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By being one of the original founders of Live2, I, Ty Allen, have been making an effort to find people in my community whose artistic capabilities deserve to be recognized. But MIT has proven difficult to discover a primarily imaginative individual. Students instead tend to focus on scientific discovery and technological advancement. I decided that the problem might not be with the university but instead with my narrow definition of art. The school is filled with creative, talented minds, I just needed to construct a broader perspective. As I started to look deeper, I realized that one of the most brilliant and courageous people I know is my great friend and roommate, Eli Brooks.

In the past we have written about many people who assimilated great passion, skill, and creativity to create a physical representation of emotion-fueled crafts. But today we examine an extraordinary creator whose genius pushes the boundaries of what many consider “art.”

When Eli Spiker Brooks first arrived in Cambridge, he did not know what his future had in store. He figured he would live the life of a typical MIT freshman, take severely difficult classes with the hopes of one day becoming a well-paid doctor. He always knew he possessed an outlandish boyish-charm for creation, but with the pressures of future success associated with a school like MIT, he figured the artistic path was implausible.

He was following the old, weathered road when he saw an advertisement for a class on the topic of Toy Design. By reading words such as “Fun!,” “Childish!,” and  “Excitement!,” he knew he had to enroll. Finally an opportunity was provided by the distinctly technological university to discover his true passions.

On the first day of class, every student was assigned to finger paint in order to unearth the child-like spirit of the past. While some students seemed embarrassed performing such a juvenile task, Eli glowed with a beaming grin. Their first project was creating a toy that could roll. By the end of the day it was clear Eli had an extraordinary talent for creation. His dragon far and wide outshined his peers’, using detailed and precise cuts to produce an original product.

Throughout the duration of this class, Eli radiated an unmatched positivity. He has finally found a way to embody his true creativity and produce his passion. His class consists of a contest to determine the best toy designs. Eli’s products are five of the remaining six contestants… out of 300 other students. His genuine love and expertise has become an unforeseen precedence for this field. Every person who has seen Eli in action admits to noticing that he has an uncanny ingenuity for designing toys.

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Breaking down the stereotype of an engineering school, Eli has decided that his infatuation with design is too powerful to reject. He no longer feels the pressure to acquire a conventional ivy-league job, but instead wants to pursue his enthusiasm.

But is Eli even an artist? After talking to all of these other brilliant, artistic inventors, I have learned something vitally important. Art is not characterized by the final product. But instead by the passion, the drive, and the creativity of the artists themselves. A true artist lets their emotions overwhelm their process and craft a display of their internal self. Eli Brooks was born with a gift, it may be far from the archetype of artistry, but it’s a stupendous physical display of creativity and passion.

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Written by Ty Allen