Event 3

The Getty Museum

Today I went to the Getty for the first time in my 3 years at UCLA and I was astonished by the size, architecture, and art. The architecture is like nothing I have seen before, and it makes the artwork that much more presentable. It also helps that the Museum sits above all of LA and has a 360 degree view.  I visited 3 exhibits, including two photography exhibits capturing animal wildlife in the late 1800's and early 1900's and more modern black and white photography in a city setting. The third exhibit was easily my favorite, which was impressionist artwork of the 1800's. I have always been fond of the impressionist era and it was very cool for me to see work from Monet, Van Gogh, Sisley, Munch, and Khnopff.

This is one of my favorite pieces by Monet I saw today, Sunrise, depicts the French harbor of Le Havre. Critics at the time believed it was unfinished impressionism, rather than a finished composition. It definitely captures Monet's paintbrush through the morning light, fog, and reflecting water.

Another piece I enjoyed was a portrait of Jeanne Kefer by Fernand Khnopff that portrait a young girl standing up against a larger door. She portrayed the young Jeanne Kefer as a elegant young girl who, looking little next to the door while the floor tilts to the right, provokes the view of the world through a child's perspective.

Lastly, Edward Munch's Starry Night is a representation of the lake where Munch spent many of his summer evenings. With the many layers of color on top of the textured canvas, the viewer can't help but notice his style. I like the simplicity of the piece, as rounded shoreline goes rhythmically with the rounded hill.








Thank you Kate for the quarter, have a great summer!
-James

Event 2

The Fowler Museum

Today, I went to the "Making Strange" exhibit in the Fowler Museum on UCLA campus. I had never been in the Fowler Museum before and I really enjoyed it. The nice space made me feel as though I was no longer on the UCLA campus and I could really lose myself in the exhibit. It is definitely one of the many hidden gems of UCLA.

The "Making Strange" exhibit was a collection of the twenty-seven wearable dresses that artist Vivan Sundaram who from Delhi, India and a founding member of Sahmat, a foundation focused on collecting "important visual, literary, theatrical, and musical works in the name of artistic freedom and egalitarian values." (Fowler Museum). "Making Strange" consists of mainly dresses and other "outfits" that are made out mostly recycled materials and medical supplies. The dresses serve to play fun at the outfits that models wear on the runway while using unorthodox materials. I personally got a sinister vibe from the exhibit, though I'm not sure if that was the goal. The room was lowly lit and the pieces did not bring enthusiasm out of me. I could appreciate the work but I wasn't fond of many of the pieces. Some of the pieces were meant to represent illness, using doctor's face mask and rubber gloves to create dresses. I could see the theme Sundaram was going for as there was a clear tension between life and death. This piece, using doctors hats, scrubs, and other doctor's apparel, Sundaram constructed a crazy outfit that represents sickness and illness.

Two pieces I particularly liked were made out of sponges. I thought they looked funny and unique, as the large side made them even more presentable. It is hard to picture someone actually wearing one, but Sundaram claims they are wearable. I thought the exhibit did a good job of presenting the two sides of the "Making Strange" predicament.

Week 9

Space + Art


Ever since I was 10 years old, space was an intriguing entity, mostly because of its infinite size and at the same time our somewhat little knowledge of it. I grew up dreaming to be an astronaut, as stereotypical as that may be, as I read many books and comics of tales to the moon and space adventure. I even had the typical glow in the dark stars on my ceiling to look at as I fell asleep. We do know how little the Earth is in comparison to the rest of the universe. Carl Sagan says in his A Pale Blue Dot, "our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light." In other words, we hold ourselves to be a influential part of the universe, yet we could hold no significance in the larger picture.

Many artist's work have been inspired by the uncertainty and popularity of outer space, one being Robert Rauschenberg, who was invited by NASA to witness the Apollo 11 launch. He was inspired by all things NASA, from buildings to vessels, and you could see it in his work. His 1950's work anticipated the pop art trend, as he took nontraditional mediums and used them in new and original ways. 

Movies have been exploring the possibilities and also market, most notably recently. Interstellar and Gravity are too box office hits within the past two years that have explored the potential of space. I particularly enjoyed Interstellar,  as astronauts travel through a "wormhole" in search of a new home for society. The movie proved to be popular and controversial, as people disagreed as to what the force to propel Matthew McConaughey through the dimensions. It was a ground breaking film and got people thinking of the many possibilities of space travel. 

Sources

Sagan, Carl. "A Pale Blue Dot Quotes." Good Reads. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2015.

"SFMOMA | SFMOMA | Explore Modern Art | Our Collection | Robert Rauschenberg | Space (Tribute 21)." San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

Rauschenberg, Robert. Stoned Moon. Digital image. Rauschenberg. Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 May 2015.

"Interstellar (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

"Interstellar Plot Holes." Movie Plot Holes. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

Event 1

The Hammer Museum

My trip to the Hammer Museum was very intriguing. I have always driven past the Hammer and wanted to go in but never had the time, so I was excited to see what it was like. I went to all the exhibits but the "Provocations: the Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio" was definitely my favorite.

 The Provocations exhibit was a group of 160 architectural pieces of work that take human resources and materials to rethink many everyday objects and mechanisms. The concept of the exhibit is to question possibilities and limitations of architectural structures. At the front of the exhibit, there is a mechanical structure that has a handle to turn and pushes out a piece of paper that asks these types of questions. Examples of the questions consist of: "How can a building represent a nation?" or "Can a drawbridge open without breaking?" 

I thought one of the most interesting pieces inside of the exhibit was the proposition of a drawbridge that opened without breaking like a typical design.  The bridge design is broken up into equal pieces and has the ability to "roll up" on one side of the river or body of water. It not only looks unique and modern but the design is practical. This like many of the other pieces, looked to question mechanical structures to push the limits of their functionality and purpose. Another piece I liked was a model of a park in the desert. The park was built underground with many trees and other plants creating a cooler estuary in the middle of a desert. I found all the ideas intriguing as they questioned everyday living to push the limits in different areas. 

Unique Drawbridge

Week 8

NanoTech + Art 

Nanotechnology is different than any subject we have discussed so far as the "art" being created is not visible to the naked eye. Nanotechnology is working with matter at the atomic level, far too small to see without instruments. Because nanotechnology works at such a molecular level, old scientific techniques become out dated and no applicable, but have the ability to be influential in changing the world at a social level. Nanotechnology is a collaborative effort, just like the artists are becoming, as science ideologies must be reinvented and there is a clear paradigm shift. (Vesna intro)

An interesting part of Dr. Gimzewski's lecture was his discussion about the first to conceptual talk about nanotechnology in 1959, Mr. Richard Feynman. He gave a talk called, "There's plenty of room at the bottom," where he suggested how much room there was at the atomic level to create new technology, that could change the world. Feynman was very interested in manipulating things at an atomic scale, and was determined to prove that there was infinite room for growth. One of his challenges was for someone to write 25,000 pages of the Encyclopedia Britannica on a pin head. He would later find that it is possible to write 260,000,000 pages of the Encyclopedia on a pin head. He also realized that on the "nanoscale," the laws of physics change, as thermal jittering and surface tension dominate gravity, and quantum mechanics takes over for Newton's classical mechanics. 

 Richard Feynman

Self assembly or self organization are key to nanotechnology but are not new in terms of nature, as nature has always self organized. There are examples, such as the snowflake, which assembles into unique and beautiful patterns from frozen water molecules or the fractal nature of trees as each tree has a unique fractal nature. These are all composed of atoms and have some how been directed into complex patterns by simple self organization. The Blue Morpho butterfly is an example of this on the nano scale. The fluorescent blue wings of the Morpho butterfly are not made up of a pigment but instead made up of "christmas tree" like structures that are surrounded by air and protein, which manipulates light on the nanoscale and reflect back the fluorescent blue color.  

Sources

"There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

Curtin, John. "Art in the Age of Nanotechnology." Art.base. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. <https://art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>.

"Richard Feynman Introduces the World to Nanotechnology with Two Seminal Lectures (1959 & 1984)." Open Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

"Morpho." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

"Research and Innovation Communications." How Butterfly Wings Can Inspire New High-Tech Surfaces. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

Week 7

Neurosci + Art


Like last weeks blogs, neuroscience is an ever growing field of technology, new knowledge, and more  comprehension of the human brain. The human brain is responsible for the most within the body, as maintains the state of the body and is responsible for all thoughts. Neurons play a major role in the nervous system while they are responsible for connection between cells. "Golgi's method," coined by Camillo Golgi, is a neuron staining technique. It looks as so:

Another interesting topic involving the brain and neurons are drugs and hallucinogen. In the 50's, LSD was to have thought to be a psychological marvel to help cure depression and cases of  schizophrenia. As LSD is also supposed help alcoholics, the drug has the ability to access one's subconscious. Once the an artist is able to tap into their conscious and subconscious brain, their artwork has little restrictions or guidelines. The artist can theoretically portray images and thoughts that they have while their subconscious train of thought is being accessed. This is two self portraits by the same person, one before an LSD dose and one a couple hours after.

"Day of the Dead" is an interesting ritual in Mexico which takes the common fear and sadness of death and turns it around to be a positive uplifting celebration of those loved ones who have passed. Families created vibrant and gorgeous altars and shrines to commemorate their passed family members. The tradition brings peace to the community and allows inevitable process of death to not be feared.

Sources


Szalavitz, Maia. "LSD May Help Treat Alcoholism." Time. 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 May 2015.

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

"Day of the Dead - Dia De Los Muertos - Contemporary Altar - Azcentral.com." Day of the Dead Altar. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.

"Neuroscience." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 17 May 2015. 

"The Effect of an Acid Trip on an Artist’s Drawings." 22 Words The Effect of an Acid Trip on an Artists Drawings Comments. The Effect of Acid, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015.

Week 6

BioTech + Art

As BioTechnology, and technology in general expanding at a rapid rate on the cellular level, the artists have began working with biologists and live tissue, organisms, and life processes. This has raised discussion as to what "BioArt" entails. Furthermore, their are ethical debates about artists "meddling with the genetics structures of natural systems." (Vesna)

Joe Davis was the pioneer of BioArt as he had an idea of putting sounds to light information, in which he called the Audio Microscope. The Audio Microscope allows for one to "hear" living cells, as each cell was given its own signature sound. He then took this idea farther to look at how E. coli responded to jazz, in efforts to create sound waves that would act stressful to bacteria. He would later use E. coli as the vehicle to send a sign of human intelligence and to "send a message in a bottle" to the extra terrestrials. He chose E. coli because it is essential for human digestion and survived through five years of deep space exposure. His message was microvenus, representing both life and female genitalia in response to all the male phallic images in space. Davis was able to translate microvenus into a string of nucleotides and in-between the genes of the bacteria E. coli. He was able to publish via genetics, a truly impressive feat.

Like Davis, artist Eduardo Kac featured the genome in his work, but focused on the human genome in particular. He genetically altered a petunia flower with the DNA in his own blood to create what he called the "Edunia." The flower became a hybrid of Kac and a petunia, where his DNA was expressed in the red veins of the flower. The "Edunia" is a representation of the contiguity of life between different species in a visually significant fashion. The flower has the ability to impress a sense of fascination towards the phenomenon of "life."

Both Davis and Kac were able to impress a sense of fascination towards the public about the phenomenon "life." BioArt is unique in that it can make one question the very meaning of his/her existence and what the relationship is between different species and genomes.













Sources

"Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture." Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2015.

Vesna, Victoria, narr. “BioTech Art Lectures I-V.” N.p., . web. 5 Nov 2012.

Kac, Eduardo. “Natural History of the Enigma.” Ekac. 2009. Web. 07 May 2015. http://www.ekac.org/nat.hist.enig.html 

 “Barry Schuler: An Introduction to Genomes.” YouTube. 23 Jan 2009. Web.

Kac, Eduardo. "Bio Art." Bio Art. Kac, n.d. Web. 05 May 2015. 

Week 4

Medicine + Technology

The human body is one of the most intricate and fascinating working "machine" operating on earth today, and furthermore, anatomy and dissection of the human body is at the intersection of art and technology today. Medical technology is at the forefront of the technology race as its field is producing some of the newest and cutting-edge technology today.

The first significant text and illustrations of the human anatomy were done by Andreas Vesalius in his De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543) in which he accurately illustrated and presented an elaborate depiction of the human organs and body structure like no one had done before. A few hundred years later, Henry Gray's Anatomy book would prove to be one of the most influential pieces on the subject and is still used today. The vivid illustrations and detailed descriptions would spark a shift in appeal towards beauty and the human body, and even today, although it was intended for the medical community, most artists who work with the human body use it.

A popular, yet unique, use of the human body in the art world is the exhibition called "Bodies" which display human bodily systems preserved with silicon posed in active positions. It is fascinating exhibition and I was lucky enough to get to visit the traveling exhibit in New York. The exhibit was like nothing I have ever seen and I will remember the remarkable exhibit forever. 

X-Rays are taken for granite in the 21st century, as they are used in a wide spectrum and variety of places from airport security to every established hospital in the world. But X-Rays have been one of the most influential inventions since the beginning of the 20th century both in the medical and artist world. CAT scans today are able to provide the doctor with a 3-D image of their patients anatomy and organs, a truly incredible phenomenon. Growing up, my father was a radiologist, a doctor whose practice is primarily reading and diagnosing X-Rays, so I would sit and watch him work with his technicians to take the MRI and CAT scans and then put the images up to light and diagnose his patients. Even as a little kid, I remember watching him scan through "sliced" images of a patients head to look for irregularities. The evolution of X-Rays has allowed for doctors and artists alike to get a better and better understanding of what the human anatomy looks like and the many different variations.  

Sources

 Gray, Henry Gray's Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical, 1896 13th edition. 

Savitz, Masha. "Deconstructing the Human Bodies Exhibit and Falun Gong Genocide." Oct. 14, 2014. http://cinemalibrestudio.com/clsblog/2014/10/14/deconstructing-the-human-bodies-exhibit-the-falun-gong-genocide/ 

"History of the X-Ray and Radiology." History. NDT Resource Center, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Radiography/Introduction/history.htm

"CAT Scan vs. MRI." Diffen, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. http://www.diffen.com/difference/CT_Scan_vs_MRI

"Vesalius - Pages 3 and 4." Virtual Books: Images Only. British Library, 1543. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/vesalius/accessible/pages3and4.html#content

Week 3

Robots + Art

The Industrial Revolution and robotic functions following didn't allowed for creative output to flourish as the replacement of human function gave rise to mass production and assembly. While the industrial industry has mad our lives easier, Walter Benjamin claims in his Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction that "society has not been mature enough to incorporate technology."Although, society, according to Benjamin, gets more in touch and relative with technology in the 21st century. Robots were originally portrayed as violent and evil machines when they were first introduced to society but examples such as "WALL-E" or "Despicable Me" have many human qualities that make them loving and relatable. Once the robots become relatable, they can then become portray as human entities.

Wall-E shows how we can expand our creative outlook towards robots and maybe potentially one day creative a robot that could be relatable like a human. Rodney Brooks describes in his piece that robot "could have emotions" and could act like living creatures. This is interesting to consider as sometime in the future robots could be intermingling with humans without much distinction. Society in the future must shift their outlook and perception of robots to helpful aid and service from doom and destruction, or else there will be many issues when more robots become involved in society.

Society must adapt to the intervention of robots or else there it will be a difficult adjustment in the future, because robots will only become more and more integrated into everyday life in the future. If Humans do not adapt quickly, robots will begin to take more and more jobs and human society will be left without jobs support or quality of life. Robots are the future, humans must begin to adapt if they are want there to be as little of adjustment as possible.

Sources


Walter, Benjamin. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” 1936. Web.

http://www.reelz.com/trailer-clips/48113/wall-e-clip/

Brooks, Rodney.  “Robots will invade our lives.”  Online video clip.  Ted.   Ted, Sep. 2008.  Web. 17. Apr. 2015.

http://www.wired.com/2012/12/ff-robots-will-take-our-jobs/

Cobb, Russell. The Paradox of Authenticity in A Globalized World. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 

Week 2: Math + Art

I thought Professor Vesna's lecture this week was very interesting discussing how Art and Math play off each other and allow one to let the other operate. As Professor Vesna says, Math is a study of the relationship between numbers; a "language" incorporating combinations, extrapolations, forms, structures, etc. And, speaking about visual art specifically, it is critical to be able to understand to some extend how spaces, numbers, structures work in accordance to each other if he/she wishes to create whatever he/she is attempting to make. The artist Michelangelo used mathematics to make sure his sculpture, "The David," was proportional and symmetrical. Simultaneously, Jackson Pollock is a good example of an artist that at first glance, looks like he has little symmetry or balance to his method, but the "fractals" are composed of a single geometric pattern repeated thousands of times at different magnifications." According to Discover Magazine's article, "Pollock's Fractals," Pollock was arguably the best artist in America, despite those the critics who believed a "monkey could do the same."

The mathematical "Golden Ratio" which was highlighted in Professor Vesna's lecture has been used in architectural structures since the Greeks. The ratio allowed for the Greeks to design the dimensions of their structures which would prove to be structurally sound and elegantly built, as some still stand today, such as the parthenon.  

"The Forth Dimension" by Henderson discussed a future with a so-called fourth dimension that would be the beginning of a new influence. The influence could allow for even a larger integration of art and mathematics. There are artists that have already began to touch on the "fourth dimension" in some aspects. Another reading that was very interesting was the "Vanishing Points and Looking at Art" article, which discussed the mathematics and vantage point an artist must use when attempting to imitate are real life view of a scene or object in the distance. When trying to portray it realistically, the artist must make sure to converge the parallel line at the vanishing point. In conclusion, art and mathematics would not be the same today if they weren't for each other and the future of the two coexistence is only going to grow.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)#/media/File:David_von_Michelangelo.jpg

https://mattbutler247.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/jackson-pollock1.jpg

http://www.joshuagarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/goldenratio_parthenon.jpg

Henderson, Linda. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” MIT Press. 17.3 (1984): 205-10. Print.

"Vansishing Points and Looking at Art." http://www.cs.ucf.edu/courses/cap6938-02/refs/VanishingPoints.pdf

Ouellette, Jennifer. "Pollock's Fractals." http://discovermagazine.com/2001/nov/featpollock

 

Week 1: "Two Culture"

Discussing any two cultures can create a great topic for discussion, as they often have many physical differences but can be surprisingly similar in their practice, origins, or concepts. Snow believes that there that science and art (literary) cultures are on either end of the spectrum, but I see them as more similar than that concurring with Bohm on the subject of creativity. Both artists and scientist find great rewards for uniqueness and creativity within their practice. Art is clearly the more obvious creative outlet, but the best scientific discoveries and inventions in the world were products of unmatched creativity and relentless practice. There are many talented people in the world that have large capacities for pursuit of arts or sciences, but there are also individuals who are able to balance both ends of the cultures and merge them together to create brilliance. Kevin Kelly writes in his "Third Culture" article, "The purpose of science is to pursue the truth of the universe. Likewise, the aim of the arts is to express the human condition; [nerd] culture strays from both of these." Kelly's nerd culture is his term for his "Third Culture." An example of art and science combining together in the "Third Culture" to create greatness are concept cars. BMW created a concept car created using fabric as the exterior with the technology of the newest BMW.  

http://www.wired.com/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca/

UCLA is another good example of the "Third Culture" being exhibited on a daily base, as it is a competitive institution in every academic field, sport, and extracurricular activity. There is a clear distinction at UCLA between North (literary arts) and South (Science) campuses, yet the school demands every student to take classes for G.E.'s that don't necessarily pertain to their majors. This way, students become more versed in multiple topics and there is less of a distinction between Art and Science majors. I play baseball here at UCLA, so I do my best to balance my academic and athletics to do the best I can in both areas. 

NCAA Student-Athletes putting more emphasis on academics exemplifying the "Third Culture."

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/baseball-student-athletes-show-significant-academic-improvement

UCLA South Campus shows how the campuses Art priority is displayed.

http://dancescapela.com/blog/

Resources:

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print. 

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5353/992.full>

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/baseball-student-athletes-show-significant-academic-improvement

http://www.wired.com/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca/

http://dancescapela.com/blog/