Event 1 | Kathy High: Waste Matters

About a week ago, I had the honor to visit a very interesting exhibit and meet the most down-to-earth artist. Kathy High is an interdisciplinary artist who is involved in the two cultures we have learned in class. Her works connect art to biology/ecology and aim to consider the social, political, and ethical aspects of bioscience. Her exhibit Waste Matters: You Are My Future was a peculiar and intriguing collaboration of art and science. It was both personal and educational, and I left with a few insights.

With Kathy High and her Photograph as David Bowie

As a patient with Crohn's disease, Kathy uses her knowledge in autoimmune disorders to explore the immune system and research in microbiota. The exhibit included photographs of herself as her idol David Bowie, which were finished with a humorous and personal letter to Bowie asking for his poop. I actually did not know about fecal transplantation until this exhibit! Fecal transplantation allows donors fecal matter to be placed in recipient via endoscopy procedures to replace good bacteria.

The most important pieces, I would say, would be her "Bank of Abject Objects," which were home-made stool bank prototypes with honey as the preservative. She told me she was planning to switch to raw honey and that the shape of the glass was designed to turn and mix the preservative.

Bank of Abject Objects

"The Re-mediator Series" were sketches for gut-to-soil bioremediation sculptures. These drafts symbolize the immune system as "autopoeisis" or self-maintenance.  As she said, this broccoli/intestine bench, for example, could be a prototype of benches that suck up toxins from the soil.

One of "The Re-mediator Series"

Overall, I truly enjoyed Kathy's exhibit and would recommend it to those who want to see real life examples of art and biology interaction. This experience helped me understand less obvious concepts of how medicine and technology influences art. In class, we mainly learned about it in terms of anatomy, but Kathy's works helped me think about other ways medical issues can be raised via art. For instance, I never knew much about Crohn's disease nor about research in microbiota until this exhibit. I realize that art can bring great awareness to the sciences and that itself is two cultures working together. For my project, I am now thinking of ways my invention can also help educate a certain medical or scientific issue via artistic expression.


References:

High, Kathy. "Kathy High." Waste Matters: You Are My Future. UCLA CNSI Art|Sci Gallery 5th Floor, Los Angeles. 16 Apr. 2015. Speech.

"Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator." Kathy High: New Media Artist: About. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://kathyhigh.com/about.html>.

Medicine pt2.mov. Dr. Victoria Vesna. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"The Fecal Transplant Foundation." The Fecal Transplant Foundation. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://thefecaltransplantfoundation.org/what-is-fecal-transplant/>.

TwoCultures part 3. Dr. Victoria Vesna. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. 

Week 4 | MedTech + Art

One thing that surprised me this week was that plastic surgery has been around for 4,000 years. Living in a generation where social media seems to define beauty, we mainly think of the aesthetic side of this industry. I was reminded that plastic surgery arose with practical, servicing purposes such as treating soldiers' wounds and utilizing skin grafts for reconstructive work.

Advertisements in South Korea for Plastic Surgery are now Everywhere

In the context of cosmetic surgery, I contemplate whether "going under the needle" is a form of art or just an act of conformation to society. When Dr. Vesna brought up Orlan, the artist who used plastic surgery to define herself and engage in the idea of what is beauty, I was fascinated. So I did some research. In an interview for the guardian Orlan answers to the question, "Is it your aim to change the idea of beauty?" :

  "I am not sure I can change such a thing, but I can produce images that are different from those we find in comics, video games, magazines and TV shows. There are other ways to think about one's body and one's beauty...."

It's ironic because Orlan is sending a powerful message that we are in control of our beauty and that we don't need to look like the front cover model in order to be beautiful. However, too much control that comes with technology is causing society to do the opposite. If art is a form of expression and people are changing their faces to look the way they want, yet they all want the same big eyes and sharp jaws, is it still art? In this sense, is aesthetic-use technology homogenizing our people and causing unoriginality as mentioned by Walter Benjamin? Genetic cloning can relate to this too.

Realisation Orlan

In the beginning of the 20th century, you weren't really considered a "doctor " if you used technology. Now, we don't even see our doctors during 90% of our appointments because they have been replaced by these tools. Instead of no longer being doctors, I think that technology causes them to be less of artists, since they are engaging in the art of the body less.

This week, a few artists caught my eye. Kevin Warwick studies the direct interaction between software and the human nerves and has self implanted a chip under his skin, enabling him to control lights and heaters. On the other hand, Virgil Wong's artwork was very practical to me and is something I am interested in. He has designed websites  and posters, and I feel that artistic skills are critical in the science world. It is important to be able to illustrate and market science to the general public, and art is the perfect tool for that.

Phineasmap Web Portal Shows Incredible Interactive Illustrations to Demonstrate Health Issues

Resources:

"Kevin Warwick - Home Page." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.org>.

Marx, Patricia. "The World Capital of Plastic Surgery." The New Yorker. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/about-face>.

Medicine pt2.mov. Dr. Victoria Vesna. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

"Orlan's Art of Sex and Surgery." Theguardian. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jul/01/orlan-performance-artist-carnal-art>.

"Orlan's Philosophy of Carnal Art." Carnal Art. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://oldsite.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ecook/courses/eng114em/carnal.htm>.

"Phineasmap Web Portal." Virgil Wong. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://virgilwong.com/portfolio/phineasmap-web-portal/>.

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Week 3 | Robotics + Art

When I learned about Walter Benjamin and his view that mechanization “destroys the idea of uniqueness, authenticity, or aura,” I could not help but to disagree. I believe that industrialization has led us to mass produce products, decreasing some level of originality in everyday objects. However, in the midst of all this, technology has also become a new medium of art, allowing many artists to continue creating original work. 

LeMay Americas Car Museum at the New York Auto Show 

A great example would be cars. In the 1900’s, Ford created the first assembly line for his Model T Fords. This led to fast automation, which allowed cars to be accessible to anyone. If we pause at this point of history, it may seem like Walter Benjamin was right. But if we look it at now, cars have become a form of art. There are hundreds of car models, each that are unique, and industrial artists who are continually creating new designs and functions. 

This week’s resources helped reaffirm that originality still exists even after decades of industrialization. Among all, Arduino stands out the most. The Arduino board is an open source hard ware that is simple enough for anyone to create whatever idea they have, even kids. It’s open, meaning, people share their codes through online circuits. This has led to some creative projects, such as a robotic drum (video below)! Society may view programmers as “computers,” the way Charlie Chaplin mocked assembly line workers as “machines”, but Arduino shows us that programmers can create authentic art. 

Arduino Controlled Robotic Drum

Robots are the ideal proof of a “technological medium.” Artists like David Hanson, who aims to create empathetic robots, are making new aesthetics, ones with emotion and perception. Artbots is an international exhibition for robotic art. On top of that, Machiko Kusahara taught us the cultural differences in our perspectives of robots. For instance, Japanese robots are smaller, less “scary”, and helpful. If we can sum up robots: they are a product of mechanization, yet they are exhibited in showcases, carry uniqueness, and have cultural differences. This sounds like art!  

David Hanson and his Robot that can make Facial Expressions

I think that society will continually advance and respond adaptively to industrialization. However, there will always be emerging artists who continually innovate and create for society.

References:

"Arduino-Controlled Robotic Drum." Instructables.com. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Controlled-Robotic-Drum/>.

"ArtBots Gent, the Robot Talent Show 2011." ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://artbots.org/2011/>.

"LeMay Americas Car Museum to Display at New York Auto Show." AutoGuidecom. 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/04/lemay-americas-car-museum-to-display-at-new-york-auto-show.html>.

"Robots That "show Emotion"" David Hanson. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_relate_to_you>.

Robotics Machiko Kusahara. Machiko Kusahara. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Robotics pt2.mov. Dr. Victoria Vesna. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

"WHAT IS ARDUINO?" Arduino. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.arduino.cc>.

Week 2 | Math + Art

I have always believed in the interdependence among math, science, and art. Until this week, however, I did not know that math and art have such a long historical relationship. Dr. Vesna taught me that perspective played a critical role in shaping the art renaissance. It all began when attempts were made to create 3-dimensional space on 2-d platforms. These attempts, along with intuition, led Giotto to paint 3-d scenes in the 13th century. However, it was Bruneslleschi, who was actually accredited for the idea of perspective when he developed the concept of a single vanishing point.

The Disputation of St Stephen by Carpaccio (1514)

Virtual 3-D Construction of Face Mask

In the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci fused math and art into a single concept through his distinguishment of "artificial" and "natural perspective" and this led future artists and mathematicians to learn from each other. I also learned that the Golden Ratio was the ultimate connection between math and art. From research, I found that the golden ratio has presently been used for 3-d face modeling! It surely is interesting how technology has allowed for more complex applications of the Golden Ratio.

Vineland by Edwin A. Abbott

This week, it was fascinating looking through different types of artists who heavily utilize mathematics in their work. In the satire, Flatlands, for instance, Edwin A. Abbott depicts his views on Victorian society while exploring geometrics through the creation of a fictional 2-D land. In this land, women are threatening "lines" since they can be seen as dots, depending on the angle you view them. More modernly, Nathan Selikoff creates interactive abstract art using computer coding, and Theo Jansen, creator of "beach creatures," figures out the perfect proportions of tubes for his wind driven creatures to walk the way they do.

Theo Jansen Building his Mechanical Creature

This week confirmed my belief that the connection among mathematics, art, and science is inevitable and even magical. Some artists, like Nathan Selikoff, may choose to use science or math as a heavy tool of creativity, while others, like Giotto, may use math and art together without even realizing it. It's the connection between the two cultures that allows people to continually create new and incredible things.

The Temple of Wholeness at Burning Man

References
Abbot, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. N.p.: Seely, 1884. Print.
"Creatures on the Beach: Theo Jansen on TED.com." TED Blog Creatures on the Beach Theo Jansen OnTEDcom Comments. 6 Sept. 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://blog.ted.com/theo_jansen/>.
Holden, Michael. "State of the Art, Burning Man 2013." Voices of Burning Man. 27 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://blog.burningman.com/2013/08/photosvideosmedia/state-of-the-art-burning-man-2013/>.
Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. Dr. Victoria Vesna. Youtube. Uconlineprogram, 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
"Perspective: The Role of Perspective: Page 3." Science & Art of Perspective. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://www.webexhibits.org/sciartperspective/perspective3.html>.
Schwind, Valentin. "The Golden Ratio in 3D Human Face Modeling." 28 June 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://www.vali.de/archives/1117>.
Selikoff, Nathan. "Fine Artist Playing with Interactivity, Math, Code." Nathan Selikoff. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://nathanselikoff.com>.
"Theo-jansen-mechanical-sculpture-strandbeest." Experiment with Nature. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.

Week 1 | Two Cultures

reference: Crazytownblog

During most of my first three years at UCLA, I often found myself walking back and forth across the bridge between the arts and the sciences. I am a biology major with huge interests in design, painting, and makeup. And for the longest time, I felt that I had to choose either one or the other. In this sense, I was dealing with the threat of having "two separate cultures," as forewarned by C.P Snow. The truth is, I desire to be a part of  both cultures. Recently, I decided that I want to design web platforms and am now preparing for a web development bootcamp. This way, I can still be an engineer/mathematician while still being able to express and create.

I believe that many other students feel they have to choose one culture or the other. At UCLA, the physical separation of science and humanities buildings into south and north campus adds to the influence of picking one culture. As mentioned in lecture, stereotypes play a huge role and I can see it happening everyday. For instance, north campus students are stereotyped to be "better dressed" and south campus majors are said to be "smarter" or "have no life."

Big Hero 6 Directed by Chris Williams

Although I mostly agree with Kevin Kelly in his essay that technology is the "third culture," I think technology helps in linking the gap between arts and sciences. New technology opens space for innovators and creativity. This idea of using science creatively can be seen in the animated science fiction film Big Hero 6.

To sum it up, I believe that one should not be restricted to just the sciences or the arts. We can look to one of my inspirations, Elon Musk. He is a visionary who designed Tesla Motors and SpaceX and a great example of how one can part take both cultures in his or her career. Many products that we have now, such as 3-D printers, could not have occurred without the blend of both.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-03-08-Science_Wonder_Art.jpg

References

Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 April. 2015.

Brockman, John. The Third Culture. N.p.: n.p., 1995. Print.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture" Science 13 February 1998: Vol. 279 no. 5353 pp. 992-993. Web.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. TwoCultures part 3. Lecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOEuxrwxd0