Event 3

Before the class started I spent sometime in Spain and visited Salvador Dali's museum at his home in Figures.  I didn't take any pictures of myself in the pictures but I hope the poor quality of my photo taking capability is proof enough that this did happen.

I was thinking about which Event I went to that I wanted to use for my third event blog.  I chose Dali because of how much he has inspired me to rethink things, as well as his amazing approach to execute these mathematical designs onto the canvas.

This first piece of him painting someone, probably God,  painting the sunrise and sunset is so pleasing.  Nature in general is so beautiful.  The colors the sky makes before the sun rises and falls is always fresh and inspiring.  I think that says a lot about the hopes of an artist.  The Earth is a continuing inspiration, that can we as artists recreate something that inspires in the same way?

 This last piece seems like a trumpet like hammer with a face on it being held by an angelic being preparing to strike something that I didn't get the full picture of.  I think this relates to class, by the beauty of both nature and the unknown coming together.  Most people would say they don't know what angels look like, but there is a common thread of what we create them as.  As well this picture is so weird, but inspiring, and I felt the class fit that mold as well.  There were major moments when things were very weird, but reshaped my thoughts of thinking what can be art, and what is art currently.  I think Salvador Dali does a great job of continuing that thought process.

Event 2

For the second event I found myself at the Fine Arts Senior Exhibit at UCLA.  This show was very eclectic from a watermelon in pantyhose with a keyhole in the center, to a video of people drowning in water.

The first piece by Andrew Cohen titled "Please Take One."  I liked the interactive aspect of this piece.  At the beginning of the show it was a very interesting flower looking design at a very zoomed in viewpoint.  As people participated in the piece it became to slowly fall apart.  I think within the relation of science and art, many understandings of what people held until now are falling apart.  And becoming a new creation, like this piece, which I am not sure if all the parts were taken by participators, or some were left.

 This piece by Sally Ching was a short film titled A Granted Paradise.  It was a silent film going through different points of holding this bird like creation.  It eventually was ripped apart, and there were quick edits of blood, as well as someone coming out of water.  This piece reminded me of the LSD study we did on class.  Some pieces of art are just inspired by weird uncomfortable things that don't make too much sense, but still draw the person into the moment.

The overall exhibit was very strange to me, and I didn't have a great lens to view it from.  But many of the topics we studied in class I felt the same way.  Some art may be weird just to be weird, or be saying something very deep that goes over my head.

Event 1

The first Event I went to was the Digital Arts Senior Exhibit at OTIS.




The entirety of the Exhibit was speaking on people's responses to what is going on in culture today.  People chose different ways to express these experiences.

The first Piece By Jamie Nichols "It All Started With a Chromosome."  The writing at the bottom describes a futuristic time where life on Earth was no longer sustainable.  The only way to survive was to move to Space.  These people called Commonwealth were able to create a synthetic chromosome that was able to live in the harsh environment on Mars.  This relates to our topics in class both in discussing changes in DNA, as well as space exploration.

 Ellen Choi's Five 22 is focused on communication in hidden ways.  These nails are made for people in foreign countries being oppressed by their religious beliefs and the only way to continue them is by communicating nonverbally.  They use the nails and different designs to communicate where they are going and other details.  I felt this related to the topic by there is always room on the nano level.  I know this isn't necessarily nano, but communication on smaller levels that are hidden felt related to the topic at hand.

Overall the exhibit was relating much to modern thought of how technology, the environment, and people being affected and evolving with it is creating a new culture and new place for future generations.  And we are in the middle of its evolution.

Space Exploration + Art Week 9

“Our Species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and basic understanding of how the world works."
-Sagan

What I thought was great was that scientists have looked to science fiction writers to understand possibilities in space.  It is a beautiful relationship with art and the sciences.  Where the unknown requires imagination which artist have an abundance of, and the imagination is able to become a reality with the blend of the sciences coming to create.  The "final frontier" is still full of so many possibilities and most of them are still distant dreams.

Still a very real but foreign concept to me that war and power drives the world.  The race of nations to be the first to have a satellite in space to claim that power where the USSR and America were racing to be the first.  And then to see who could be the first to get a living being in space.  And worried that Russia would claim part of the Moon which doesn't really mean a lot, but America having to be the first to make it to the moon.  Ultimately we have done very little human space travel since we have landed in 1969.

Its amazing what people are able to create.  People are so invested in their passions of the unknown that they break all obstacles and limits to meet that goal.  People created a one person spaceship funded by independent contractors to be the first single person in space.  Something that would never be possible just a short while ago is now possible.  The journey of breaking the impossible is what seems so attractive to the exploration of space.  Virgin Galatic was the company run by Richard Branson to win the first race to space by a single man'd ship.

Video/Photo Links:

1) https://youtu.be/UICK6CI1hTA

2) http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/star-trek-original-series/images/19173859/title/kirk-space-final-frontier-wallpaper

3) https://drawception.com/viewgame/sEOWxHkHdb/the-space-race/



                                    Works Cited:

1) Vesna , Victoria, dir. Space Part 1-5. 2012. Film. 30 May 2015.

2) Franklin, H. Bruce. “Science Fiction: The Early History.” Andromeda. Web. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~hbf/sfhist.html

3)Hull, Dana, and Julie Johnsson. "Galactic Gold Rush: Private Spending on Space Is Headed for a New Record." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 5 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/galactic-gold-rush-private-spending-on-space-is-headed-for-a-new-record>.

4)Lin, Kemy. "The 1969 Lunar Landing: One Giant Leap for Art." Hyperallergic. Hyperallergic Media, Inc., 27 May 2015. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://hyperallergic.com/204172/the-1969-lunar-landing-one-giant-leap-for-art/>

5)Sagan, Carl. "A Pale Blue Dot." Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web.

Nanotech + Art Week 8

Nanotechnology fascinates me and freaks me out all at the same time.  I think if we were able to move cells at the atomic level to move from dirt to a hamburger, that would be amazing.  At the same time, I don't enjoy that so many things are being changed and then being put on my body(sunscreen) or things that I am eating.

I've always enjoyed looking at stained glass windows.  They have always interested me and I had no idea about how they were made.  Such a genius way of creating something beautiful by starting at its basic structure and adding metallic salts to bring out its colors.  And stained glass in itself was an art form that told stories to people that were not well educated.  Sharing stories through the pictures.

I am very interested in Ned Seeman Self assembling DNA structures.  I am not sure if I fully understand what Mr Seeman is working on.  I believe he is trying to connect through different DNA structures a way for our bodies to regenerate missing tissues.  Eventually being able to heal our wounds that seemed impossible, or do it quicker, or not have to use skin from other parts of our body.  Lots of different ways to use this once it is figured out.

The Blue Morpho Butterfly has manipulated itself on a micro level to look different to the viewer than its actual look.  Its blue color which is very rare to be found in nature is not based from alterations in its pigment, but based off of Iridescence.  Because of the angle and shape of the butterfly it is possible that is why the butterfly is viewed blue.  The structural coloration is where microstructures interfere with light to create new colors to the eye.

Picture links:

http://seemanlab4.chem.nyu.edu/index.html

http://www.rgbstock.com/bigphoto/mDrSxI0/glass+pictures

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/blue-butterfly

Works Cited:

     Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech for Artists." Nanotechnology and Art Lecture. UCLA, Los Angeles. 22 May 2015. Lecture.

Iridescence: views from many angles Meadows, M. et al. (2009) J. R. Soc. Interface 6:S107-S113

Discovering stained glass - John Harries, Carola Hicks, Edition: 3 – 1996

Leach, William (2013). Butterfly People. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 201.

Seeman, Ned. "Welcome to Ned Seeman's Laboratory Home Page." Ned Seeman's Home Page. NYU, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

Week 7 Neuroscience + Art

I think what caught my attention right off the bat was that the Brain Model that was created by Franz Joseph Gall wasn't just a toy my mom bought for me as a child.  I always viewed it as something with little importance that was made in jest.  I hadn't put together until now that Gall who came up with cerebral functions, and mental functions and localized them used this to show how early thoughts of the brain worked.  And, that now it is used in Criminal science to understand criminals brains.   They would test which part of the brain was bigger in criminals, seeing it is like a muscle that would grow over time, and see if there was similarities between the brains of criminals with the muscles that were bigger or more developed.

Also that LSD and Cocaine were considered miracle drugs.  That people to get off Opium and Morphine they took cocaine to fix their drug problem.  Also LSD created by Albert Hofmann was used to study Schizophrenia, with Psychedelic Psychotherapy.  And later the CIA used it to try to control peoples minds as a truth drug.  But the government could not control the radical variety of responses, so they stopped testing people with it.  And people ended up killing themselves over the drug and testing procedures.

LSD.  Artist of Tool.  Alex Grey.  LSD is definitely a very powerful drug to affect visual artists.  Most of the colors used by this artist specifically are very much inspired by his experiences with that.  Which makes me wonder if we could of ever gotten to a place of art with this kinda visual stimulation without drugs, or was it always inevitable.  That just like certain drugs like Mushrooms or Peyote that is made within in the Earth for drug induced experiences that we were to experience what the world was creating in one way or another.

Images:

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-phrenology-head-large/p231594464

http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/336072/musical-mind-control-another-music-conspiracy-theory-or-hidden-truth.htm



Works Cited:

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience + Art Lectures." Desma 9 Lecture. Los Angeles. 11 May 2015. Lecture. Online

Cohen, Mark.  "Neuroscience." Desma 9 Guest Lecture.  10 May 2015. Lecture.  Online

"Sigmund Freud's Theories | Simply Psychology." Sigmund Freud's Theories | Simply Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2015.

"Dream Moods: Dream Theories: Sigmund Freud." Dream Moods: Dream Theories: Sigmund Freud. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2015.

"Brainbow." Center for Brain Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://cbs.fas.harvard.edu/science/connectome-project/brainbow>.

"Tool - Vicarious [720p]." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015.

Week 6 Bio Tech + Art= Art?

For me I think there should be limitations on human creativity.  Its hard for to really even agree with myself on that, because I believe in freedom to express and find yourself as an artist.  But testing products on animals or humans in general to me is augmented form of freedom that is not in my realm of creativity.  I think we should use what we have on this earth and stop using unnatural chemicals, or non homeopathic chemicals, which brings me to tense up and close myself off to the ideas spawning from those methods.

I don't have a complete black and white answer but a more gray area for "Transgenic Art." Eduardo Kac created Alba, who was an albino bunny that glowed in the dark. It was created with a zygote micro injection taken from a protein from jellyfish, which was a modified gene, that was then inserted into the rabbit eggs, which made it a fluorescent bunny.  I think that is something really amazing and really interesting.  But I am sure that the Bunny is not able to live within a Rabbit community anymore, which makes me sad.  

So I don't have a complete black and white answer but a more gray area for each situation. Or when Marta De Menezes modified butterfly wings but had holes in them, that is super interesting but I don't like that the Butterfly lost its ability to fly.

I am not really sure for the reason of The Ear Art. Using sub-dermal implant of a ear in the left art, then the body heals over the implant. This whole idea of Trans-Humanism, where our body is not enough. And we need to improve human conditions and fight limitations, believing the body is obsolete, I guess I don't really get why.

I felt very connected with the Interview Michael Pollan for Food Inc, on connecting the dots on our food and its history. Corn is at the basis of all food because we subsidize it, we feed cattle corn, which makes them sick, then we give them drugs to keep them alive. We use that meat and put ammonia in it to make edible.

All food comes from the sun, or should, but we figured out how to make petroleum into food instead of the sun. Natural way of things make the most sense to me. And is what inspires me to create.

References:

1. "Why Animal Rights?" PETA. peta.org. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/why-animal-rights/>

2. Wenk, Gary. "This Is Your Brain On Food." This Is Your Brain on Food § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. Seed Media Group, Sept. 2010. Web. 7 May 2015.

3.SymbioticA. "SymbioticA." The University of Western Australia. SymbioticA, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 May 2015

4. Vesna, Victoria. "Biotechnology and Art." Biotechnology and Art. UCLA, Los Angeles. 10 May 2015. Lecture.

5. De Menezes, Marta. "Nature?" Projects: Nature? Marta De Menezes, 2002. Web. 08 May 2015.

6. Atala, Anthony. "Growing New Organs." TED. TED, Oct. 2009. Web. 9 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_growing_organs_engineering_tissue>.

7.https://www.pinterest.com/pin/470837336017409414/

8. https://www.singularityweblog.com/stelarc/