is what we do Art ?

[martinbayer]

A somewhat related and interestingly structured discussion on whether putting an electric sports car (with a miniature diecast replica of said car on board) into solar orbit may be considered art can be found at https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/10/16997124/elon-musk-spacex-tesla-art-starman-advertising.

Personally, to me the fundamental difference between an artist (creating art) and an artisan (creating aesthetic/appealing objects) is that an artist is aiming at conveying a message or provoking thought, while an artisan merely aims to please, although both may be to varying degrees creative and masterful in their techniques and approaches. Building a what if model by its very definition is an attempt to portray an alternative world and stimulate speculation about that scenario, so to me what ifs are art by default, independently of how expertly they are executed.

Martin

[zenrat]

The art was by Dan O'Bannon and Thomas Warkentin in Heavy Metal magazine.  What Elon Musk (not a real name - surely either a '50s missile project or a CIA operation) did was either plagiarism, tribute or homage depending on where you stand.

[PR19_Kit]

Love that artwork, superbly done, but what was the idea behind dropping the 'Vette from a zillion feet in the first place?

[Old Wombat]

A publicity stunt?

[Weaver]

Here's the animated version from the 1981 Heavy Metal movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMPe3wF9jQ