OT Industry Growth and Art

[JPedersen017]

Hi all, occasional lurker, even less occasional contributor. Two questions I would like thoughts on, old heads and newbies all welcome!

1) How would you increase awareness of manufacturing to a wider audience? Not just "expose kids to it", but action items that if time and money were no object, you would try to get teens interested in pursuing the trade, or at a minimum understanding where their toys come from, how things are made etc. Is it storytelling, videos, conversations, bringing students to shops?

2) What kinds of cool industrial or manufacturing art have you seen? Titles or works or links welcome, my mind went to the Detroit mural, but what else?

 

[Greg White]

I Have nothing right now to add other than saying excellent question,plus my heart strings got touched my the mention of Detroit, I am out in the stics now,but fancy myself always a Detroit boy.
" We s da boys dat build da cars"

 

[Marty Feldman]

"cool industrial art" - these are well known, and have appeared here on PM before
I always see the Brooklyn Bridge painters as being arrayed in the form of a micrometer





Actually, what I like to gaze upon when it comes to industrial art are things like a Hardinge BB2V (Cataract) mill.

-Marty-

 

[Marty Feldman]

...How would you increase awareness of manufacturing to a wider audience? Not just "expose kids to it", but action items that if time and money were no object, you would try to get teens interested in pursuing the trade, or at a minimum understanding where their toys come from, how things are made etc. Is it storytelling, videos, conversations, bringing students to shops? ....

Not sure how idealistic you are when you reference "manufacturing" and "the trade". I suspect you may be thinking about fostering a genuine appreciation for the hard-won skills and knowledge of manual machine days. If so, my personal view is that your time would be more productively spent in other pursuits. If you mean having kids just learn how to crank out "their toys" and "things", the brighter bulbs in the chandelier will figure it out if we give them the tools and some basic info, then get out of their way.

Or is it now me who is being idealistic?

-Marty-

 

[magisterFactotum]

Here's one I liked recently and haven't seen elsewhere: "First Part" by Nikolai Lomakin



Others I can think of are the Machinalia series by Boris Artzybasheff and the Bull of the Woods parts of the Out Our Way comics by J. R. Williams

 

[JPedersen017]

Not sure how idealistic you are when you reference "manufacturing" and "the trade". I suspect you may be thinking about fostering a genuine appreciation for the hard-won skills and knowledge of manual machine days. If so, my personal view is that your time would be more productively spent in other pursuits. If you mean having kids just learn how to crank out "their toys" and "things", the brighter bulbs in the chandelier will figure it out if we give them the tools and some basic info, then get out of their way.

Or is it now me who is being idealistic?

-Marty-

Context:

I work in a high school that does "trade" skills. I'm in manufacturing (still work part time in a shop) there is construction, IT, aircraft A&P, auto tech, more currently and more to come. I want more students in our program, and more people to appreciate it. We acknowledge that all kids aren't going to college for a 4 year degree. We have companies that helped develop the curriculum when it was new, many of them take interns over the summer, they become full time youth apprentices (that is a whole other thing about youth vs pre vs "traditional" apprenticeship). Call it closing the skills gap or interesting kids in machining, whatever it is. The labor market wants to keep growing and fill in for old heads who are retiring, how can we do that in schools.

The art is mostly just to look cool.

 

[John Garner]

I really like "socialist realism" art that features what I'll call "normal people doing their normal things", but am put off by that same style of art glorifying "political leaders". I also really like line drawings of old-fashion machine tools, either by themselves or being used for a recognizable job such as finishing a steam locomotive cylinder casting.

Having gone to high school and college in San Francisco, I was fascinated by the Diego Rivera mural at San Francisco City College, and by the murals in Coit Tower painted by a team lead by one of Diego Rivera's students. The Cincinnati Union Terminal murals and mosaics are other favorites.

If you're not familiar with David Weitzman's drawings, I very strongly urge you to take a look. I love his work!

 

[Ron Hofer]

Many may disagree, but I think the 20's-30's Ralph Steiner films are industrial art Or at least industrial porn.
For example,