Event 3: Hammer Museum

I went to the Hammer Museum for my final event and I saw a lot of interesting installations there. Most of the exhibits and things were closed but I was able to see Laura Schnitger’s “I was here,” Yunhee Min’s colored stairs, and Tschabalala Self’s “Bodega Run.” All three of these exhibits explore art in their own unique way.

Schnitger’s exhibit was created for the Kids Art Project and is an interactive way for people to draw on the walls and then be erase what was drawn with the use of multi-colored sequins. What I really liked about this installation was that all of the wall was not the same color. She created different sized squares and rectangles with different colors in each for people to use so nothing looked the same. You could draw images or words or anything you wanted and you would be able to drag your hand over it and start all over kind of like a real life Etch a Sketch.

It is impossible to miss Min’s colored stairs on your way into the museum. She used the floor as her canvas instead of the walls like many artists use. Min studied design and architecture as well as painting and she has definitely combined all of those studies with this piece. When people think about architecture they think about the building side more than the design side. There is a lot of creativity mixed into the math and science of building something. Creating a piece does not take just one skill it takes many.

What really caught my eye about Tschabalala Self’s “Bodega Run” was how he used different materials to create his pieces. He didn’t use just paint or one type of fabric or just pen. All of the pieces in the room are completely their own while also complimenting the other pieces. There are sheets of foil with drawings of bottles and chip bags on top of it. Self uses different materials to get the effects that he wants just like different architects use different materials to create the structures that they desire.

Here is a link to the Hammer Museum site!

https://hammer.ucla.edu/

Week 9: Space + Art

I think planets, aliens, and the unknown have always been easy ways to get students to pay attention in their science classes. People are interested in stories about astronauts landing on the moon, if there is water on mars, and whether or not pluto is a real planet. There have been tons of movies about space travel because the unknown has always been extremely appealing to people. People love to romanticize space because there is so much left up to interpretation. Some of these movies are franchises like Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Trek.

People also have to use art in a way to express what we do know about space. We continue to learn more and more about space everyday, but there is still an insane amount of information that we do not know. We have developed better technology to take pictures of the planets and the moons, but before we had blurry pictures and artists interpretations of these pictures. Chesley Bonestell has a ton of intricate drawings that show what the surface of other planets look like as well as many other aspects of space. We have no real way to confirm these pictures are realistic, but they are drawn so well they look like they are photographs.

Over thousands of years humans created constellations to help us learn which star is which because there is over 1,000 stars that can be seen on a really dark night. Constellations are little "connect the dot" drawings that help us see images in the sky so that we can determine which star is which. Constellations have been an extremely helpful memory device for people to use. It is a lot easier to remember the names of a bunch of dots in the sky when have things to connect them to and ways to remember them.

Sources:

“ARCTIC PERSPECTIVE INITIATIVE.” ARCTIC PERSPECTIVE INITIATIVE, arcticperspective.org/.

Leonardo Space Art Project Visioneers, spaceart.org/leonardo/vision.html.

What Are Constellations?, www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html.

“Cosmic Dancer - a Space Art Intervention by Arthur Woods.” Cosmic Dancer 2.0: Arthur Woods : Space Artist, www.cosmicdancer.com/cosmic_dancer_2.0.php.

“Bonestell - Image Gallery.” Chesley Bonestell, www.bonestell.org/Image-Gallery.aspx.

Week 8: Nanotech + Art

Big Hero 6 Microbots

Life itself is an amazing example of nanotechnology with bacteria, viruses, and proteins. People hear the word technology and assume that nanotech must be man made, but in actuality it is the manipulation of matter on a molecular level. Nanotechnology is all around us already and most people have no idea. It has been used to create stronger sunscreens, wound dressings, corrosion resistant paint, and many more things. There are also a lot of examples of nanotechnology in movies like Big Hero 6 and Ant-man. In the kids movie Big Hero 6 there are many different technologies that are showcased, but one of the main one inventions is microbots that respond to neural stimulation and will take the form of whatever the user can imagine. This technology is not yet a reality, but it is the perfect example of the potential within art that nanotechnology can accomplish.

Nanoprocessor

One of the devices that I found really interesting was a programmable ‘nanoprocessor’ that computer scientists can use for circuiting. The nanoprocessor would allow for more complex circuiting to run through nano-sized areas. This technology could speed up the development of a lot of other computer technologies as well. The great thing about this technology is that it is scalable. The architecture allows the technology to be a tiny nanoprocessor, but it can also be scaled to much larger circuits which can be used for larger functions.

Giant Ant-man

Sources:

“Nanotechnology: A Simple and Fun Introduction!” Explain That Stuff, 5 Dec. 2018, www.explainthatstuff.com/nanotechnologyforkids.html.

ScreenPrism. “ScreenPrism.” Does Technology like That Seen in "Big Hero 6" Actually Exist, screenprism.com/insights/article/does-any-technology-like-that-seen-in-big-hero-6-actually-exist.

“NanoArt: Nanotechnology and Art.” Academy of NanoArt, nanoart.org/nanoart-nanotechnology-art/.

Dillow, Clay. “The World's First Programmable Nanoprocessor Takes Complex Circuitry to the Nanoscale.” Popular Science, 9 Feb. 2011, www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-02/worlds-first-programmable-nanoprocessor-takes-complex-circuitry-nanoscale.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. “The Nanoneme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science.” Technoetic Arts, vol. 1, no. 1, 2003, pp. 7–24., doi:10.1386/tear.1.1.7/0.

Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

Greg Dunn's brain scan

This week we were specifically looking at the human brain and how art comes from it in different ways. People use the image of the brain to create art like with the colorized brain scans that Greg Dunn created, but also everything that a person has ever thought comes from the brain. There is no way around that, the brain dictates every choice we make and that includes the creativity that we experience. People say phrases like “Should you follow your heart or your head?” but you could never actually follow just your heart.

I believe that the process of knowledge where one scientist, philosopher, or person claims something and it is believed to be true based on their evidence until someone else comes in and proves it to be untrue is an art form. Looking back on the history of what we were able to come up with and understand and watching how it has changed and developed over time as different brains have worked through it is like watching a person perfect their style of art. You can see the different strokes that they used to use and they way they chose colors, you can see how the brain would comprehend a question and provide an answer and then how other brains would argue that answer. It is art not from a specific person, but from the human brain. We were given the example of Schrödinger’s cat and that was a thought experiment that was supposed to contradict the Copenhagen interpretation and people agreed however over time physicists have proved Schrödinger wrong.

Schrödinger's Cat

Sources:

“Schrödinger's Cat.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger's_cat.

Nemo, Leslie. “Watch the Human Brain Come to Life in This Stunning Piece of Art.” Scientific American, 21 June 2017, www.scientificamerican.com/article/watch-the-human-brain-come-to-life-in-this-stunning-piece-of-art/?redirect=1.

GREG DUNN DESIGN, www.gregadunn.com/.

“Your ‘Miracle’ Brain, in Full Color: Neuroscience Art.” Migraine Again, 6 Apr. 2019, migraineagain.com/neuroscience-art-miracle-of-brain-dunn/. 

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. “Neuroculture.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. 11, 2009, pp. 815–821., doi:10.1038/nrn2736. 

Week 6: Biotech + Art

Creating a cast of my leg

I believe that life could be considered a valid expressive medium. People can express themselves through the way that they live their lives, but also the way that plants grow or how animals live could also be seen as expressive media. In middle school a family friend casted my limbs to create a little girls body for one of their sculptures. I went to the Los Angeles Art Show in high school and there was a young woman whose artwork was not a painting or a sculpture, but herself. She was laying in a bed made of grass, moss, and flowers and she was fasting for the three days that the art show took place. Her body and her life was her artwork and I thought it was really cool and eye opening. I think people put their own values on artistic media and technologies based on whether they believe it is interesting or relevant to themselves. A young African American girl will most likely have a different taste in media than a middle-aged white man, but this does not make one’s more valid than the others.

The sculpture using the cast of my limbs

There is a fair amount of grey area when it comes to manipulating the living. There are stories like Us or Frankenstein where messing with life goes terribly wrong, but there are also many cases where it can lead to scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. This causes problems because it begs the question where do we draw the line?
What is okay to manipulate and what isn’t? There are discoveries in life that came from practices that we now would consider inhumane. I don’t think there is a limit on the creativity of the human mind and I think it would be impossible to try and impose any sort of creative limits on people and their aspirations.

Sources:

Davis, Joe. “Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture.” Joe Davis, geneticsandculture.com/genetics_culture/pages_genetics_culture/gc_w03/davis_joe.htm.

Kelty, Christopher M. “Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?” Journal of Science Communication, Mar. 2010.

Snowden, Heather. “Jordan Peele's 'Us': 4 Things You Might Have Missed.” Highsnobiety, Highsnobiety, 25 Mar. 2019, www.highsnobiety.com/p/jordan-peele-us-movie-references/.

Chin, Mel. “Revival Field.” Mel Chin, melchin.org/oeuvre/revival-field.

Venter, Craig. “Transcript of ‘Watch Me Unveil ‘Synthetic Life’".” TED, May 2010, www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life/transcript.

Here is a link to my blog project!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U6XSHphYl-7LKwvjVkiK8hLi8_4FCUHl/view?usp=sharing

Event 2: Creative World at the California Science Center

For the second event I was able to go to the Creative World Exhibit at the California Science Center. The Creative World exhibit has a lot of different installments that teach viewers about the different way buildings are constructed and the potential problems that need to be addressed when making the buildings. Architects have more than just aesthetic to think about when laying out building plans. If someone knows what materials would be best to use or combined than they are more likely to safely push the natural limits of these materials. The placement of buildings is also extremely important because there needs to be stability underneath the building especially if there are earthquakes. Earthquakes and other natural disasters can pose serious problems to the structure of a building.

Creative World has different installments that talk specifically about earthquakes which is a big issue in California. A lot of earthquakes cannot be felt because they are too small, but they still affect the buildings and can cause structural problems. To solve this problem scientists have found patterns to build structures in so that the materials used have more support. A popular framework is a triangle truss because if triangles are pressed down on they do not flatten out like squares can. Using a triangle truss can give an architect the option to use a lighter beam and have it be just as sturdy as something heavier and more expensive or less aesthetically pleasing. As much as the aesthetic of a structure is important to people the structure also needs to be safe and durable.

Me sitting under the bridge I built at the exhibit

There are a lot of children’s toys that have been designed to be a fun way to teach children how to build and create new and different structures. At the gift shop in the California Science Center there was a ton of different toys for kids who were inspired by the Creative World Exhibit to buy so that they could build their own structures. There was also an installation that let kids and adults try to build a sturdy bridge with different colored tubes and blocks. The Creative World at the California Science Center was a really cool place to learn about how the different aspects that go into building, the art and the science behind it.

Here is a link to the California Science Center website

https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/creative-world