Final Project

Link to Final Project

Event 3: Singular Spaces

Yesterday I revisited the Fowler museum to see Singular Spaces exhibit. This exhibit was actually a series of pictures that showed various different art environments created independently all over Spain by eight Spanish artists. These artists were unique in that they did not have much of a plan behind their artwork and often simply used whatever materials they had to make these one of a kind environments.

A map depicting the location of all of the art environments showcased in this exhibit

Admittedly I initially had a hard time seeing how this exhibit related to the crossing of art and science. However, I was able to find two artists who used their art to deal with trauma from their lives. In this way these artworks can show a person’s psychological reaction to painful memories.

One of these artists is Julio Basanta López. His environment titled House of God appears to instead depict his inner demons. López has gone through much trauma in his life through the abandonment of his father and the deaths of his brother and eldest son. He built physical representations of this trauma from bricks that were covered in concrete. The result are these looming figures who loom all over his house and tells a story of a man haunted by the past.

The other artist was José Maria Garrido. He was a former fisherman who quit sailing once a close friend died at sea. He instead started building a museum dedicated to the sea and his friend. The museum was a boat shaped building to which he added masts and sails and added photographs of old ships, signs with maritime proverbs, and various objects gathered from beaches. To me it was interesting that Garrido decided to celebrate the sea despite his psychological pain associated with it.

I would definently recommend checking this exhibit out. All of the artists, not just López and Garrido, have created fascinating works of art that truly must be seen.

 A picture of me in front of the exhibit. Museum employees no longer are allowed to take pictures with guest so this is the next best thing.

Event 2: Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem

Last Friday I went to the Fowler museum to see the Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem art exhibit by Indian artist Vivan Sundaram. I have never been to the Fowler museum before and it was fascinating to see this museum for the first time.

The Fowler museum combined two bodies of work from Sundaram for the Making Strange exhibit. Gagawaka contains clothing made from recycled materials and medicinal supplies. This exhibit showcased dresses made out of surgical masks, bags of pills, and orthopedic supports among other materials. Many of these garments look like they would not be out of place on a fashion runway. It is fascinating what Sundaram was able to make from the materials he found.

The other body of work in the Making Strange exhibit was the Postmortem exhibit. Postmortem uses manikins and medical tools, like a stretcher or a model of the human thoracic cavity, in a way that made me think about the strangeness and fragility of our bodies. One such sculpture was a manikin that was meant to look like a ballerina but was somewhat damaged and was cut in half above the waist. Sundaram added a sculpture human anatomy inside the manikin. The result was an interesting sculpture that made me think of human mortality.

I highly recommend seeing this exhibit if you have the time. It is truly unique and will make you think about medicine and our bodies.

A picture of me at the Fowler Museum. The museum employees told me they were no longer allowed to take photos with guests so hopefully this photo is satisfactory.

Event 1: LASER Symposium

About two weeks ago I attended that LASER symposium at the CNSI in UCLA. I have not really had the time to sit down and talk about my impressions of it until now.

A picture of me after the LASER symposium finished

The LASER symposium was set up as a series of quick talks between many different individuals who bridge the gap between art and science. One of the speakers was Tamira Elul a professor Touro University in California. Her background is in biology and she focuses on comparing slides of biological tissues to early paintings by abstract expressionist painter Sam Francis. Like Elul, Francis had an initial background in biology before turning to painting. Elul argued that this background greatly influenced Francis’s early works and showed pictures of biological tissues which looked remarkably like Francis’s paintings.

Another presenter at the LASER symposium was Robert Gero who just opened up his exhibit Infinity Structures: Paradoxical Structures. The purpose of his exhibit is to explore the creation of the infinity structures. These paradoxical structures would have internal dimensions that exceed its exterior dimensions. To this end Gero took a very scientific approach to design a room with an “infinite” interior.

The LASER symposium was an interesting look at individuals who take a simultaneously artistic and scientific approach to understand the world.

Week 9: Space and Art

Art, specifically science fiction, has greatly influenced science. Many scientists have grown up with science fiction and go on to try to recreate the technologies they read or saw when they were younger.

One technology that scientists have attempted to recreate is the blaster technology used in Star Wars. These guns work by firing a laser at the target instead of using metal bullets. A team of researchers at the University of Warsaw created a high powered laser that could fire a laser pulse like these blasters. However, these lasers move at the speed of light and are not so easily visible like the lasers in the movies (Star).

Another technology from science fiction that scientists are attempting to replicate is the ability to teleport people and objects like in Star Trek. At team in the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have recently announced that they were able to transmit information quantum information between electrons instantaneously and reliably (Statt). Shortly afterward the U.S. army reported it had achieved the same thing (LaFrance). Although teleporting objects and people is still not possible, the advances in quantum teleportation in a small way mirrors the technology in Star Trek.

Although there has been an abundance of science fiction set in space, the theme of space in other artwork has not reached the same level of cultural impact. One such work of art that attempts to address this deficit is the cosmic dancer. The cosmic dancer is a sculpture that was taken into space so it can be observed from different directions. This allows the viewer to appreciate the sculpture without the limitation that gravity would normally place on the perspective of the viewer (Woods).

In a similar manner, many other artists have used parabolic zero gravity flights or chambers filled with liquid in order to work in a low gravity environment (Forde). Space art and science has come full circle, with artists who are inspired by scientists who were initially inspired science fiction.

Works Cited

Forde, Kathleen. "ART & ZERO GRAVITY." Dancing on the Ceiling. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu>.

LaFrance, Adrienne. "The U.S. Army Says It Can Teleport Quantum Data Now, Too." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 10 June 2014. Web. 31 May 2015.  <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/the-us-army-says-it-can-teleport-quantum-data-now-too/372545/>.

Star, Michelle. "This Is What a 'Star Wars' Blaster Bolt Would Look like in Real Life." CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.cnet.com/news/this-is-what-a-star-wars-blaster-bolt-would-look-like-in-real-life/>.

Statt, Nick. "Scientists Achieve Reliable Quantum Teleportation for First Time." CNET. N.p., 29 May 2014. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-achieve-reliable-quantum-teleportation-for-the-first-time/>.

Woods, Arthur. "Cosmic Dancer." The Cosmic Dancer Project : Home : Arthur Woods. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.cosmicdancer.com/index.php>.

Week 8: Nanotech and Art

Before this week, I knew some applications of nanotechnology, especially for its use to visualize very small objects through microscopy and its possible uses for medicine. However, I did not know that nanotechnology already been incorporated into the products we use every day. Everyday products like sunscreen and cosmetics rely on nanoparticles to work properly. (Gimzewski). The future of this technology excites many scientists in the field. According to Paul Alivisatos, associate director of physical sciences at Lawrence Berkeley national Laboratory's nanofabrication center, “Nano’s going to be like the invention of plastic, […] It’ll be everywhere” (Kahn).

Through nanotechnology, scientists are trying to replicate what nature has already engineered. Our cells work on the nanoscale to engineer almost everything we use in our bodies. Some scientists are trying to engineer nanoscale factories while other scientists are trying to engineer DNA to create organisms that create certain products (Rothemund). I believe both methods will have an important role in the future of nanotechnology as problems that can’t be solved with other method will likely be solved through the other approach.

Artists have also done a lot of work with nanotechnology. One such work of art is Nano-Scape by Christa Sommer and Laurent Mignonneau. This work of art uses magnetic feedback to allow users to “feel” invisible nanoparticles that work together to form a changing sculpture. This dynamic sculpture changes as the user interacts with it (Curtin). 

Artwork like this that helps the public interact with and understand nanotechnology is incredibly important. As of right now, much of the public is still scared of nanotechnology and popular science articles often serves to increase this fear. Science fiction has often depicted nanotechnology unfavorably and this has colored the public’s perception of this emerging technology. However, artists can help the public understand and appreciate nanotechnology and possibly turn this fear into cautious optimism.

Works Cited

Curtin, John. "Art in the Age of Nanotechnology." Art.base. N.p., 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 May 2015. <https://art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>.

Gimzewski, James K. "Nanotech." University of California. Web. 24 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKlViSKkPd0>.

Kahn, Jennifer. "Nanotechnology's Big Future." Nanotechnology Article. National Geographic, June 2006. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/nanotechnology.html>.

Rothemund, Paul. "Paul Rothemund: DNA Folding, in Detail." 24 May 2015. TED Talk. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_rothemund_details_dna_folding/transcript?language=en>.

Smith, Jessica. "Nanotechnology with Caution, Not Fear." The Berkeley Science Review. N.p., 18 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://berkeleysciencereview.com/nanotechnology-with-caution-not-fear/>.

Week 7: Neuroscience and Art

The topics of consciousness and perception have fascinated artists and scientists. The brain is responsible for creating and perceiving scientific and artistic projects. This makes the brain an important connection between science and art.

The Brainbow is a good example of a neuroscience technique that could also be considered art. This technique makes neurons create random amount of colored proteins which allows researchers to visualize neurons ("The 100 Colours of the Brainbow").The result of this technique is very beautiful and can help people think about the complexity of the brain in different ways much like a work of art.

I always knew about the effect that mind altering drugs like shrooms or LSD had on popular culture, but I didn’t know about how much the fascinated the scientific community. The first person who self-experimented extensively with LSD was in 1943 by a Swiss scientist named Albert Hoffman. He had a remarkable experience and believed that it could possibly be used in psychotherapy ("April 19th, 1943: "Bicycle Day"” ). In the 1960s, Harvard psychology professor Timothy Leary played a huge role in popularizing LSD in the United States. He did many experiments with LSD on prisoners to see if the drug could influence re-offense rates. The prisoners in his study had a lower re-offense rate and also scored better on personality assessments. ("Timothy Leary - Alcohol Rehab")  Leary also advocated the use of LSD by his students. He believed that LSD helps people think in alternative ways and encouraged young people to question authority. He ended up playing a huge role in the development of the counter-culture of the 60s (Precourt). 

The history of LSD showed me how neuroscience and culture can influence one another.

Works Cited

"April 19th, 1943: "Bicycle Day"” Magic Bus San Francisco. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://magicbussf.com/today-is-the-day/>.

Precourt, Annie. "Timothy Leary and Psychedelic Drugs in the 60s” Cold War Museum. Ed. Jeremy Simmons. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.coldwar.org/articles/60s/timothyleary60s.asp>.

Sante, Review L. "The Nutty Professor." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 June 2006. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/books/review/25sante.html?pagewanted=all>.

"Timothy Leary - Alcohol Rehab." Alcohol Rehab. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://alcoholrehab.com/drug-addiction/timothy-leary/>.

"The 100 Colours of the Brainbow." Neurophilosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2007/10/31/the-100-colours-of-the-brainbow/>.