Week 4: Medicine and Art

Frieda Khalo depicts the combination of art and medicine in “Feeding Funnels.”

http://scienceblogs.com/bioephemera/2009/01/07/frida-kahlo-and-feeding-funnel/

Humans have always held a fascination of the human body. From ancient burial rituals, to golden  rings used for neck extension, to plastic surgery, we have are acutely aware of our physical body. In the 21st century, the explosion of medicine technology to explore the body as a means of scientific inquiry and as a blank canvas has lead to both advancements in the medicinal field and in art, proving that many of the techniques and ideas circulating the body are indeed interconnected.

Kayan women blend ideas of body and art through the use of elongating neck rings.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Kayan_woman_with_neck_rings.jpg

I found Professor Vesna’s discussion of the origins of plastic surgery particularly fascinating. Learning that plastic surgery had been an ancient tradition, and also a form of patient healing after war, made me realize that the intrigue with human beauty is longstanding and detailed. I was even more surprised to learn of artists whose medium of work was in fact their own body; I had never considered plastic surgery as a way to express creativity and artistry. I found Orlan a particularly interesting artist, because she chose to showcase her body art through public viewings of her surgeries, which took on a level of performance. I also found her choices for her surgeries interesting, as she chose to reconstruct body parts from different women of male-created classical paintings, effectively communicating the way in which we view female beauty. 

Orlan’s unique art form has shifted the way in which we view medicine technology and art.

http://www.creative-mapping.com/controversial-french-artist-orlan-is-perhaps-most-infamous-for-using-her-own-body-as-a-tool-for-a-series-of-performance-surgeries-known-as-the-reincarnation-of-saint-orlan/

It is quite evident that the fascination with art and the human body transfers to medicine and body science. Humans have always been fascinated by body manipulation, which is evident in historical and social cultural traditions spanning from the earliest days of recorded history to modern day society. as medical procedures advance, so does our ability to explore new artists forms and mediums. Much like areas of scientific and mathematical study, art is constantly changing and transforming through the invention of new technologies and the creation of new ideas. The 21st century has already been characterized by its explosion of new technologies, which in turn leads to completely outstanding artist movements, which as was proven through this week’s topic, includes that of the art of the human body, and how both artists and medical scientists alike can transform the way in which we view our bodies.

Resources:

Glatter, Robert. “Can Studying Art Help Medical Students Become Better Doctors?” 20 October 2013. Web. Accessed 20 April 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2013/10/20/can-studying-art-help-medical-students-become-better-doctors/

National Geographic. “Top Five Taboos: Beauty.” Web. 2015. Accessed 20 April 2015. 

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/taboo/videos/top-five-taboos-beauty/

Orlan. “Orlan Official Site.” Web. 2014. Accessed 20 April 2015. http://www.orlan.eu/

Panda, S.C. “Medicine: Science or Art?” January 2005. Web. Accessed 20 April 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190445/

Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine and Art: Part 3.” YouTube. YouTube. Web. 22 April 2012. Accessed 20 April 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4

Week 3: Robotics and Art

Robotics and art have become synonymous with the 21st century. 

http://i36.tinypic.com/2jiqec.jpg

I’ll never forget the first time I ever saw a robot in person. I was in fourth grade, and I had gone to Disneyland one weekday with my family. We waited in line to see a show with ASIMO, a robot created by Honda. Those 15 minutes were some of the most awestruck moments of my life-- ASIMO was an incredible intelligent machine, as demonstrated by his ability to walk, talk, climb stairs, and perform a multitude of other tasks. Originally developed to provide assistance to the disabled, Honda’s robotics program is one of the most advanced in the world. ASIMO is made of magnesium alloy and covered with a plastic resin, and is the most humanoid robot in the world (American Honda Co., 2015). Through studying the walk of insects, mammals, and mountain climbers with prosthetic legs, therefore exemplifying the was in which researches utilized natural design to create man-made robotic design (Obringer, Strickland, 2015).

[video of ASIMO on LIVE with Kelly and Michael]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skXYr8BzjpM

ASIMO has found a home as a star attraction at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/6562/Disneyland_Park_Update

As Walter Benjamin stated, “One of the foremost tasks of art has always been the creation of a demand which could be fully satisfied only later” (Benjamin, 1936). Robots seem to be the ultimate definition of this idea; by incorporating art design and science technology, we successfully develop new technological design which is rapidly and vastly improved upon as our understanding of robotics advances. The rising demand for robotic technology after the rise of the Industrial Revolution is ever-increasing and ever-expanding (Blackstone, 2015).

Society responds to this industrialization by demanding new artistic forms, and in the present century, new technological forms. Robotics attempts to blend these two subjects as one-- by incorporating the most advanced technology with the elements of art and design, researchers are able to utilize both “cultures” to create one end product. Robotic technology has become a form of art, because, quite simply, “art is a search for emotion,” and as we strive to create human-like robots, we also strive toward achieving artistic credibility (Lim, 2013). 

References:

American Honda Motor Co. Inc. “ASIMO: The World’s Most Advanced Humanoid Robot.” ASIMO. Web. 2015. Accessed. 15 April 2015. http://asimo.honda.com/Inside-ASIMO/

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

Blackstone, John. “Robots open up the world of art.” CBS News. Web. 1 March 2015. Accessed 15 April 2015. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/robots-open-up-the-world-of-art/

Lim, Angelica. “What Roboticists Can Learn From Art, and What Artists Can Learn From Robots.” IEEE Spectrum. Web. 2 May 2013. Accessed 15 April 2015. http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/what-roboticists-can-learn-from-art

Obringer, Lee Ann, and Strickland, Jonathan. “How ASIMO Works.” How Stuff Works. Web. 11 April 2007. Accessed 15 April 2015. http://science.howstuffworks.com/asimo.htm

Week 2: Math and Art

My first hands on experience with math and art was in my freshman year of high school. I was in an advanced art class, and we were working on our perspective drawing unit. We spent the large majority of a class period discussing ratios and using rulers to calculate distances in our sketches. I remember being intrigued that math had been able to penetrate into the world of art-- for me, art class was a way for me to escape my hardest subjects and allow my creativity to escape the confines of formulas and theorems.

Illustration of math application in perspective drawing. 

http://makingartfun.com/htm/f-maf-art-library/two-point-perspective.htm

However, if it weren’t for math, my art piece would have been absolutely terrible. I realized that math is an as essential part of of art as the pencils I use. Both math and pencils are art tools, and it is in our application of both that we are able to create astounding works of art. First explored by Fillipo Brunelleschi during the Renaissance, perspective drawing became an integral part of art, as it allowed artists to create strikingly realistic paintings. The dawn of the Renaissance and the pull away from traditional Medieval art styles allowed for a further expansion of art into the sciences and mathematics. Brunelleschi’s experiments with perspective in his paintings allow for other artists to make use of his mathematical techniques in their own artwork, subsequently leading to an expansion in realistic artwork. 

Brunelleschi’s explorations of math and art changed the way in which artists used different techniques in their artworks. 

http://pixgood.com/brunelleschi-perspective-painting.html

This integration of math and art has profound effects on our different societies and cultures. Through Edwin A. Abbot’s Flatland I was able to see an interpretation of just how influential math can be in shaping our social, physical, and especially artistic worlds. His juxtaposition of math and art further highlighted the importance of using math to further expand our understanding and perceptions of art. 

The use of math in art is not simply limited to two dimensional paintings; innumerable works of art, all of different mediums, utilize math to create beauty and inspire creativity. As our societies further progress, math and art become and integral part of our everyday lives as we are surrounded by the beauty of calculations. 

Ink Drops to The Origins is an example of how math and art play an equal role in architectural design. 

http://artcom.de/en/project/ink-drops-to-the-origins/

References:

Abbot, Edward A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. 1884.

Frantz, Marc. “Lesson 3: Vanishing Points and Looking at Art.” Web. 2000. Accessed 10 April 2015. http://www.cs.ucf.edu/courses/cap6938-02/refs/VanishingPoints.pdf

Malkevitch, Joseph. “Mathematics and Art.” American Mathematical Society. Web. April 2015. Accessed 10 April 2015. http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-art1

Mathematical Association of America. “Math and Art: The Good, The Bad, and The Pretty.” Web. Accessed 10 April 2015. http://www.maa.org/meetings/calendar-events/math-and-art-the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty

Tyler, Christopher. “Principles of Perspective.” Science and Art Perspective. Web. Accessed 10 April 2015. http://www.webexhibits.org/sciartperspective/raphaelperspective1.html

Week 1: Two Cultures

Art and science are prevalent cultural facets in current society.

(https://randydeutsch.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/aaaaa.jpg)

As an Environmental Science major and a Spanish minor, the idea of two cultures is something that I am particularly familiar with; my two departments aren’t even in relative proximity to one another on campus. However, I have experienced this divide for quite some time throughout both my education and through my personal life. In high school, I always considered myself “an English/history person,” rather than “a math/science person.” Many of my peers classified themselves in one way or the other. At UCLA, this division continues through the difference in classification between North Campus and South Campus. Both geographically and socially, we are separated by our areas of study. This divide is accepted, and even encouraged, by students and the university alike.

The divide between North and South Campus seems a friendly intra-school rivalry, but rather suggests a deeper support of the cultural division between the sciences and the arts.

(http://www.theuclafund.ucla.edu/news/nvschallengewinner.aspx)

So how did I become a South Campus major, when I had always excelled in North Campus subjects? As C.P. Snow stated, “By training I was a scientist: by vocation I was a writer.” I immediately identified with his statement: I am passionate about both what I want to do as an occupation and also about what I enjoy doing in my free time. I am not a scientist, nor am I an artist; rather, I am a combination of both. 

Consider what David Bohm writes: “Thus, he wishes to find in the reality in which he lives a certain oneness and totality, or wholeness, constituting a kind of harmony that is felt to be beautiful.” Looking at this statement with a culturally influenced perception, we would immediately assume that his words describe the mindset of an artist; however, these words describe the mindset of a scientist. 

Through this class, I hope to gain a better appreciation for the way in which science and art influence one another through their interconnectedness. I believe that as technology progresses, art and science are beginning to grown closer together. This is evident in the necessity for art in order to influence scientific design, and the dependence on science to drive new artistic movements. As society progresses through the influences of both fields, perhaps we will better understand the way in which not only our different studies, but also our different cultures, are connected.

We should focus more on “wonder” and the result of the blending of art and science in modern culture rather than the differences between these subjects. 

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-silva/at-ted-active-2011-scienc_b_832677.html)

References:

Bohm, David. “On Creativity.” Leonardo. April 1968: 137-149. Print.

Graham-Rowe, Duncan. “John Brockman: Matchmaking with science and art.” Wired. March 2011. Web.

Kelly, Kevin. “The Third Culture.” Science. 13 February 1998: 992-993. Print.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Tritipeskul, Sirinya. News, North and South Campus. The UCLA Fund. 22 May 2013. Web. 3 April 2014. http://www.theuclafund.ucla.edu/news/nvschallengewinner.aspx.