Today the light bulb flickered. Listening to NPR’s Studio 360, a special segment remembering Nikola Tesla and his lifetime achievements aired on the radio. I, like many other Americans, knew almost nothing about Tesla prior to the program other than the bad 90’s hair band that was named after him, as well as a recent electric sports car. However, I learned that Mr. Tesla’s genius life work, including his interests, methods, and results are very much in keeping with my own. The blend of science, art, design, technology, and application is a practice that I admire and strive for in my work.
Tesla shed brilliant insight in the field of electricity from a very early age. As a young man, he moved to the U.S. to work for Thomas Edison in 1884—the inventor and leader in the field of electricity at the time. Although both were considered geniuses in the field, Tesla disagreed with Edison on many large issues—the largest being direct current versus alternating current. In summary, Tesla invented and established alternating current as the standard for electric power despite Edison’s insistence on direct current (primarily because his monopoly revolved around it).
Soon after he was recognized for his elephantine contribution to electricity (and society), Tesla decided to build his own lab. A mad scientist-esque choice of location, he chose an extremely rural area of Colorado for his lab and home where he began to develop a distinct process and personality. Much like an artist or designer, Tesla was a visionary in a literal sense. He possessed the unique ability to spontaneously conjure mental blueprints of machines or ideas, which he would proceed to pursue to fruition. Locked away for months at a time, Tesla cycled through arcane inventions, spending thousands of dollars (even millions on a few occasions), and then showing off his work via private salons at his home. Yet the most fascinating and impressive aspect about Tesla’s process and inventions was that they always worked!
Inventions included radio, the electric motor, an x-ray gun, a hand-held lightning bolt, and even a Death Ray. All of these incredible projects were completely functional and infused new technology into the world by merging science and design through determined experimentation. However, his ideas and inventions were always products of his raw personal interests. Although his process could be compared to that of Max Lamb’s or Tobias Wong’s with their spontaneous and whimsical nature, he created scientific results with more potential applications. One of the most interesting projects he worked on was toward the end of his life, and it embraced this science-art blend beautifully. He wanted to photograph memories. Seeing that they’re merely jumbled electrical signals moving at incredible rates, Tesla was convinced a system could be created to harness them. However, his lack of interest in capitalism eventually led to his demise, and he died alone and broke in NYC in 1943.
I want my process as a designer to reflect a hybrid of Tesla and Edison’s. Straightforward and structured, Edison was similar to a designer or engineer working for a firm, and he enjoyed great success because of it. But I romance about the life and spirit of Tesla’s method—one where I’m free to experiment even the most emotional, esoteric ideas in a concrete, scientific manner. Tesla began with loose ideas, but he was able to harness them rigidly and produce applicable technologies that possessed huge potential for massive human impact. He knew science, but he expressed an emotional quality that he could tap into much like an artist. I strive for these qualities in my studio practice, whether I invent the technology or find an application for it, as an inventor artist.
