Medicine and Art

(2)

To me, this weeks topic was very interesting as Medicine and Art are two subjects that I have always been interested in. I think the thing that is so interesting about it, in particular, is how different people categorize the two subjects, yet how reliant they truly are on one another. For many artists throughout history, knowledge about human anatomy has been absolutely essential. In addition, for those within the medical world and studying medicine, a key component in the accumulation of knowledge of the human anatomy lies in visual images and representations of the muscles, bones, tendons, and internal organs of human beings, often done in the form of drawing and then put in books, such as that of Gray's Anatomy which is currently on its 40th edition. (1)

While Medicine and Art have relied on one another for accuracy and efficiency for a very long time, I found it very interesting to learn about innovative new ways in which medical practices or usages have found their way into art. For instance, Justine Cooper's use of MRI's in her artwork, being the fist to do so but certainly not the last. (3)

(3) Justine Cooper's MRI artwork

I found the idea of using MRIs to exhibit the human brain in an artistic way was very interesting, and found another exhibit done by Paula Crown called Inside my Head: A contemporary Self-ortrait. (4) This exhibit shows a new way in which medicine can aid artists in creating works of art that they would otherwise not be able to, such as a self portrait which shows inside the artists brain. I find it very interesting that over time, even now that artists have already benefited from all of the medical research and direction of human bodies that has made it possible to understand human anatomy, and just as medical schools have long been using art to portray, teach, and learn about the human body; there are still ways in which the two fields are interacting with one another in order to break barriers that never would have been possible otherwise.

Inside my Head: A contemporary Self-Portrait

This week I was particularly intrigued by the lectures as the insight into medicine, art, and their reliance on one another throughout history was incredibly interesting to me. I think, for me, the way that each one not just relied on one another but helped develop one another is what is most astounding to me, especially because people regard the two as so different and disconnected, yet they literally helped create one another, and most certainly helped one another become what they are today.
I was also fascinated with Stelarc and his use of his own body in exhibits. The human body has been a very big part of art for a long time, and nude art in particular is something that was far more popular throughout history than it is today. In many ways, I believe, I was surprised to learn about Stelarc's use of the human body because in many forms of modern art I have not seen the nude human body be used quite as much as it was in the past. I was surprised to see his immersion of the human body and modern technology, as I have truly never seen anything like it. (5)

Works Cited

(1) Lecture Part 1

(2) "Gray’s Anatomy." Science Book a Day. N.p., 08 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. 

(3)Vasini, Silva. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

(4) "MRI Art Exhibit Captures The Beauty Of The Human Brain | The Creators Project." The Creators Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

(5)"Extended Body: Interview with Stelarc." N.p., n.d. Web.

Robotics and Art

        This weeks lesson taught me a lot about the relationship between robotics and art, which I had never considered before now. I had noticed that robots were often given humanoid shapes, however, I never really thought about why that was. I found it very interesting to learn about the relevance of creating a friendly looking robot. I was very interested in the Japanese animation Astroboy and the way in which this combination of art and robots encouraged people to believe in the future and provided a cultural basis for the way that robotics was viewed and incorporated in Japan; creating the notion that robots are friends and not something to be feared.(1) Robots that are used in pop-culture and entertainment certainly have an influence on the way that people view robots and their potential. One example of friendly robots in pop-culture are that of R2D2 and BB8 from Star wars, who have a cute aesthetic and also act as helpers to humans who they seem to create emotional attachments to and act as very loyal companions (2)

This topic made me think in an entirely new way about the way in which the aesthetic appearance of a robot influences peoples opinions of them. In addition, it made me realize the way that art and culture influence the public's views on technology.  Professor Kusuhara addresses the idea in pop-culture that robots may take over the world, or that they are or could turn evil. The whole notion of robots replacing humans has arisen within aspects of our culture ever since the Industrial Revolution when robots began to replace work that otherwise would have been done by humans. 

The connection between art and machinery becomes very clear when I think about the way in which one influences the public's perception of the other.  As Walter Benjamin said, "Mechanical reproduction of  art changes the reaction of the masses toward art." (3) In this case, it is art that is influencing the masses reaction toward mechanical reproduction. I believe that this goes both ways, as these two interconnected subjects influence the publics perception of one another within Western culture.


The movies I, Robot and Wall-E are the two movies which come to mind for me when addressing this topic, as I think they represent two entirely different sides in regards to fear, verses admiration for robots within modern culture. In I, Robot, the robots which were created to help humans wind up turning against them and working to take over the world.(4) In wall-E, on the other hand, the robot is in an animation movie and robots within it are used as adorable, earth-cleaners who are capable of love and other human emotions. Wall-E, himself, the main robot in the film, is extremely likable as he is very friendly and is working to clean up a waste-covered and abandoned earth in the distant future. (5)

Works Cited

(1) Robotics Lecture. Machiko Kusahara.

(2) http://www.starwars.com/databank/r2-d2

(3) Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

(4) I, Robot. Dir. Alex Proyas. Perf. Will Smith. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004.

(5) Wall-E. Dir. Andrew Stanton. Perf Ben Burtt. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2008

Week 2: Math and Art

Hayley Epstein

Sunday April 10, 2016

The way in which math and art are intertwined is a topic in which I have given little thought. I often forget that the two are very involved, however, having taken both art history classes and art classes themselves, I am certainly aware of the ways in which art is dependent on mathematics; with geometry playing a large role, as the vanishing point and the golden ratio are both key elements in creating aesthetically symmetrical, dimensional, and realistic pieces of art.

Although I had learned about vanishing points, Mark Frantz's article gave me a much better understanding of the use of the vanishing point, as well as how to spot the vanishing point in both a top view and a side view image.(Frantz, 2000) I was drawn towards reading more about this, because I feel that the vanishing point is a mathematical tool which, once it is properly understood, can greatly improve a person's artistic abilities. I remember in art class in high school, after learning about the vanishing point, I was shocked at how much my ability to draw buildings in a city improved. Although, in many ways, people view art and math as being different, one being full of rules and the other being creative, there is actually quite some overlap in regards to each of these. Math can be quite creative, while art has many rules, including that of the vanishing point. 

One of the topics I was drawn to this week was the works of M.C. Escher, particularly his work with tessellations, the arrangements of close shapes which "completely cover the plane without overlapping and without leaving gaps." (The Mathematical Art of..) The reason that this caught my eye is because I very vividly remember that throughout elementary and middle school I always loved playing with blocks that were in shapes which allowed us to create tessellations. I remember that this was an activity to help us learn more about geometry, and it most certainly did, as it provided hands on insight unto the way in which angles and sides of shapes can interact with one another. However, it truly felt like art to me as a child, and in fact; it was both! M.C. Escher an his work with Tessellations immediately reminded me of these blocks. Here are the comparisons between M.C. Escher's work and the blocks that I used in school: 

Tessellation blocks
http://mathforum.org/sum95/suzanne/active.html

Tiles in the Alhambra; drawing 1936

Another thing that I was aware of but had never learned the background in, or recognized it as a relationship between art and math, is that of Fractals. A fatal is a pattern that "repeats itself at different scales" (African Fractals) Fractals are used often for modeling within nature, as there are many parts of nature in which there are numerous of one thing such as peaks of mountains or puffs in clouds. The use of such art, however, is very common in African patterns. This was a revelation to me as I always knew the way that african patterns often looked and was always interested in the use of shapes involved, however I did not know that it was using a technique called fractals. This also remains me of kaleidoscopes and the way that they have repeated patterns throughout to create something that is quite mesmerizing. I believe that the juxtaposition of Math, Art, and Science, is one that is continually changing, as the three are inherently a part of one another. As art continues to change and grow in the modern world, with interactive artistic pieces, origami, and all sorts of three dimensional pieces; science and math will always play a critical role in the development of art.

http://www.cs.ucf.edu/courses/cap6938-02/refs/VanishingPoints.pdf

http://platonicrealms.com/minitexts/Mathematical-Art-Of-M-C-Escher/

http://mathforum.org/sum95/suzanne/active.html

http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/african/African_Fractals/homepage.html

https://dribbble.com/shots/1902495-Kaleidoscope-Pattern

Week 1: Two Cultures

C.P. Snow in his article The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution, addresses the divide between literary and scientific intellectuals; a divide which he claims to be deeply rooted and a societal trait which is prominent and involved in aspects of daily life and not just academia. According to Snow, "the intellectual life of the whole of western society is increasingly being split into two polarizing groups."

In Victoria Vesna's article Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between, she highlights this relatively new phenomenon and calls upon C.P. Snow's Rede lecture and the way in which he sparked a long and continuous discussion on the cultures of literary and natural science intellectuals. Interestingly, C.P. Snow argued that the structure and curriculum of schools is to blame for the polarizing divide, and this topic does in fact spark numerous topics and issues that are rooted within western society, much of which I have personally experienced.

http://www.academia.org/standardized-test-time-suck/

The existing academic structure which is largely based on categorization and standardized testing has influenced cultural divisions between increasingly polarizing academic subjects. I am considered within the literary intellectual world, as I am a Political Science major and I have personally experienced the tension that exists between the two academic realms. Throughout my junior and senior years I have felt a strong pressure against "switching my trajectory" to something that is too different from what I have been studying thus far; even though I have been hoping to change majors or perhaps pursue a post baccalaureate in order to pursue a career in medicine. Since I am not already at the level of my peers who hope to pursue such a career, I often receive critical responses in regards to delving into the sciences from the arts. I have noticed, through this experience, a deep tension that exists between the two cultures, which is continuously reinforced both consciously and subconsciously by people regardless of their academic field.

http://asucla.ucla.edu/restaurants/

There are similar cultural divides throughout many aspects of society and life, as well as within the physical campus of UCLA, as the sciences and the arts are geographically distinct from one another, with the arts in North campus and the sciences in South Campus. Cultural divides exist in many other areas of the University including within and outside of Greek life, as well as throughout the professional world. There is often a pressure from a very young age to stick to what you know and stay within whatever realm you have been categorized into, and as this continues on into adulthood with university majors and later on career paths, it may in fact start with an outdated academic structure of categorization and standardization. 

Citations:

https://neglectedauthors.wordpress.com/the-authors/c-p-snow/

Snow, C.P. The two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. print. Cambridge U Press, 1961

(lecture at Cambridge on May 7, 1959)

Vesna, Victoria. Toward a Third Culture: Being in between  (http://classes.dma.ucla.edu/Winter09/9-1/_pdf/1_TowardThirdCulture.pdf)

http://asucla.ucla.edu/restaurants/

http://www.academia.org/standardized-test-time-suck/

S