John Maeda Art Quotations

The artist needs to understand the truth that lies at the bottom of an enigma.

Art shows us that human beings still matter in a world where money talks the loudest, where computers know everything about us, and where robots fabricate our next meal and also our ride there.

Design provides solutions, art asks questions.

Artists change how we see the world - and that can have value in the way people do business.

All artists yearn to struggle, when they struggle they know they're alive.

Technology makes possibilities. Design makes solutions. Art makes questions. Leadership makes actions.

Art is a conduit toward human needs and perception,

Growing up, I found I was good at two things: Art and Math. To hear my parents say it, though, it was only, 'John is good at Math.

Our economy is built upon convergent thinkers, people that execute things, get them done. But artists and designers are divergent thinkers: they expand the horizon of possibilities.

In the '70s and '80s there was an attempt in K-12 to teach science through art or art through science. The challenge today is how do you build the ethos of art and design into the academy of science.

Amidst all the attention given to the sciences as to how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are considered "useless," will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously. The arts are the science of enjoying life.

Design is a solution to a problem. Art is a question to a problem.

What’s next for technology and design? A lot less thinking about technology for technology’s sake, and a lot more thinking about design. Art humanizes technology and makes it understandable. Design is needed to make sense of information overload. It is why art and design will rise in importance during this century as we try to make sense of all the possibilities that digital technology now affords.

When people say, 'I don't get art' ... that means art is working.