Week 4 MedTech + Art

In this week's lecture, I am amazed that so many scientists/artists are willing to use their own body to test some controversial and even dangerous technology, like plastic surgery and microchip implantation. For example, Professor Ken Warwick implanted a microchip into his forearm to experiment how human body could interact with electronics and Orlan performed plastic surgery on her body to represent famous artist's masterpiece, like the forehead of Mona Lisa and the chin of Venus. They are pioneers in discovering how medical technology can profoundly influences our lives. 

Microchips can now be implanted into people's brain due to advanced medical technology. 

Before today's lecture, I thought plastic surgery was invented in Korea because there are stereotypes about every Korean girls want to do a plastic surgery to make them look prettier. In fact, I learned that plastic surgery was invented four thousand years ago in India! It is not difficult to see that human have had a long history of aesthetic need for their good-lookingness. And medical technology developed so fast during wars in recent centuries that make many people's wishes come true.

Some celebrities are obsessed with cosmetic surgery.

Furthermore, I once lied in an MRI machine to find out the injury in my ankle. The result was beyond satisfaction. I could observe layers by layers of my right ankle. It was an incredible experience to witness such advanced medical technology. This experience relates to what Casini describes in his article about how MRI can be portraits of human bodies. It allows patients to look deeper than normally can.

In short, without today's lecture, I can never imagined that medical technology can be related to art. Generally, I have realized that human body itself is a kind of art. Therefore, things that change or append to the human body must has something to do with art. With the continuing development of medical technology, we are going to witness more and more various form of MedTech art.

Work cited:

Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine Parts 1-3.” Lecture. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Orlan – Carnal Art (2001) Documentary. Dir. Stéphan Oriach. Perf. Orlan. N.d. Film. YouTube. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations Between Science and Arts.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Robotics + Art

Before this week lecture, robotics already substantially merge with our lives. It is recently that the car we drive, the house we live in and the laptop I am writing this blog with are all made by robots. However, the discussions of such technology advancement due to industrialization have began much earlier. In Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, he is afraid of that the easiness to mass reproduction kills the innovation and originality to produce art. Unlike Benjamin, Douglas Davis believes that the gap between original and reproduction art is closing. It is understandable that Benjamin had such passive view of how industrialization would influence art. Comparatively, we have some new concerns with how robotics will change our lives. 

Is industrialization good for humanity?

I still remembered I was totally amazed by the futuristic and imaginary world featured in the film "I, Robot". In the film, people are living harmoniously with all kinds of robots, until one day some super intelligent robots with self-evolutionary power try to destroy humanity. Likewise, the series movie "Terminator" presents us a similar idea of the possibility that robotics can develop into scary killers. Nonetheless, the view of AI destroys humanity comes mainly from the West. This is because after industrialization, the West has enjoyed most of the fruits brought by industrialization and their technology has developed so fast that they themselves start to think about the consequence of such a fast pace. 

Del Spooner, acted by Will Smith, tries to stop the fight between robots and humans.

Unlike the West, which have focused mainly on manufacturing robots, the robot engineers in Japan have special affection to humanoid robots. Especially after industrialization to present, all kinds of humanoid robots are offered in Japan's robot market. Moreover, humanoid robots are featured in animation, like the famous Astro Boy. This happens because Japanese has realized that robots have  the functionality as human helper and comforter, in situations like elderly support and natural disasters.  

Robots can help take care of elders.

In conclusion, as technology develops faster and faster, we can expect more industrializations and more questions of art and robotics that are essential to our lives.    

References:

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18 Oct 2012

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction.” The MIT Press, 1995. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. 

Week 2- Math + Art

I studied mathematics for over more than ten years, from basic algebra and geometry to calculus and very abstract linear algebra. With some real life experiences, I found that math is closely related to art and design. After this week's lectures in Desma 9, I further understand that most of the masterpieces can't exist without the development of mathematics. Some topics like golden ratio and symmetry are familiar in the field of art. From the novel "Flatland", written by Edwin Abbott, I learned that we can perceive things in many different perspectives and dimensions are extremely interesting things to investigate and can be resulted in beautiful art designs. Moreover, in "The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion", written by Linda Henderson, breakthrough of mathematics and science discoveries have led to significant development of art and design. It is so surprising that there are so many connections between art and math.

Fractal design

There are a lot of mathematics theories behind this astonishingly beautiful fractal design, in which self-similarity is the essential feature of fractal. This example shows us that math and art are connected closely.

Architecture inspired by Mobius strip

This is another excellent example of the connection between math and art. The building is designed to be like a mobis strip. It is artistically beautiful and also functionally efficient. Designs like this cannot be accomplished without the merge of math and art.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

The last example I want to show is Mona Lisa. Surprisingly, if we draw a rectangle on her face, it turns out to be in golden ratio. Furthermore, the whole picture itself is also in golden ratio. Not to mention other body parts of Mona Lisa. That's why this grand masterpiece looks rather in harmony. 

In a nutshell, from this week's study, I learned that many art and designs in real life are actually prompted by mathematics. The merge of art and math also inspire many more different expressions of reality and imagination. The combination of art and math is one of the most beautiful creations of humanity.

Abbott, Edwin. FlatLand: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Print.

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

Vesna, Victoria. “Math + Art.” Lecture 2.

Week1- Two Cultures

I was born into a “Two Cultures” world. Most of the high school students in China have to choose between liberal arts and science, as their main focuses. Throughout my entire high school education, I learned a lot of natural sciences, but liberal arts were usually not in my class schedules. I remembered once in my Chinese class, our teacher reminded us that only knowing about scientific theories does not make us good citizens to the society. That was the moment when I realized that the education system, running over decades, had some problems.

 

Students feel difficult in choosing one of the two cultures

My doubts and realizations do not fade away when I come to the U.S., the culture melting pot, and study. I pick Applied Mathematics as my major and delve into natural science world once more. However, “Two Cultures” is surrounding my life. I take some liberal arts courses for GE requirements, like Desma9. What C.P. Snow described in “The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution” in 1959 makes me more confident of what I have always doubted is worth doubting. I walk from the South campus to the North campus, bypassing “two cultures” in just minutes. They are entirely different worlds with distinct styles of architectures. I wonder how these buildings and sculptures make a difference in college students’ understandings of the two cultures. “Are they separate?” and “Do I even need to care about things happening in the other side of the campus?”  

UCLA North campus Sculpture Garden

UCLA South campus Engineering School

I got my first job at Startup UCLA, working closely with some college entrepreneurs. One of the startups, called Enrou, showed me the amazing power that “the Third Culture”, described in Victoria Vesna’s article “Toward a Third Culture: Being in between” could create. Enrou is an e-commerce startup whose goal is to reduce global poverty. They utilize IT technology to connect customers with social causes with artists and ordinary people in underdeveloped countries. Through Enrou, people can buy artifacts and clothes, created by those hands in need. Combining the two cultures, Enrou is en route to making a better world.

Enrou, an e-commerce startup
enrou.co

I am truly grateful that this week readings give me more insights into how I can better understand how art and science can work together. In the future, I will try not to only focus on science and technology but also explore as broad as possible.

Sources:

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

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.

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

Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures: And a Second Look. N.p.: n.p., 1963. Print.