Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ward Fleming

:{{la|Ward Fleming}} – (View AfDView log)

:({{Find sources|Ward Fleming}})

No evidence that he passes our notability guidelines in article and a search didn't turn up evidence that he invented 'pin art', although he may have been the first to patent it. Dougweller (talk) 07:54, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

• Delete or redirect to Pin Art. What little else there is to say about him can be mentioned in the Pin Art article. A separate bio is unwarranted. -- œ^™ 08:28, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
• Delete Even if he did invent pin art, it's not enough to indicate much significance. JamesBWatson (talk) 10:23, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

• Note: I am copying the following comment from the article's talk page. The writer clearly intended this to be an opinion against deletion, but was unaware that the place to post it was this AfD page. It seems only fair to help the user by posting the comment here. JamesBWatson (talk) 10:36, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

• I was present, or within earshot, when the pinscreen was invented. It is more than a toy, it is the physical embodiment of an inspired artistic milestone. I can tell you from spending a few years in Ward Fleming's company that his kind of inspiration is remarkable and should be documented. The fact that it became a hugely popular toy illustrates that it easily captures the imagination. In many ways the pinscreen presaged our current visual understanding of the world as a collection of ordered pixels. Pink Floyd used a giant production version of the pin screen in one of their music videos. I also made a film with Ward Fleming and Blaise Smith based on the colorful light dance that occurs on the surface of an oversize pinscreen. The work was performed by Ward himself and I will now take steps to post a streaming video version of this film to help illustrate how important this device is as an historic piece of art. People and artworks only exist for a brief moment in time on this Earth. The purpose of Wikipedia, as I understand it, is to preserve documentation of noteworthy historical and cultural achievements. The pinscreen, and the artist it represents, are major achievements.76.87.105.166 (talk) 08:36, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

:*Unfortunately none of that supports the existence of a Wikipedia article on the subject. The fact that you personally were involved does not make you a reliable source: if anything it might suggest a conflict of interest. That "Fleming's ... kind of inspiration is remarkable and should be documented" is not a reason for inclusion. In fact "should be documented" strongly suggests (1) that it is not yet much documented, so that there is little if any coverage in reliable sources, and (2) that you wish to have an article in order to publicise or promote his work. Both of these, under existing Wikipedia policies and guidelines are reasons for not keeping the article. And no, the purpose of Wikipedia is not "to preserve documentation of noteworthy historical and cultural achievements", but to make readily available information about subjects which are already well-documented elsewhere. JamesBWatson (talk) 10:36, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

:*Concur with JamesBWatson. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, a type of tertiary source. It compiles and collates information from existing sources, it does not 'document' new ideas. -- œ^™ 12:08, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

• Delete per my own review of evidence behind discussion above. EEng (talk) 12:55, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. -- • Gene93k (talk) 01:40, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

:The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.