Extra Credit Event 2 - Natural History Museum

A display in the NH Museum

A T-Rex fossil head

Last Friday, June 3rd, I took a tour of the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum. It was an incredible tour because it wasn't simply an exhibit of things to look at, there were interactive touch screens where you could "excavate" your own fossils. It is an exhibit mean to inspire young people and get the excited about paleontology. Some of these dinosaurs were so large, you could walk under them with ease. Some of the displays visible internal organs and skin textures, and it reminded me a lot of the Body World exhibits we learned about in week 4's teachings about MedTech and art. Gunther Von Hagens invented a unique plastination technique in the 1970's that allowed him to preserve bodies like never before. The Body World exhibits sparked many viewer's interest in the Human Sciences in a similar way that the Dinosaur Hall and its jaw dropping displays are meant to incite interest in Paleontology. It is astonishing every time you reconnect with the physical dominance of some of these dinosaurs that live over 200 million years ago. It was a much different planet back then, and people often lose barring on the insignificance of the duration of our stay on Earth as fully developed human beings. As science and technology improve and get better, the excavating techniques will only get better as well, which will make these fossil exhibits come to life. Inspiration is often subtle, and as the world's leading paleontologist Jack Horner can attest, it could be sparked by as simple as finding your first dinosaur bone in the backyard.

A display that reminded me of Body Worlds

Sources

 "Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County." Explore Exhibits. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits>.

 "Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County." Dinosaur Hall. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/dinosaur-hall/about>.

 "Dinosaur." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 04 June 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur>.

 "Body Worlds." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 04 June 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Worlds>.

 "How Fossils Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/fossil5.htm>.

 "Jack Horner." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 04 June 2016. <https://www.ted.com/speakers/jack_horner>. 

Images

http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/nhmnext/next_project_Dino_Hall_slide_02.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Palais_de_la_Decouverte_Tyrannosaurus_rex_p1050042.jpg

http://www.balboapark.org/sites/default/files/sdnhm_dinos_fossils.jpg

Extra Credit Event 1 - California Science Center

Artistic representation of a shuttle flying into space

I went to the California Science Center to see the Endeavor Space Shuttle on Friday, June 3. The shuttle is being held in the Samuel Oschin Pavillion, but before I got to the hanger I walked through an exhibit called Endeavor Together: Parts & People. It was a really cool exhibit with videos of each of its 25 missions and artifacts from previous missions. It also has the massive external tank displayed just outside of the pavilion. The shuttle was absolutely massive, and it was an incredible site to see. This exhibit obviously connects with our week 9 learnings about Space and Art, because this shuttle helped the human race make great strides since its maiden voyage in 1992. Space is infinite in size and forever puzzling, but as we look out into the stars and learn about the universe, we actually learn more about ourselves. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson famously says in his TV series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, "We are star stuff" (Tyson, 2014), because the same elements that make up our bodies and the Earth we stand on are the same elements being fused together at the cores of stars all around the universe.

Endeavor's Last flight before retirement

 The Space Shuttle itself however, has become a symbol for human travel in outer space. It's vertical seating while attached to the massive orange external tank with two white rockets boosters on either side has become an iconic symbol that has inspired many to look up and imagine the infinite possibilities of space. I actually got to see the Endeavor for its last flight while it was strapped on top of a Boeing 747. The shuttle has become famous in its own right, and while the it sits atop Cape Canaveral waiting to ignite its massive rockets and launch into the heavens, the famous Houston countdown begins from 10 and the country sits in silence and waits for mankind to take another stab at solving the mysteries of, "The final Frontier" (Sagan, 1980).

Iconic shuttle take off

Sources

 "Space Shuttle Endeavour." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 04 June 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour>. 

 "Space Shuttle Endeavour." California Science Center. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/air-space/space-shuttle-endeavour?gclid=CLyDiZ2xj80CFYpffgodlrYFVA>.

 

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Dir. Brannon Braga, Bill Pope, and Ann Durban. Prod. Seth Macfarlane. Perf. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Fox National Geographic Channel, 2014. 

 Dunbar, Brian. "Endeavor." NASA. NASA, 2005. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbitersend.html>. 

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Dir. Adrian Malone. By Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter. PBS, 1980.

 "Complete Coverage: Shuttle Endeavour's Last Voyage." Space.com. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://www.space.com/11489-space-shuttle-endeavour-final-flight-sts134.html>. 

Images

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/120920121523-space-shuttle-endeavour-13-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg

https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2012/9/5/1346856789241/Space-shuttle-Endeavour-008.jpg

http://t03.deviantart.net/yrclP2N-dMg5a2YwhxwDnDK0Yos=/300x200/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre04/26c3/th/pre/f/2015/355/8/6/space_shuttle_discovery_art_by_syahrudinfaizal-d9kzaw4.jpg

Event 3 - The Desert People

Scene form the road trip

I was actually a huge fan of the film I went to go see at the Hammer Museum. It is called The Desert People, and it was made by David Lamelas. To me, it was essentially one big anti-joke. It isn't exactly a satire, but it pokes holes and points out, as the Hammer Museum describes, "The deficiencies of narrative in documentary-style filmmaking" (Hammer, 2016). There were personal narratives from each of the 5 people in a car about their trip to an indian reservation, but none of the stories really lined up with one another. However, as Lamelas points out, "Because of the editing, the viewer will believe that a story is unfolding" (2006). The "anti-joke" element of the film is that all the passengers giving post-trip interviews die in a car crash during the very trip they are talking about. This makes the whole narrative impossible because they all are dead... which essentially makes zero sense. I love this. It is thought provoking and interesting, on top of being critical and purposeful. Similar to my blog discussion on Bio Tech and Art, I feel strongly for those going against the grain of society and not just accepting things for what they are presented to be at face value.

Impressionist painting by Claude Monet

Many Bio Tech artists like Marta De Menezes and Eduardo Katz are harshly criticized for there current work in Bio Tech art. Not to say Lamelas is similarly scrutinized, but his critique of documentary filmmaking reminds me of artists like Claude Moet and Alfred Sisley who pushed against society's creative walls, leading the Impressionist movement against traditionally detailed, religious, and historical French painting. They saw flaws in the status quo and wanted to test new waters. Spectrums of differences are the medium for innovation. The conflicts and resolutions between a traditionally accepted concept as standard practice, and the "new kid on the block" is what drives human thought forwards, and in this case, drives art forwards. With no Van Gogh there is no Duchamp or urinal, with no Duchamp there is no Katz or glowing bunny, with no predecessors pushing boundaries there are no successors standing on their shoulders. David Lamellas could easily make some generic, artsy, documentary, but he isn't scared to think outside of the box and kill all of the passengers in a film that is reliant upon such a crash not happening. He is messing with conventional thought and I greatly admire that. The film was a pleasure to see.

Three of the five passengers

Sources

 "Hammer Contemporary Collection: David Lamelas, The Desert People - Hammer Museum." The Hammer Museum. Web. 03 June 2016. <https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2016/hammer-contemporary-collection-david-lamelas-the-desert-people/#>. 

 "David Lamelas, The Desert People." Janmot. June-July 2006. Web. 03 June 2016. <http://www.janmot.com/programme/desertpeople.php>. 

 "Impressionism." Art Movements. Web. 03 June 2016. <http://www.artmovements.co.uk/impressionism.htm>. 

Victoria, Vesna, narr. "BioTech Art Lectures I-V." N.p. web. 7 May 2016.

"Transgenic Bunny by Eduardo Kac." Transgenic Bunny by Eduardo Kac. Genome News Network, 29 Mar. 2002. Web. 07 May 2016 <http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/03_02/bunny_art.shtml>. 

Images

https://hammer.ucla.edu/fileadmin/media/exhibitions/2016/David_Lamelas/DLA_A_Fiction_1975_Still_04.jpg

https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/first/impression/impression.jpg

http://entertainmentvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DavidLamelas-Hammer_Feature2.jpg

Space + Art - Week 9

This week's teachings have a special place in my heart because I feel so passionately about space and the study of Astrophysics. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was the first person to really turn me on to the study of the Universe with his remake of Carl Sagan's original "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" into "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey." I was so inspired by his humbleness in discussion of Earth and its significance, or more importantly lack there of in this Universe. The Blue Marble (1972) was a photo of Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on December 7, 1972 and it was the first truly clear and all-encompassing photo of Earth.

Blue Marble

It is one of the most widely distributed images in human history, and one of the most important because it gave people a new global consciousness as the population saw Earth's vulnerability and isolation in the vast expanses of space. We realized that we are alone, and we must band together as one race. Images like these and the ones from the Voyager 1 space probe; Pale Blue Dot (1990),  put life into perspective and truly humble you. We are such a blip on the timeline of the Universe, we are almost unquantifiably insignificant in this Cosmos, and I find peace in knowing that. It may freak some people out, but that is no reason to reject the truth. Ever since Copernicus made the first mathematically accurate heliocentric model of the solar system in his notes Commentariolus (1514), we have progressed towards looking above and beyond our immediate state of being as we continue to learn how we are not the centers of the solar system in the Universe, but the Universe is actually within us. As my favorite Astrophysicist says, "We are star stuff" (Tyson).

Neil DeGrasse Tyson in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Crab Nebula

To me, Space is the most incredible artistic canvas that produces colors of black that literally lack any form of light, to some of the most beautiful and expansive shapes and colors in objects like Supernovas and Solar Nebulas. Artists come into play with Space when photographs become emotionalized in human expression. Jon Ramer, the president of the International Association of Astronomical Arts (IAAA) said, "An artist can depict things that a digital camera simply cannot. A (CCD) circuit in a camera may be able to capture a wider range of photon wavelengths than the human eye, but it still takes a human to imagine what those photons mean. Humans add the element of emotion to Art" (Heenatigala, 2013). Artists like Alan Bean have taken stunning photographs of the moon that show incredible shades of grey and breathtaking landscape, but he is more famous for his inspiring paintings full of color and emotion. Space is scary for many people, and it seems the more we learn about it, the scarier it gets. But we as a people must accept this fact and ban together as a human race and take care of this beautiful, tiny, marble that we have come to know as home.



Sources

Victoria, Vesna, narr. "Space + Art Part -6" N.p. web. May 28, 2016

Heenatigala, Thilina. "In Conversation with Jon Ramer." In Conversation with Jon Ramer. Astronomers Without Borders, 17 June 2013. Web. 29 May 2016.

"The Blue Marble." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 29 May 2016. 

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Dir. Adrian Malone. By Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter. PBS, 1980.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Dir. Brannon Braga, Bill Pope, and Ann Durban. Prod. Seth Macfarlane. Perf. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Fox National Geographic Channel, 2014. 

 "Commentariolus." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 29 May 2016. 

Images

http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/55000/55418/AS17-148-22727_lrg.jpg

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tyson_big_bang.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Crab_Nebula.jpg

Nanotechnology + Art - Week 8

Nanotechnology seems like one of those shiny words that gets tossed around on TV a lot, but not many people quite know exactly what it is. Nano refers to a specific scale of size between 1 and 100 nanometers; one billionth of a meter. And Nanotechnology refers to technology that can control and manipulate matter at this scale of size. The term itself "non-technology" was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974, and the first uses of the technology actually appeared as early as 400 B.C. when Romans, potentially on accident, used it in glass-making to change the color of the glass as the sun shines on it.

The Lycurgus Cup

We actually use nanotechnology in our everyday lives much more than I previously thought. The most common use of nanotechnology is in medicine where they can do things like manipulate nanoparticles to perform surgeries on a cellular level. Other more ordinary applications of these particles include silver nanoparticles in fabric that kill bacteria to make them odor-resistant, and their presence in skin-care products to deliver vitamins deeper into the skin. Dr. Gimzewski is a Scottish physicist who is one of the most qualified and well versed scientists in the field of nanotechnology and he said that nanoparticles are probably responsible for one of the largest markets today. The functionality of these particles are extensive and the need is immense. Nanotechnology has two main uses at the moment: UV filters, and as a delivery system. And these two uses cover an incredibly large realm of functions from make-up products and sunscreen to increasing solar cell efficiency in solar panels. These little things are mind-blowing, and can also be quite beautiful.
Artists have also found ways to visualize nanotechnology with incredibly powerful research tools. Using equipment like electron scanning microscopes to image particles that are smaller than wavelengths of visible light, so the images initially come back as grey. Nanotech and Art are just another example of the evolving marriage of science and technology, and have produced quite beautiful works in the process.

Nanotechnology Art

Sources

Bradley, Paul. "Everyday Applications of Nanotechnology." Community College Weekly. All Things Community College, 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 21 May 2016. <http://ccweek.com/article-2630-everyday-applications-of-nanotechnology.html>.

Feder, Barnaby J. "The Art of Nanotech." Bits. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 May 2016. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/?_r=0>.

Victoria, Vesna, narr. “Nanotech for Artists Part 1-6” N.p. web. May 21, 2016

"What It Is and How It Works." Nano. Web. 21 May 2016. <http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what>.

"California NanoSystems Institute." People. 2011. Web. 21 May 2016. <http://faculty.cnsi.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=113179>.

"Nanotechnology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology>.

Images

https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1402890/lycurgus-cup.jpg?w=400

https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMjAAAAJGY3YmZiNmY1LWNjZmUtNGU1ZC05NzYzLWM1ZjJmYThhZmNhNw.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/17/technology/20080117_NANOART_SLIDESHOW_3.html

Neuroscience + Art - Week 7

The mysteries of the human brain remind me of the ocean because we have explored and understand so little about it. To this day, we have explored less than 5 percent of the ocean. The human brain reminded me of this because of the overwhelming majority of information we do not know about it. The brain itself is far and away the most complex and high functioning machine on earth. One single synapse, which is like a microprocessor in the brain, of which there are over 125 trillion, "has more switches than all the computers and routers and internet connection on Earth" (Moore, 2010).

So by sheer complexity, we will never truly understand our own brains in their entirety, but that hasn't stopped humankind from trying. Aristotle first attributed the function of the brain to a secondary organ whose purpose was to cool the heart, where he believed all thought occurred. A Roman physician by the name of Galen came along and asserted that the brain was in fact the location where mental activity occurred, 

however he was pretty wrong in saying that the brain formed of sperm. The study of the brain branched into art however when Santiago Ramon Y Cajal established the Neuron Theory which showed how you can read the connection patterns between neurons by simply looking at their shape. Javier DeFelipe went on to write in Cajal's Butterflies of the Soul how the neurons in the brain are like mysterious butterflies of the soul. I believe that humans have a fascination with the concept of randomness. This is why I think that neuron maps of the brain sparked the artistic connection to neuroscience because of how beautiful the controlled chaos appears. For example, look at the success of Fish and Chips; drawings generated by firing goldfish neurons. The immense complexities of the brain and its web of beautiful neuron maps are intrinsically entangled with art.

Hallucinogenic Art

LSD was a fascinating topic to me because it gives users an idea of how capable our brain is, which also started a whole new genre of hallucinogenic art. But all of the hallucinations and emotions that come with the experience of a "trip" are not produced by the drug, but rather the brain. The drug simply stimulates the brain in a unique way, but everything experienced is done by the brain; which truly amazes me because it open a door to the endless functions of the mind that we had no idea are possible. We still barely understand dreams, and this idea of "endless possibilities" is at the root of art and neuroscience which is why there are so integrally connected.

Sources

 "How Much of the Ocean Have We Explored?" National Ocean Service. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Web. 14 May 2016. <http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html>.

 

 Moore, Elizabeth Armstrong. "Human Brain Has More Switches than All Computers on Earth." CNET. 17 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 May 2016. <http://www.cnet.com/news/human-brain-has-more-switches-than-all-computers-on-earth/>. 

 "A History of the Brain." Stanford University. Web. 14 May 2016. <https://web.stanford.edu/class/history13/earlysciencelab/body/brainpages/brain.html>.

 

 DeFelipe, Javier, and Santiago Ramón Y Cajal. Cajal's Butterflies of the Soul: Science and Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

"MEART." MEART. SymbioticA. Web. 07 May 2016. <http://www.fishandchips.uwa.edu.au/>

Victoria, Vesna, narr. "Neuroscience + Art I-III" N.p. web. 14 May 2016.

Images

http://c.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/codesign/imagecache/1280/Fly-Neuron-Art.jpg

http://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/11693/fnhum-06-00005-r2/image_m/fnhum-06-00005-g002.jpg

http://d3ehrfioloeo7j.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/InTheMake-KelseyBrooks11.jpg

Event 2 - Reigning Men

Lavish European 3-piece suit

On April 26th I attended the special exhibit Reigning Men at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The exhibit explores the relationship between high fashion and its relation with femininity from the years 1715-2015. With over 200 looks, the exhibit puts on display an interesting evolution of male clothing and its linked definition of “masculinity.” The LACMA website discusses this evolution in their own exhibit by noting lavish three-piece suits worn by aristocrats in the 18th century that rival the opulence of female dresses. The exhibit then moved into the 19th century where male fashion consisted of a more refined and conservative look to exude an expensive elegance. Then the 20th century simply exploded with modern style and color from, “Carnaby Street, and the 21st century man” (LACMA, 2016).

How is this masculine...?

This all reminds me of CP Snow’s lecture Strangers and Brothers and his book The Two Cultures. The lectures original title wasThe Rich and The Poor. This grabbed my attention because the exhibit is primarily showing the fashion of the rich, which I thought of as an independent culture; however I am seeing many more cultures within one another. I know I am stretching his definition of culture, but it was fascinating to me since I am seeing an evolving culture of male fashion journey through outfits from extravagantly decorated 18th century French suits with ruffles and flowers to zoot suits in the 1940’s and through a punk rock movement in the mid to late 20th century.

Zoot Suit

It is interesting how the exhibit related fashion to masculinity; however it makes complete sense to me as each independent culture had an appropriate way to dress, and no matter how colorful or feminine we may think it is today, it was considered the most desirable and “alpha” way to dress at the time. As a new thought to Professor Vesna’s “Third Culture,” fashion can be thought of as an entirely separate culture with multiple cultures within it that have been influenced by the surrounding environment and time period.

Sources

 "Reigning Men." Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Yoox.com. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.lacma.org/ReigningMen>. 

 Adam Tschorn. "It's 'Reigning Men' at LACMA: Here's Your Sneak Peek at the Fashion Exhibition." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-reigning-men-20160402-story.html>. 

Snow, Charles Percy The Two Cultures: and A Second Look. Reading. New York: Cambridge UP, 1963. Print

Snow, Charles Percy Strangers and Brothers. New York: Scribner, 1960. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.


Images

http://www.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig-reigning-men-20160402-story.html

http://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/styles/et_slideshow/public/et_image/12_M2014_87_5a-f.jpg?itok=7ahH8rW4

https://unframed.lacma.org/sites/default/files/attachments/5_%20ZOOT.jpg