Unit 9--Space

The solar system has been a fascination of humans for centuries; since ancient times, 6 of the 8 currently listed planets have been known and studied by man. We have looked to the planets and stars to find meaning in our own lives. All the planets aside from Earth received their names from Roman Gods and Goddesses, showing the lasting cultural importance of our solar system. Mercury, for example, is symbolically the winged God of Travel due to its fast movement; Venus is the beautiful Goddess of Love; Mars, the God of War; Jupiter is the Chief God, or king of the gods; Saturn, the Roman God of Agriculture; Uranus was the former God of the Sky; Neptune, the Lord of the Sea; and Pluto (not considered a real planet anymore) was known as the Lord of the underworld.  

Botticelli's representation of Roman Goddess Venus

Polish Astronomer Nicolai Copernicus was hugely influential in how people see the solar system.  For 2000 years, Aristotle and Ptolemy's view that Earth was at the center of the universe was the Western ideal.  Copernicus' heliocentric model in the 16th century during the European Renaissance gave rise to our modern view that the sun is at the center and is revolved around by the planets, with the sun's gravity keeping planets within their orbits.  

Nanotechnology and Space merge in a number of ways, one of which involves Buckyballs in space. "Sudbury Buckyballs" (buckyballs are soccer-ball-like molecules with 60 C atoms) with "extra-terrestrial origin" came nearly 2 billion years ago and arrived on Earth, near Ontario, completely intact. Evidence like this has been showing that comets and meteorites likely helped to create life on Earth because they supplied important organic compounds as they bombarded our home planet.  

        Works Cited

"The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System." The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered 
SolarSystem. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2015. <http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/copernican.html>.


"Study of the Solar System." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 01 June 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40047/astronomy/257779/Study-of-the-solar-system>.

"How the PlanetsGot Their Names." How the Planets Got Their Names. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2015. <http://rome.mrdonn.org/romangods/planets.html>.

Event Blog #3--Hammer Museum in Westwood

Below are photos from a Hammer exhibit of Heatherwick Studio's London-based designs.  Founded in 1994 by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the studio now has 160 architects, designers, and makers.  International recognition was acquired for this studio after plans for the Rolling Bridge (directly below). This bridge is awe-inspiring for its modernistic beauty while unrolled, by which pedestrians can cross the inlet behind Paddington Station, and its perplexing ability to fold like a roll-polly, allowing boats to pass through.  The description plaque beside the small blueprint plan of the bridge (pictured below) states that it combines "Both infrastructure and public art...[and] captivates onlookers with its engineering and advances Britain's drawbridge tradition". 

Above is an innovative plan for a biomass power station on the Tees River that will serve 2,000 new houses, but with a cultural function and an elegant form.  

 I think that engineering mixed with modern art influences (the sharp lines, octagon geometry, and stark off-white color exampled in the rolling bridge, and the gorgeous, gold-foil-like encapsulations of new power stations) should continue to be utilized in practical applications of architecture.  My brother Andrew is an architect who designs modern-style custom homes in Northern California, and seeing this exquisite exhibit at the Hammer reminded me of his passion for beauty and function in the practical world, and how architecture of buildings and homes and public structures is everywhere and seen by every eye, so why not make them beautiful, innovative, and appealing?  Andrew became an architect because he has impressive math skills, but he loves working with design as well.  Architecture is one art form intrinsically connected to science.  

 

Here is a high-tech "chair"--a place to sit built by "squeezing heated metal through a shaped hole, or die".  The "warped lengths" constructed from this technology intrigued the studio inventors, who then worked with a factory in Asia that houses an extrusion machine that can exert 11,000 tons of pressure.  

Me at the Hammer

With an employee of the museum 

Unit 8 Nanotechnology + Art

Nanotechnology is a relatively new field with many facets and definitions; one such definition is "a science that is concerned with control of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules".  Artists find importance in nano-tech for its purpose of going beyond what a person can physically see, reinventing the groundworks of modern science, causing a true paradigm shift.  One such art specialty that is intertwined with nanotechnology is the media; "Both nanotechnology and media arts...have common ground in addressing the issues of manipulation, particularly sensory perception...changing the way we think".  Jim Gimzewski, a nanotechnologist at UCLA, describes nanotechnology as having the power and
potential to change the world, socially and economically, with huge impact on food, energy, and agriculture especially.  In fact, nano-tech is already present on the market; there are about 1,000 nanotechnology products currently being offered.  In terms of agriculture, there exist nutraceuticals, edible nano wrappers and coatings, agrochemicals, nano sensors, cooking oils, teas, supplements, and long-life packaging, all which utilize nano science.  Nano-medicine is another growing arena for the use of nano-technology; treatments to reduce the toxicity of cancer, Nano-drugs, Quantum Dots, and Nano-devices small enough to enter cells are all possibilities.

However good and helpful these nanotech-inspired inventions seem, public opinion is still skeptical since research isn't conclusive yet as to how safe nano-food and medicine is.  Nano-foods could be developed that are extremely low in fat, but still taste great--somewhat of a nano-miracle.  This doesn't necessarily mean its dangerous; our body already deals with breaking down food into nano-sized chunks on its own.  Some food we are eating and drinking already contain nano particles, like some beer manufactured in the U.S. that contain flaky nano particles of clay which serve the purpose of filling up space in bottle walls.  This makes it more difficult for CO2, the molecule that causes fizz, to be released from the beverage.  But without proper regulation, nano-particles in food, medicine and other products could blow up in the public opinion like GMOs have, with great public backlash and suspicion.  "European regulators are...trying to ensure that nanotechnology does not become the next GM".  We all would like to know what we are ingesting, and that starts with proper testing of new technologies like nano tech.  

Works Cited

N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fwhat-is-nano%2Fwhat-you-need-know-about-nano-food>.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science." N.p., n.d. Web. <http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=0AF1EFEE1A90856EC5DB09D1E5AA8C79?doi=10.1.1.127.8516&rep=rep1&type=pdf>.

Event #2--Fowler Museum at UCLA

These appear to be dyed tampons, or gauze, making up this garment.  Showing a human mannequin completely engulfed in medical/health supplies demonstrates the fragility of the body.  

 Proof that I was there!




















Form and Functionality were stressed in all the exhibits I visited at this museum.  These three photos were part of the "Making Strange" exhibit.  Two separate bodies of work under the umbrella of Delhi-based artist Vivan Sundaram came together in this exhibit; one is called Gagawaka, which is made up of 27 wearable avant-garde outfits "made from recycled materials and medical supplies", and the other is Postmortem, which are dummies, models, wooden props, and mannequins used to portray the human body in an experiment of dissection.  Combining Gagawaka and Postmortem altogether shows the connectedness between body art (like clothing and couture and aesthetics), and the actual physical body that represents these works of art.  

Another piece that had a lot of cultural significance and struck me as quite clever and ingenious was the piece pictured above.  It represents the funeral of Apartheid in South Africa.  This "sculptural installation" was created in "anticipation of the elections held in 1994 that brought about the end of minority rule in South Africa".  I think it is a really cool and interesting way to show a glad and proud goodbye to something repressive and ingrained in a culture.  There could be artwork similar to this bidding farewell to slavery, or to the Soviet Union; treating a regime in a personified manner and giving artistic representation to a culture's history and struggles is unique, raw, and inspiring.  

This piece was also culturally significant, and was a portrayal of functional art as well.  The picture behind this engraved wooden canoe shows the "Yami" people (inhabitants off the coast of Taiwan on the island of Botel Tobago) using it for the purpose of fishing.  However, despite these types of canoes being made for the purpose of getting food, they are engraved meticulously, with this particular canoe including a "human-like form painted on the side...[to] represent...the Yami ancestral cultural hero".  Artistic touches were added to show how proud the Yami were of their heritage.  

Unit 7--Neuroscience and Art

The definition of neuroscience is all of the sciences involved with the structure and/or function of the nervous system and brain.  This includes different forms of psychology, as well as neurochemistry.  This intensive scientific field combines with the artistic field in numerous ways, one of which is called the "Neuroculture Project", within which artist Suzanne Anker and neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto have worked together to examine how modern brain science has entered into the world of popular culture.  Neuroscience has influenced certain practices in the Humanities; psychology has been a growing field due to an educational quest for brain knowledge, and fields like neuro-theology, neuro-economics, neuro-aesthetics, and neuro-education have arisen with the public becoming more and more intrigued with human behavior and the mysteries involved within our own selves.

Suzanne Anker; artist

Another sector of the brain and of neuroscience that is highly incorporated into popular culture as well as art is the science behind dreams.  It has been highly researched but remains largely a mystery that confounds scientists and the public.  It is said that 95% of dreams are forgotten, so that leaves the portion of dreaming that can be studied through psychoanalysis and therapy very small and insignificant.  Sigmund Freud revolutionized the study of dreams in his body of work titled The Interpretation of Dreams.  He is known for his belief that nothing happens by chance, and that our unconscious drives much of what we do and who we are.  However, and unfortunately, according to Freud, society represses our deepest desires.  We tend to conform to those repressions, and our deep-down wishes are then oftentimes expressed in our dreams.  Freud believes that within every mind is the "Id", which is centered on primal pleasures, instincts and unchecked urges, but that there is a "Superego" which censors the Id and works with the "Ego" to be rational, moral, and self-aware.  What happens in our unchecked unconscious pertains to our dreams, and may be reflected by them.  

Short video (below) on Freudian dreaming and its incorporation into the modern science of dreams; very interesting as it details what parts of the brain are activated in your brain during REM, and how lucid dreaming isn't a myth, as many believe it may be.  

Works Cited 

"Dream Moods: Dream Theories: Sigmund Freud." Dream Moods: Dream Theories: Sigmund Freud. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/freud.htm>.

"PERSPECTIVES." Arms Control Today 4.4 (1974): 3-5. Web.

"Michio Kaku on the Science of Dreams." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eYt4ZmkR8>.

Unit 6 DESMA 9 Blog

For this week, the topic is biotechnology and art.  Within this, artists will work directly with scientists in labs, or with geneticists, working with and around living cells.  One such artist, creator, and inventor, Joe Davis, believes that genes and genomes are a new palate for the artist.  He has developed such things as the Audio Microscope, which allows the user to view particular living cells while also listening to their amplified, species-specific micro acoustic signatures.  He has, on top of that, performed experiments in sound and cell structures, with his next project being how E. Coli responds to jazz and other sounds.  He is interested in such questions as what sound waves prove stressful to bacteria, and if primordial clocks can self-assemble.  His most esoteric project may be the "info-gene", with which there would be genetic engineering of the sign of human intelligence within a translated meaning, which could be sent to extra-terrestrials in a space-bound message.  

Joe Davis = typical "mad scientist"

Artist and scientist Davis with an exhibit of his work

In the "Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?" article by Chris Kelty, the type of scientist called the "Outlaw", or DIY Scientist, was examined.  These innovators are the ones living and working outside the system, outside the boundaries, the "Robin Hoods" in "no man's land".  Joe Davis strikes me as a definite Outlaw, since he certainly isn't as clean-cut as a "Victorian Gentlemen Scientist", who is able to 'impress everyone' with their work.  And he is not a "Hacker", since while Davis manipulates the information he works with to have self-designated meaning, he sees the world so differently from the social norm, that he does not control the system, does not reconfigure it altogether.  He is known to be in the shadows, a non-commercial creator.  

This is a very short 3-minute video presenting the viewer with an introduction to Joe Davis' documentary.  It will cause one to raise the question of if he is crazy...but to do that, you might have to call all innovators who believed in something that no one else really did some sort of crazy as well.  We all have ideas; as he says, "we are all artists and scientists and philosophers"...it is the acting on these ideas that is the reason we have any notable art and science in this world to speak of.  



A Final Thought:
One thought-provoking question brought up in the blog prompt was "Should there be limits to human creativity?"  I want to end my blog with this kind of discussion question because it strikes near to my heart.  I am a vegetarian and would consider myself to be an animal-rights activist.  I have a very hard time finding the moral justice in using animals to test them for human consumer products, or to mutate them to become transgenic.  Joe Davis said he used frog legs to power an aircraft; this means he killed many frogs for their legs, in an artistic and technological venture.  While I understand the upsides of using animals for scientific gains, especially ones that may save human lives, I disagree with using them in art.  Altering the genetic makeup of animals when they have no voice of their own to speak out against it, using recombinant DNA and inserting foreign genes into the organism, is disturbing and distressing to me.  However, everyone has different ideas when it comes to the use of animals in experiments.  I happen to take a very libertarian approach in my belief that living and sentient animals should not be sacrificed for human gains--we are also animals, yet with the often-abused power to take advantage of other species.  Therefore, I do think that creativity should be limited to personal gains only, not ones that involve taking or mutating the lives of other beings.  

Works Cited

"Transgenic Animals." Transgenic Animals. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/TransgenicAnimals.html>.



Kelty, Chris. "Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?" (n.d.): n. pag. Web.


"Heaven and Earth and Joe Davis - Interview." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NfK5RdmgYY>.