Student Team for Saratoga STEM Academy


GuitarTown guitar “Composing the Future”

Saratoga STEM Students GuitarLes Paul has a great quote that tie’s into the philosophy of our STEM school, We go in there and we work on alternating those ideas and in many cases go in different directions.” It was learning about Les Paul’s innovations that inspired our artists to come up with a theme that showcased innovators throughout time, to use an innovative medium, and to represent science, technology, engineering and math concepts in a visual format.

The composers of our future or, as we refer to them, ‘The innovators of our past’ that inspired our work include Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Ben Franklin and Rube Goldberg.  The medium that seemed to match our inspiration best was the use of cut-up electrical wire, a technique that was inspired by the Colombian artist, Frederico Uribe.

Guitar Front (left side):
From the Mac apple that is falling from the tree that represents Isaac Newton’s law of gravity, to Ben Franklin’s kite and key, the left side of the guitar is composed of cut up electrical wires that create designs from innovators of the past. To represent Rube Goldberg’s contraption-like style, ,we created a  deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task, in a delightful way. These designs are illuminated by a background of a yellow-orange sunset that is greeting the night sky.

Guitar Front (center) :
The center of the guitar represents a circuit board signifying our ever changing technology.  Gears emerging from a head represent the design thinking process which is integral to the way in which we innovate and create.  Everyday equations, as well as gravity and electrical equations, flow out the left side of the brain.

Guitar Front (right side) :
The right side of the guitar incorporates Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventive sketchings of innovative machines; representing how ideas, typically on paper,  first develop.  The telescope represents Galileo’s discoveries while the moon represents our journey into space.  Finally, the image of an atomic structure represents how science is part of nearly everything we do.

Neck & Headstock:
Three plugged in electrical cords travel up the neck of the guitar and split into six. The cords meet up here with the gears on the headstock, depicting that with each great idea, comes a stem that blossoms into the beginning of a  new innovation.  Inside each gear are cut up, colored wires to represent the blooming flowers of ever-evolving ideas and innovations.

Guitar Back:

The back is a continuation of the yellow-orange sunset meeting the night’s sky.