21st century education
An Art Riddle: Why is this called ART?

An Art Riddle: Why is this called ART?

This is a picture of a piece I made in my studio, today. Visually, I think it’s interesting, but it’s actually a riddle:

Why is this called ART?

No, that’s not a philosophical question. There’s actually a very straightforward answer to the riddle. It’s a bit of a trick question, too.

If you need another hint, there’s a similar piece called LOVE you can see in my studio at Tullia 12.

Why is this called ART?
Why is this called ART?

16 Comments

  1. Pingback: I posted an art riddle Yes very strange… | MU Talk

  2. Ive been staring at your riddle wondering and trying to be straightforward about it hehe, I want to say the answer is because it made stare and wonder 😛 but I’m gonna be back to stare a little longer and cam and zoom this way and that.. Im sure it’s right under my avie nose 😛

    1. I think it’s fun it got this much interest, so let’s not reveal the answer, yet, Ryan. Message me and I’ll let you know if you’re right. If you’ve figured it out, you know you’re right, though. : )

      Myra Wildmist
  3. because it is Art Olija’s new avatar? Because you say it is? Because it contains textures of 2,000 masterworks inside it? Because Vaneeesa is streaming it live to giant screens in public places around the world where thousands are live blogging the event and the spontaneous interpretive dances it inspires? Because the black and white markings spell out ART in a secret digital language?

    Neeva Torok
  4. Here’s another hint: In real life, some would say we’re all made of the stuff of stars. In second life…

    (This was the thought that led me to this idea.)

    Myra Wildmist
  5. The answer:

    It’s 8-bit ascii. The squares are binary code: The white squares represent ones and the black squares represent zeros.

    A – 01000001
    R – 01010010
    T – 01010100

    Case matters. Lower case “art” would be a different sculpture.

    ASCII has its roots deep in computing history predating graphics. It was developed as a means of representing characters. You can read more about it in the wiki entry:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII

    Congratulations to Neeva and Ryan who figured this out.

    How did I get this idea?

    I’m not especially techie, so blame my wandering brain.

    I originally started with the idea that in real life we are all made of stars. What are we made of in second life? Bits? Ones and zeros? If so, does that make us any less real? Of course not. (My brain goes off in some very philosophical directions, too, sometimes.)

    Philosophical questions aside, the thought that we’re made up of ones and zeros led me ASCII, and a riddle was born. LOVE, another sculpture in my space, came first. There are all sorts of messages in that. 🙂

    Myra Wildmist
  6. Pingback: The answer to the art riddle http mediciuniversity… | MU Talk

  7. Your riddle was a lot of fun. It was great to have the sculptures to look at. They were beautiful representations and kind of grounded the whole experence. They gave the riddle a location where people could gather and engage.

    I guessed that you were using ASCII code when I saw 8 “bits” in each of three columns. ART has three letters, so I figured each column might be a letter. Even guessing that, I was not sure because I was checking for lower case letters and you had used uppercase letters. uppercase and lowercase letters have different ascii codes. Also, was a black square a one or a zero? Did the letters read from bottom up or top down.

    Anyway, loved it!! It was a nice mystery. Well done!

    Neeva Torok
      1. Aren’t all riddles some sort of code? Riddles usually play with language. The ART riddle is a visual code rather than a language code.

        Riddle: A box without hinges, key, or lid, Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
        Answer: An egg.

        An egg isn’t actually a box or the yoke a treasure. They’re code, representational code for the answer to the riddle.

        Myra Wildmist

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