Event 1 "From Forces to Forms" Part 1

 My first Art event in Spring quarter was the first episode of the “From Forces to Forms” series of lectures. It was definitely an interesting experience, which I recommend everyone try. The panelists are artists that were inspired by different natural phenomena and created beautiful pieces. One of such works, which is called “She Changes”, mesmerized me by its scale. A 300 ft. by 240 ft. colossal installation of a net suspended by three 25 to 50 steel poles created by Janet Eckhelman blew my mind. This piece combines the laws of nature such as gravity with wind, weather and creates an aesthetic of something airy and weightless. As Victoria Vesna explained in her article, artists are playing a critical role in helping to shrink the gap between science and art, I think that Echelman managed to connect art and science perfectly with her work (Vesna, 122). She Changes inspired me to create my midterm piece with many repeating patterns just like the net that would create an illusion of a grand object while being small in size.

She Changes 

Another piece that fascinated me a lot is “Eating Light” by Meredith Tromble. It is a video that shows the artist’s vision of how photosynthesis happens. The absorption of energy by the chloroplasts is depicted as the “dance” of the energy cells supporting all life and chemical processes. It is an interesting installation that gives the viewer a new perspective on the chemical reactions happening within the body of every plant. You can see the whole video by the link: 

https://vimeo.com/647977758/e28defca63

Eating Light

This event helped me further understand the connection between science and art by  looking at each piece separately not only as a scientific phenomenon but also as an artists’ representation of biology, chemistry, physics, and so on. 

Confirmation email

Sources: 

Janet Echelman, https://www.echelman.com/#/project/she-changes/. 

“Artist and Writer.” Meredith Tromble, 31 Jan. 2022, https://meredithtromble.net/. 

Tromble, Meredith. “Eating Light (Single Version).” Vimeo, 12 Mar. 2022, https://vimeo.com/647977758/e28defca63. 

“Explore 144 W. 14th St. in 3D.” Matterport, https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=svTRafZLydD. 

National Geographic Society. “Photosynthesis.” National Geographic Society, 5 Sept. 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/photosynthesis/. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–25, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014. Accessed 22 Apr. 2022.

MedTech+Art

 From this week's readings and lectures I found it interesting that doctors treated their practice as an art in the past while in the present days, people treat this knowledge not only as an art but also as science. Indeed, in the original Hippocratic Oath doctors were not allowed to use knives to help patients (pbs.org). After WWI it became a necessity to use knives actively to help soldiers’ injuries for them to come back to normal life after war (Vesna). 

doctors should take an Oath

Nowadays, people undergo surgeries not only due to necessity, but to enhance their beauty. As Fernandes refers to Macgregor explaining that “the body image [is] a basic component of our self-concept and our feeling of personal identity, encompassing the mental picture we have of our physical characteristics as much as our attitudes toward these characteristics, in a conscious and even unconscious way” (Fernandes, 1). Plastic surgery became very important in the world ruled by beauty standards. People gain confidence and feel better about themselves after undergoing plastic surgeries. No wonder that because even Leonardo Da Vinci was looking for the perfect proportions of a human body relating man to nature and the universe by depicting his “Vitruvian Man”.

Vitruvian Man

A lot of artists were inspired by the idea of human beauty and beauty standards. One example is a contemporary French artist ORLAN, who has undergone plastic surgeries herself to “change her appearance [...] in the name of art” (artnet.com). As we see medicine and art cannot exist without each other as any science in fact cannot exist in isolation. Every aspect of life, every natural phenomenon is a work of art that can be described by science. To finish off, I would like to cite J.W. Fernandes that “The surgeon, as the artist, has an accurate view of human body shapes. The artist may take it for fantasy whereas the plastic surgeon will make it a new reality for the patient´s sake” (Fernandes, 1).

ORLAN's Art

“Find Doctors, Drugs and Facilities.” Optima Health, https://www.optimahealth.com/find-doctors-drugs-and-facilities. 

“ORLAN (French, Born 1947).” Artnet.com, http://www.artnet.com/artists/orlan/. 

“Orlan.” Annenberg Space for Photography, 6 Feb. 2018, https://www.annenbergphotospace.org/person/orlan/. 

Fernandes, Julio Wilson MD, FBCS The Legacy of Art in Plastic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open: April 2021 - Volume 9 - Issue 4 - p e3519

doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000003519

Magazine, Smithsonian. “Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man May Not Have Been a Flawless Picture of Health.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 Feb. 2014, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/vitruvian-man-may-have-had-hernia-180949806/. 

The Vitruvian Man - by Leonardo Da Vinci, https://www.leonardodavinci.net/the-vitruvian-man.jsp. 

Tyson, Peter. “The Hippocratic Oath Today.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 27 Mar. 2001, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/. 

Vesna, Victoria. “MedTech+Art Part 3.” UCLA, 13 Apr. 2022, https://www.ucla.edu/. 

Week 3. Robotics + Art

 This week’s topic seems controversial for people as there is still debate whether technology is good or bad. As Walter Benjamin said mechanical reproduction changed art and caused it to lose authenticity. With the growth of technology and machinery, it is easier now to copy the work of art, but Benjamin also mentions that “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (Benjamin, 1). However, Douglas Davis argues that even though society is leaning toward logic and machinery, people still value works of art. He explains that people still bid at auctions and are searching for the original pieces (Davis, 5). 

Another example of controversy of the effect of machinery on art and our lives is the way we perceive machines. As professor Machiko Kusahara explained in her lecture, Eastern cultures portray robots as helpers, as devices or gosmos that defend and protect people from danger while Western cultures depict robots as evil. Compare Astro Boy and Gundam mobile suit, which were built as weapons to help people, and the Terminator, who was against humanity. Different cultures portray machines differently; hence, different perceptions on the topic. 

Gundam statue in Tokyo

Terminator movie

American science fiction writer Philip Dick depicted the struggle of a person, who tries to understand whether androids are humans or not, very masterfully. He distinguishes robots from humans by having empathy. The main character gets confused as the robot starts to act empathic, so the reader is left with uncertainty whether the robot was actually feeling empathy or was faking it perfectly. The author shows how people change their perception of industrialization's impact on art, so it is hard to judge if industrialization had a negative or positive impact on art. One thing can be said with confidence that industrialization and machinery affected art a lot. Take a look at Hayao Miyazaki movies. All of them are inspired by some type of machinery from the bathhouse in Spirited away to Howl’s moving castle. We can see pipes, screws, steam, and metal. Even the castle itself contains a lot of different details, and it was inspired by a weaving machine in motion, which makes it an interesting fusion of art and machinery. Its heart is powered by a demon Calcifer who keeps the house “alive” much like Dick’s android’s empathy. 

Howl's castle

Sources:

Barder, Ollie. “The Life-Size Gundam in Tokyo Will Be Replaced by the Unicorn Gundam This Fall.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 Mar. 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/03/05/the-life-size-gundam-in-tokyo-will-be-replaced-by-the-unicorn-gundam-this-fall/?sh=9b22d88f0d99. 

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

Bradley, Jazmine Sky. “Catching up with Classics: The Terminator (1984).” Critical Popcorn, 14 July 2020, https://criticalpopcorn.com/2020/06/29/catching-up-with-classics-the-terminator-1984/. 

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo, Vol. 28, No 5, 1995, pp. 381-386. 

Dick, Philip K., and Tony Parker. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Boom! Studios, 2011.

“Howl's Castle.” Ghibli Wiki, https://ghibli.fandom.com/wiki/Howl%27s_Castle. 

“Howl's Moving Castle.” Ghibli Wiki, https://ghibli.fandom.com/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle#Moving_Castle. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Professor Machiko Kusahara on Japanese Robotics.” MyUCLA, https://www.my.ucla.edu/.

Week 2. Art + Math

This week's post is devoted to math as one of the most fundamental knowledge of the whole universe. Math is all around us: starting from the shape of the flower and a snowflake and going to the architecture design. I believe that nature is the best architect, and we should learn from it.

Two fractal scales of phi spiral overlapping in opposite directions

Take a look at these fractal images. Although they are visual representations of the mathematical equations, they are aesthetically pleasing to our eye. They are like a piece of art by itself.

 

Equations and their visual representations

In addition, artists have been using golden ratio since the dawn of time. From the lecture, I found out that the golden ratio is found to be aesthetically appealing. No wonder the most famous pieces of art were created in reference to the golden ratio. It brings order and understanding. Artists use different aspects of math all the time: fractals, spatial perspective, balance, and symmetry. 

Under the wave off Kanagawa

As creatures living in 3D, it is impossible for us to see the fourth dimension and very difficult to imagine - our perception of space is limited by the laws of Euclidean geometry. As Linda Henderson mentioned the fourth dimension was treated as freedom from established laws and exploration beyond what we can see or understand. In addition to that, Adwin Abbott pushes our limits of understanding the space in his book “Flatland”. My personal perception of 4D is probably the same as A Square’s confusion when he found out that there is a third dimension. As a math major student, representation of the fourth dimension always interested me, and I believe that Art and Math cannot go without each other. Art is a visual representation of Math. Everything can be described by mathematical equations. I think that these disciplines cannot exist without each other as both require spatial recognition skills, feel of shape, proportion, symmetry, and so on. To finish off, I would like to show some ideas how gave designers see, interpret, and use the fourth dimension in their works. Think it is a great way to incorporate math and art in computer science project like the one in the video.

Sources:

Abbott, Edwin Abbott. “Flatland.” Flatland, by E. A. Abbott, 1884, http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/eaa/FL.HTM. 

Bernard, Luc. “ Luc Bernard.” Luc Benard, https://virtualmathmuseum.org/mathart/ArtGalleryluc/lucindex.html. 

CodeParade. Non-Euclidean Worlds Engine - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEB11PQ9Eo8. 

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 3, 1984, pp. 205–10, https://doi.org/10.2307/1575193. Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.

“Learn the Golden Ratio for Your Artworks on Canvas.” Upper Canada Stretchers | Art Canvas Stretcher Bars | Serving USA & Canada, https://www.ucsart.com/learn/blog/learn-the-golden-ratio-for-your-artworks-on-canvas. 

“Multi-Frequency Phi Double Spirals.” Cosmometry, https://cosmometry.net/multi-frequency-phi-double-spirals.html.

WEEK 1. TWO CULTURES

 “What specialization do you want to pursue?” - I was asked right after my 9th grade when students are usually divided into 2 separate classes - with the emphasis on humanity or science. As C.P. Snow explained in his essay that the reason why these two disciplines are divided is the educational system. Throughout my life I have been noticing this separation in everything school related. 

Being a math major student, I have spent most of my time in the southern part of UCLA not even trying to explore the northern part. Another example of separation is the restriction for most art classes to only art majors. I have always loved drawing and wanted to take a drawing class to improve my skills, but was not able to do so because of the restrictions. 

As John Brockman pointed out in his interview that the connection between the two cultures is achieved through artists interested in science. I do agree with that in a sense that there is an artist in all of us, as well as a scientist, for we are curious creatures by nature. 

It is clear that the gap between the two cultures becomes smaller due to the technology and digitalization of art. I personally am interested in combining science and art working on small video games with my husband. 

"Star Hunter" game created on Unity engine

I think this is a good representation of that bridge that Snow referred to. You need to think creatively about the colors and the environment you choose for your game, about the character’s appearance and the dialogues while being strategic and precise in coding every movement and interaction. 

Piece of code for "Star Hunter" 

However, I do not think that technology is the only thing that made the merging possible. I am also an aquarium hobbyist. I was inspired by the beautiful Zoanthids gardens in the reef aquariums. I had to do a lot of research on coral gardens: essential water parameters, nutrient presence in the system, nitrogen cycle and many more. What the audience usually sees is art leaving the science behind the scene. One cannot create and maintain those gorgeous pieces of art without going deeper into chemistry, biology, and oceanology.

Zoa garden https://saltwateraquarist.com/zoanthid-care/

Sources 

“Star Hunter by Alexander Voit.” Itch.io, https://bambooproduction.itch.io/star-hunter.

Elaine, et al. “Zoanthid Care Saltwateraquarist.com.” Saltwateraquarist.com, 15 Feb. 2019, https://saltwateraquarist.com/zoanthid-care/.

Graham-Rowe, Duncan. “John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art.” WIRED UK, WIRED UK, 3 Feb. 2011, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/matchmaking-with-science-and-art.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures; and the Scientific Revolution. University Press, 1959.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, The MIT Press, 2001, pp. 121–25, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014.