The Kite of Art

The Kite of Art

A visualize model of the entanglement of disciplines: science, art, design, and engineering.

The ‘Kite of Art’ is a model to put in practice of the intersection of art, science, design, and engineering in product design. The Kite of Art is the model I created to visualize the intersection of these disciplines. The model is originally inspired by Neri Oxman’s Kreb Cycle of Creativity. The Kreb Cycle of Creativity represents the creative entanglement of art, science, design, and engineering. However, I wanted to continue on that entanglement and translate how and why these disciplines need to be intertwined, and allow the disciplines to be directly connected. The current way we are designing experiences and manufacturing products is detrimental to our health and our environment. How could we change our perspective?

The disciplines are defined as follows:

Science - Perception

This encompasses curiosity, knowledge acquisition, and observation, drawing inspiration from the natural environment.

Design - Production

It focuses on shaping the aesthetic form of products and how people interact with them.

Engineering - Production

This discipline concentrates on the mathematical aspects of form and the practical aspects of crafting products.

Art - Perception

Here, the emphasis is on fostering reflection and empathy regarding how products impact individuals (the self), our culture, and the natural environment (the biosphere).

ARTWORK- Personal Reflection on the Biomimicry Launchpad Program Retreat in Spring 2023

Nature creates an environment that is conducive to life (for all individual life-forms), community is encouraged, and natural processes are cyclical. Nature already emulates the sustainable design practices we should follow, and biomimicry is the lens to do so (Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges).

The leaf, the mirrored shape of the kite in the drawing above, takes similar form to the kite and symbolizes biomimicry. In my perspective, to flourishingly apply biomimicry, we need to intersect art, science, design, and engineering. The entanglement of these disciplines supports the consideration of the individual (the Self), our culture (our communities), and our environment (Nature) when creating man-made forms and experiences.