MedTech + Art (Week 4)

The medical technology and art seemingly are not really relevant one from the other, and I have thought in that way as well at some point. However, this week, we've learned about the intimate relevance between the two. In fact, in human bio-technology, art has been contributing so much in many ways through such as X-ray, plastic figures, drawings from dissections or so. Many experts' endeavors to bring up the medical technology went along with the development of art.  

In the lecture, professor Vesna mentioned that in the early days, the dissection was not conventionally allowed in religious reason, even though at the same time, it was highly fascinating subject to the artists. For example, the most representing artist in Renaissance years, Leonardo Da Vinci, is the one. He had pioneered many dissecting artworks as an artist. Peter Abraham, practicing physician, said that his sketch is mostly correct except female reproducing system. During the time period, Renaissance artists learned anatomy to improve drawing skills, additionally Da Vinci, focused more on the body system like mechanics would do. He only believed what he could observe that most of others wouldn't have done. In that sense, Renaissance art had been developed, which painter pursued the beauty of human and nature.

After Leonardo Da Vinci's integration into medicine, dissection became one of the main parts in medical research and experimentation. Even though, this boom toward dissection brought some ethical problem of seeking corps, which caused illegal grave-robbing. This social injustice was reflected in many literature works of Mark Twain, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein), and other writers in 1800s. Later, art had drifted apart from medicine for about a century, then, the artists got to pay attention to the medicine again that boosted up the medical development. Aligned with this combination of two, today, we have a certain type of art that illustrates real human body through polymer preservation process using liquid silicon rubber. That body Plastination helps us understand the beauty of human/super-realistic description.

Artists have had an eager for an appreciation of human body and derived the ultimate beauty from it. Their trials just changed its form along with the development of technology, then, eventually artists' products conversely affected to medical research and findings. Art and Med-tech build mutually beneficial cooperative relationship.

Citations:

Leonardo Da Vinci the Scientist: New Show Reveals Anatomy of a Genius. Youtube. IBTimesTV, 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/jMTJD5hTx4U>.

Lienhard, John H. "No. 301: Art and Dissection." No. 301: Art and Dissection. University of Houston, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi301.htm>.

Pappas, By Stephanie. "Human Body Part That Stumped Leonardo Da Vinci Revealed." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 08 May 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/20157-anatomy-drawings-leonardo-da-vinci.html>.

"The Preservation Process." BODIES: The Exhibition. Premier Exhibition, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.premierexhibitions.com/exhibitions/4/48/bodies-exhibition/preservation-process>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/Ep0M2bOM9Tk.” Lecture. Medicine pt1 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Robotics + Art (Week 3)

The development of technology, it definitely affected art and artists's work in some ways. Regarding to the advent of machinery technology, Benjamin Walter asserted in his essay that technology is changing art, just like our changing perceptions. Then, it gives us a question the worth of art if it's not original. Everything can be replicated, copied, and reproduced by anyone.

Early industrial society

The most prominent feature of industrialization that professor Vesna speaks about in the lecture would be "Mass production." As a result of development of machineries, things could be produced in a large amount in assembly line. For example, Henry Ford could be the representing figure that shows the mass production using assembly line; he made it possible to make way more cars in a short time utilizing high efficiency of production. How does this mass production apply to the change of art? 

Henry Ford's car assembly line

In fact, this social change also brought huge impact on art as well. Because of the mass production, many artworks and activities became not only for the privileged, but also for the general civilians. Everyone can access to artworks easily and also take part into the middle of production. Instead, according to the Davis's writing, since it is replicating tons of same art pieces, the original doesn't have that much of value that it had before. So it can be changed its form in many different ways by producing in volume through new pop art production techniques: Silk Screen. Aligned with this idea, Helena E. Wright, who wrote about graphic arts in industrialization, states the change in distribution and American perspectives on art. She said, "Prints in particular had the advantage of wider distribution at lower cost and therefore reached a larger public, helping to inform American attitudes about the process of industrialization ... influencing the public toward positive acceptance of an industrial way of life." (5)

          

 

     Silk Screen technique; pop art

However, this similarity brought by mass production caused skepticism among many artists who cherished the uniqueness and creativity of each person. Because of the industrialization, everybody as a whole was more important rather than each individual, then, individual's are not protected as themselves.  This time period's social conditions are well reflected through lenses in several films, for example, Oliver Twist. It illustrates one boy's story who lives in this dynamic time period. In the movie, in general, children in labor are not treated well as much as they are supposed to be. This is what mass production caused that each individuals are only recognized for all and totally replaceable.  

https://youtu.be/4aUGLJicck8

Many artist became to revolt against this ridiculous contemporary flow in art. That is what Benjamin Walter called, Dadaism. This movement(anti-war) refuses the existing art paradigm that laid stress on sales value of art, instead, follows the unusual values. Pursued difference and uniqueness. It destroyed the authoritative or elitism of art, which pursues radical form of art like putting toilet in the middle of museum that nobody would have expected ever. One type of it would be parody and the most outstanding artist in Dadaism is Marcel Duchamp who made, fountain. He followed different meaning of rationality and reasonability. He used a certain "objet" to reject the stereotype of it. It was later influenced a lot on many post-war European artists, especially pop artists. As what Kurt Schwitters said that everything an artist created is work of art, he chose ready-made as his source of artwork, then establish the concept of ready-made in art. It clearly showed one disobey against whole existing conventions that indicates the importance of one rather than all.  

Marcel Duchamp: Fountain

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm

Citations:

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

"Dadaism." ARTYFACTORY. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm>.

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction.” The MIT Press, 1995. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1576221?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101286048881>.

Helena E. Wright, IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology Vol. 12, No. 2, IA IN ART (1986), pp. 5-18

Oliver Twist. Dir. Roman Polanski. Youtube. N.p., 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/4aUGLJicck8>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecutre Part 2.” Robotics + Art. 19 Apr. 2015. Lecture.

Math + Art (Week 2)

Math and Art sounds like the most two extremely different concepts. However, in fact, math and art is quite relevant especially regarding to the geometry, symmetry, optic, and golden ratio. Based on these mathematical ideas and natural patterns, the more realistic drawing and artworks would be created no matter what the artist intended or not. From Henderson's article, she mentions the emergence of the fourth dimension by Einstein's Relative Theory. Motivated a lot by his theory, many artistic stereotype was completely broken that let them depart from visual reality and reject the one-point perspective system. How this is great can be seen in the novel, Flatland, that it's almost impossible for the dwellers in the flatland to imagine three-dimensional and additional world but trapped in their own second dimension. Art tries to cooperate with math to comprehend higher dimensions to liberate themselves.

In a similar way, professor Vesna said a study of mathematical forms and its signs is very critical for art as well. She picks Leonardo Da Vinci as one of the prominent figure who put the math and the art on the same line as a single concept. His drawings are mathematically well organized.

The Last Supper 

Vitruvian Man

This mathematical pattern is everywhere you go. The movie, Pi, claims the natural features of mathematics. In this regard, you can see tons of mathematical patterns everywhere. All the things you see can be represented as a number and patterns in nature. Ancient architectures such as Parthenon in Athene and Egyptian Pyramid are both built based on a certain mathematical rule of golden ratio; the vertical lines and dimensional patterns of this structure contains aesthetic value;

http://www.goldennumber.net/parthenon-phi-golden-ratio/

Today, you also can fine a collaboration of math and art. One of the example you can find out is "Mathematical Origami." This is just regarded to be a fun thing to do with a small sheet of paper. But, it also has its own mathematical patterns. Dr. Robert Lang, Mathematical Origami artist, argues that Origami used to be an folding paper before, but now, beyond what it used to be, it is mathematically more valuable. Origami's crease patterns could be an underlying blueprint for its figure: 2-colorability, any interior vertex: M - V = 2, alternate angles around the vertex, and no self-intersection at overlaps. Several math rules with folding one sheet of paper without cutting can lead to aesthetic beauty.

https://youtu.be/NYKcOFQCeno

Black Forest Cuckoo Clock.

The video, Origami Moment, additionally helps understanding of folding Origami and narrator highlights, "A wonderful aspects of Origami is that it brings together art and science." Here, the modular work of Origami eventually comes together to the polyhedron feature.

https://youtu.be/tVMgjIyBAPo

It was all interesting to connect math and art on the same line that helped me understand the art as a large patterns of nature. Without a mathematics, art wouldn't have had that complete form of beauty. In conclusion, mathematic, science, and art is all relevant in a certain way that contains a pattern no matter what in its expression. With a mathematical infrastructure, science can be emerged and develops several techniques, and other way, artistic aesthetics can be created through artworks. 

Citation:

Abbott, Edwin. “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.” N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <https://cole.uconline.edu/content>.

An Origami Moment. Youtube. KCET Online, 5 Sept. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/tVMgjIyBAPo>.

Henderson, Linda. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art.” N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <https://cole.uconline.edu/content>.

Meisner, Gary. "The Parthenon and Phi, the Golden Ratio." Phi 1618 The Golden Number. N.p., 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://www.goldennumber.net/parthenon-phi-golden-ratio/>.

Pi Movie Trailer. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oQ1sZSCz47w>.

Robert Lang: The Math and Magic of Origami. Perf. Robert Lang. Youtube. N.p., 31 July 2008. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/NYKcOFQCeno>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Mathematics.” Lecture. CoLE DESMA 9. Web. <https://cole.uconline.edu/~UCLA-201209-12F-DESMA-9-1#l=Week-2-Assignment/id4287887>.

Two Cultures (Week 1)

As a Korean international student, I feel that the culture of the United States is pretty different from that of my homeland, (South) Korea. However, since I have been experienced American culture around for three years, even though still there were some parts that are still hard to adjust, I know that I gradually have become a part of this culture.

https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/alyssa-williams-sinn/french-culture

When it comes to the two culture, according to the Dr. Snow's article, there is a severance of the science culture and the humanity culture because of the lack of communication between the two. Each side of the intellectuals do not even try to understand the other and that is enlarging the gap. This disparity between one extreme literary intellectual and the opposite extreme science intellectual is quite influential to this society. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=387k_zunwME

The most of you might feel the same way as mine, the most distinctive "two culture" paradigm is to be shown in our UCLA campus. Our campus is mainly divided into North -- Humanities/Letters majors and South -- Science/ Engineering majors. No humanity classes are lectured on South campus and No science classes on North campus. As a political science major student, I've never visited South campus and didn't even need to. Learning an academic political strategies and theories (highly humanitarian parts), natural science is far from my interest and studies. UCLA campus shows this disparity very well. 

North Campus -- Humanities/ Art 

                    

                                        South Campus -- Natural Science/Engineering/Math

Star Wars Movie Scene

However, today, the clear disparity between two culture is closing, which is called, "The Third Culture." This new paradigm represents the literary scientists, or the art with technologies in the contemporary pop culture. In these days, many artistic culture is coming from technologies. Even though the two cultures were separate for a long time excluding each other in their fields. For example, a lot of sci-fi movies such as Star Wars or Transformer. They are definitely an artistic work but most of the content and basis is from science technologies. Also, Video art could be another typical combination of technology and the art. Utilizing diverse camerawork, it makes great masterpieces today. Nam June Paik, who is the Korean video artist, left outstanding video artworks before he passed away. 

Nam June Paik - Global Groove, 1973

https://youtu.be/7UXwhIQsYXY

Now I think that the concept of two culture has been already penetrated into the way of my thoughts. I naturally separated the humanities/art from the science regarding totally different two genres like oil and water. Furthermore, I realized that even if they were thought to be opposite in some ways, they also had been collaborated each other since before, which is good. By doing so, we could more diversely understand two culture separately and together as well. It can broaden my perspective to see my own studies of Political Science. From now on, I would try not to differentiate one from another that I used to do, but think them collaboratively so as "Consilience" to illuminate unique aspects of every each academic field. 

Citations

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

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998.

Humanities vs Science: Does One Score over the Other? Youtube. N.p., 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/387k_zunwME>.

Global Groove, 1973. Dir. Nam J. Paik. Youtube. N.p., 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/7UXwhIQsYXY>.

"South Korean VS American Culture - Alyssa Williams-Sinn." South Korean VS American Culture - Alyssa Williams-Sinn. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2015. <https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/alyssa-williams-sinn/french-culture>.