Scientists Are the New Rockstars

// July 23rd, 2009 // news

What happens when creative tinkering goes collective? Scott Beibin has his eye on today's garage scientists, and the rise of maker culture within the DIY movement. As it gets easier and cheaper to prototype new things, a new generation of tinkerers and experimenters are creating new things that are beneficial to all -- as art, as design, as sustainable technologies. Says Scott, "As it becomes clear we've reached the end of the era of proprietary intellectual property, it becomes apparent that all things are possible when tapping into the collective consciousness surrounding creativity." The new scientists aren't just about physical objects though. They operate within a new framework of sustainability, and they explore the porous boundaries between science and art. According to Scott, "A rockstar scientist is a person who researches and creates with regards to where things come from and go to with regard to their environmental and social impact." To explore these new boundaries between "hard science, social science, metaphysics and art," Scott created the multimedia narrative SCIENTISTS ARE THE NEW ROCKSTARS -- an interactive spoken word, video curation, and gadget show-and-tell that spans generations of scientific tinkerers, from Buckminster Fuller to Theo Jansen. Hear more about Scott's experiments in ars technica ("the art of technology") at DIY DAYS in Philadelphia on August 1, where Scott is a featured speaker.