Desma 9

Space + Art Ever since I was 10 years old, space was an intriguing entity, mostly because of its infinite size and at the same time our somewhat little knowledge of it. I grew up dreaming to be an astronaut, as stereotypical as that may be, as I read many books and comics of tales to the moon and space adventure. I even had the typical glow in the dark stars on my ceiling to look at as I fell asleep. We do know how little the Earth is in comparison to the rest of the universe. Carl Sagan says in his  A Pale Blue Dot,  "our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light." In other words, we hold ourselves to be a influential part of the universe, yet we could hold no significance in the larger picture. Many artist's work have been inspired by the uncertainty and popularity of outer space, one being Robert Rauschenberg, who was invited by NASA to witness the Apollo 11 launch. He ...

Event 2 Meteorite Museum (UCLA Campus) Today I went to the meteorite museum on the UCLA campus. I had never been to the meteorite museum before, I really enjoyed it I look forward to going back in the near future. The small but very open Space allowed me to walk around and really lose myself in the exhibit. I felt as if I was really in space. This museum is definitely one of the hidden gems on UCLA's campus. Already I finish to pay The meteorite museum was a collection of meteorites and information about meteorites. The meteors that were on display were found all around the world. in the center of the room there're three meteorites. Next to them a brief description about where they where and who found them. The coolest part for me was how old the meteorites were estimated to be.  Seems to me that there weren't that many meteorites on exhibit. It Seem that there were more posters than actual rocks. I don't know why that, maybe I just couldn't find the whole ...

NanoTech + Art  Nanotechnology is different than any subject we have discussed so far as the "art" being created is not visible to the naked eye. Nanotechnology is working with matter at the atomic level, far too small to see without instruments. Because nanotechnology works at such a molecular level, old scientific techniques become out dated and no applicable, but have the ability to be influential in changing the world at a social level. Nanotechnology is a collaborative effort, just like the artists are becoming, as science ideologies must be reinvented and there is a clear paradigm shift. (Vesna intro) An interesting part of Dr. Gimzewski's lecture was his discussion about the first to conceptual talk about nanotechnology in 1959, Mr. Richard Feynman. He gave a talk called, "There's plenty of room at the bottom," where he suggested how much room there was at the atomic level to create new technology, that could change the world. Feynman ...

Neurosci + Art Like last weeks blogs, neuroscience is an ever growing field of technology, new knowledge, and more  comprehension of the human brain. The human brain is responsible for the most within the body, as maintains the state of the body and is responsible for all thoughts. Neurons play a major role in the nervous system while they are responsible for connection between cells. "Golgi's method," coined by Camillo Golgi, is a neuron staining technique. It looks as so:   Another interesting topic involving the brain and neurons are drugs and hallucinogen. In the 50's, LSD was to have thought to be a psychological marvel to help cure depression and cases of  schizophrenia. As LSD is also supposed help alcoholics, the drug has the ability to access one's subconscious. Once the an artist is able to tap into their conscious and subconscious brain, their artwork has little restrictions or guidelines. The artist can theoretically portray images and thoughts that...

BioTech + Art As BioTechnology, and technology in general expanding at a rapid rate on the cellular level, the artists have began working with biologists and live tissue, organisms, and life processes. This has raised discussion as to what "BioArt" entails. Furthermore, their are ethical debates about artists "meddling with the genetics structures of natural systems." (Vesna) Joe Davis was the pioneer of BioArt as he had an idea of putting sounds to light information, in which he called the Audio Microscope. The Audio Microscope allows for one to "hear" living cells, as each cell was given its own signature sound. He then took this idea farther to look at how E. coli responded to jazz, in efforts to create sound waves that would act stressful to bacteria. He would later use E. coli as the vehicle to send a sign of human intelligence and to "send a message in a bottle" to the extra terrestrials. He chose E. coli because it is essential for hum...

Med+Tech The human body is one of the most fascinating "machine" operating on earth today. Anatomy and dissection of the human body is at the intersection of art and technology today. Medical technology is at the front of the technology race as its field is producing some of the newest and most advanced technology today. The first important text and illustration of the human anatomy were done by Andreas Vesalius in his  De Humani Corporis Fabrica  (1543) in which he accurately depicted an elaborate depiction of the human organs and body structure like no one had done before. A few hundred years later, Henry Gray's Anatomy book would prove to be one of the most dominant pieces on the subject and is still used today. The vivid illustrations and detailed descriptions would trigger a shift in appeal towards the human body, and even today, although it was intended for the medical community, most artists who work with the human body use it. A popular, yet rare, use of...