If physics is an artform, then what would be in a physicist’s studio? How can we sell physics like artists sell their works of art? What is the business of physics as art. Most of a theorist’s art is knowledge. Maybe physics is more like poetry. So does that mean we have to write books? Is that our art?
O brave new quantum world!
yours is an art indeed, and functions like art as it is today. it is the art of the concept, in which the idea becomes the engine that drives and shapes the medium that the work will take. physicists (and everyone for that matter) should think along the lines of this contemporary art rather than the art of our fathers and grandfathers where an aesthetic work was the goal. but today, if art is only aesthetic, then its art function is no more than that of a nice end table or a fancy scatter cushion.
sports on the other hand has an inherent sexual desire with its emphasis on bodily perfection, opposition, exertion, sweat, desire….etc. and while there are connections between sports and physics, those connections remain abstract and could be gleened of any system to any other system.
I’ve thought a fair bit about this “physics as an art business”, I’ve even been known to call physics an artform. Their are a lot of parrallels, physicists and artists are creative, they both tend to express imagination. Physics and art require mastery over seemingly bizarre sets of skills. Physicists and artists tend to be eccentric. Physicists and artists are prone to indulgent levels of self analysis…
I could go on for a long time like this, but I think I still couldn’t answer the question “what is our art?”. What if there is no art? Maybe it’s the wrong question. Maybe physics is a sport? Creativity, skill, eccentricity, competitiveness, stubbornness, these are all traits common to sportspeople and physicspeople. We have our physics heroes, we have our captains, our teams, we have a whole bunch of scoring systems to choose from. We have minor leagues, majors, sponsors, rookies and has anyone noticed how much post-doc hunting resembles the traditional draft-pick mania that overwhelms most sports?