Marbles and Creation
Published on:
#posts #creativityWhy not take five minutes out of your day to watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q
It's an incredible machine made by Wintergatan. Overly complicated and intricate, it is fully programmable and has the ability to play the melody, bass and drums all at the same time while changing key halfway through the song. It took the artist fourteen months to build.
What I think is most spectacular about it is that is has no reason to exist. There are much easier ways of playing the same tune, but none of them are quite as fun. This machine is an act of creation for creation's sake, nothing more.
Often when we are evaluating art, we want to ask about the artist's intentions. Why did they make it? What are they trying to impart? What deeper meaning can be gleamed from a close analysis of the object? This is perfectly fine and valid for a lot of deep and Very Serious art.
Sometimes though, things just exist because someone decided to create it. The only reason this machine exists is that the artist wanted to make it. Once that decision was made, they spent ages building it and perfecting it. Now it exists and it is glorious. There's no bigger meaning or deep point being made.
The mere act of creation is what gives the machine its power.
Plus that melody is great.
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