really a big fan of the way the final product looks, most of the time. It’s just “not my thing.” And if looking at the detail work in machinery isn’t your thing, that’s absolutely fine, too. But there are times when I’m working on my computer, and I sit back and say, “wow, this is really amazing.”  I feel that even more when I’m taking apart clocks or pocket watches. Just look at an atmos clock! Simply stunning piece of work. But, you either like it, or you don’t. It’s that simple.

“The interfaces of today are visually stunning. A graphic artist had to design every icon you see on your iDevice, as an example.”

 

           Yet again, I hear, frankly, the stupidest arguments possible for this point. In a previous article, I discussed why digital artists are still artists, so I won’t get too deep into that again. If you’d like to hear my take on the subject, you can visit the piece here:

The other one I hear a lot is that the computer comes up with the concept. That is entirely unfounded. I think everyone here knows that- after all, do you really think the internet generated, thought out, and wrote this article? I really hope not.

“Technology doesn’t have to hinder “traditional” art forms, as many fear. It can aid it immensely.”

           

            I can be a purist, when it comes to art. For example, I personally don’t like remixes of music. I won’t say they’re not an art form, but I don’t like them one bit. I don’t willingly listen to a single remix on my own time. I always, always prefer to hear the original. On the other hand, my music library is filled with covers of other artist’s songs. Is that a little confused? Yes. But when it comes down to technology aiding art, I really feel it has the potential to do more good than harm. Let’s look at it this way. At the bottom of this article, there are a few links to related reading from other sites on both the side of my viewpoint, and the opposing viewpoint. One of those links cites the use of CNC milling machines to accurately copy and crank out previously fabricated sculptures. Is this potentially dangerous to the world of stone carving? We already have the technology/ability to simply render a 3D model of the piece we want and send it to the machine that way. No one ever has to touch a chisel. But there will always be artisans, and there will always be people interested in expressing themselves creatively. Could there be fewer carvers after the widespread use of this technology? Yes, it is certainly possible. But will there be none? Never.

           

          Also, there are many who fear technology makes everything easier to steal. Well, quite simply, machines can be broken, shut down, hacked, destroyed, wiped clean…you will never be “completely protected” in a technologically fueled world. There will always be someone who will learn to crack the code and get at your information. But, what difference does that make? Did people steal/copy works of art before? Of course. There are manufacturers in China that make unauthorized replicas of famous pieces completely by hand, in high quantities. Just because there’s new technology available for the job, doesn’t mean the work is any more or any less susceptible for theft than it was prior to the invention. It’s a sad, but solid truth.

“To create concepts that no one has ever come up with before is extremely imaginative, and to visualize those things is artistic.”

          On more than one instance, Steve Jobs has been compared to Leonardo da Vinci, a favorite example of mine here on this blog. Many people are outraged that the commentators would deem him worthy of such a comparison. But I find it to be a valid choice.

           

          If you’re not a big follower of the art of yesteryear, you probably know da Vinci’s name best in relation to the “Mona Lisa” painting. And while it is a stunning masterpiece, it is not the only thing he ever painted, or sketched, or did with his life. And, it is quite interesting to discover how few actually know that da Vinci was also, besides a great painter, an inventor. His inventions ranged from flying machines to war-making devices, to boats, and much more! He also created a lot of medical sketches that were highly (not completely, but close) accurate for the time period. What’s more is that, when put to the test, da Vinci’s inventions work. They do what they were intended to do.

            So how unfair is it to compare the two great minds? Leonardo’s work revolutionized the art world, even to this day. And his inventions and the blueprints for his inventions inspired many of the other things we take for granted today, such as the modern airplane. Jobs’ work was, and is in the same vein as that. He gave artists the tools they need to be utterly limitless with their designs. He was a co-founder of Pixar- and you cannot deny that making all those beautiful animations is an art form. And he revolutionized the world, both physically and mentally. The majority of my generation can’t seem to wrap their brains around the concept of a world without computers and high-tech gizmos and gadgets to play with. We are completely at the mercy of the second Industrial Revolution. Then again, I’m sure that the children born during the first wave of the Industrial Revolution couldn’t imagine a world without the things that came out of that era, either. We are no different. We simply think differently about things now. But, when prompted to, it is proven by these devices and the amazing things made for and on them that the human race does, indeed, still thinks and creates. Steve didn’t just alter the way we go about our day. He altered our minds, without ever knowing us. He changed our lives and our perspectives and challenged the way things were. And he has, and will continue to inspire us to dream bigger and better than what we came up with yesterday, and never let anything stand in our way down the road to success.

    “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

    ”Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma �" which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

    Steve Jobs [1955-2011], Stanford University commencement address

-Samantha Puchlerz

Related Reading:

-Essay: Technology Changes how Art is Created and Perceived

-When Technology Imitates Art

-How the iPod Touch works