Thom + Ben Panel!!

 

Thom Caraway & Ben Necochea

The Panel

The panel discussion went great! I was super excited to see everyone that showed up, and I feel as if my group did a really good job of communicating to and preparing Thom and Ben. I feel like we had really good engagement from the crowd, which made me super happy, and both Thom and Ben seemed very into it and provided some really great discussion. We also seemed to pull in way more students from outside the class than I expected. Big thanks to everyone that showed up and asked good questions. 

I was really glad that we we're able to dive into a lot of different topics and have some really good discussion BEFORE the mention of AI. I know that all of these talks almost always end up centered around AI, so I am very glad that this was able to be something different.

Major takeaways for me

Both Thom and Ben talked about the warmth and connection of tangible objects. Somehow, in some way, they both agreed that having something physical and in their hands or touchable and with depth made them feel closer to the product than through the screen. This felt really relevant to me because, I am really interested in that "warmth" and how we can try and replicate that in digital spaces. I would have to agree with them and say that the warmth they mention is lacking in current digital spaces, but I think that is something that could maybe changed and is definitely worth working on. Sadly they were both very adamant and clear about the fact that the tangibleness of the object really helped with that connection, which leads to an interesting dilemma.

They both also talked about the connection between tools, and creators. Technology and digital spaces offer some really great tools, and that means that they can be really useful for creators when it comes to making creative objects. Obviously tools can be misused, but that is always the case, and every time new tools are introduced, people freak out. One really good thing that Ben said was something along the lines of -the tool should serve you, not the other way around- Basically he was saying that you should be proficient with the tool and be able to use it to create something of your own, not just let the tool do all the creating. 

There is also something that I gained, even if I can't exactly describe it, from Ben and Thom's statements about doing creative things physically. Thom talked about his letter press and how the physical process of doing that does something for him. It might not make a better product, it might take longer, but he is still getting something very valuable from it. Same thing goes with Ben's statements about trying to spend some time doing traditional art from time to time, and starting his designs with physical sketches. 

Finally, the human aspect of flaws and mistakes in creative products adding value to them. The unrecreatable aspect of things made by hand adds a certain amount of value and humanness to them that computers are terrible at recreating. This lends weight to the uniqueness of each person, the minute mistakes they each make, and the opportunity for accidental art. 

Honorable mention to Thom's statement about art only being art because of soul, and computers not having souls, therefore being incapable of art.