Friday, June 9, 2017

The Exhibition at Hammar Museum, Judith Hopf

This exhibition was presented at the one of the corners in Hammar Museum, and it was shown in a way so amusing. The project was organized by a Berlin-based artist, Judith Hodith. She expressed her idea of how technology has been influencing our life and perception.
While walking through the exhibition, I couldn’t get the meaning which the artist, Judith Hodith, is trying to point out. After reading the program of this exhibition, I totally agree with her and take the credit of her.
The first thing jumped into my sight is the pair of feet which she set as two variations. Both of them were titled Brick-Foot  (all 2016). Hodith used the way of old-school to make the work more like ancient figurative sculpture than minimalist carving. Unlike the contemporary sculptures which are typically full of sense of energetic and modern, even are painted with the impression of colorful abstract, the feet are not as fancy as it was stated, “technically perfect.”   The creation reminded me the previous event I attended: Eco Materialism and Contemporary Art. While our life has been becoming more convenient because so many inventions with advancement technology have been produced, people gradually forget how to use our body physically. For instance, people are lazy to walk since we get cars. I feel these feet ironically express the meaning of “heavy” that our feet are heavy enough to lift them up for walking because we are using the easier way- driving, instead of walking.
Another work that caught my eye is a series of paintings of laptops, which was titled “In Waiting Laptops.” Obviously, our lifestyle has been changed because of more and more high-tech devices. Laptop is one of those. The pictures of laptops which were drawn by Hopg are “anthropomorphized, sporting faces, hair, legs, arms, and personalized accessories such as shoes, sunglasses, and hats.” Yes, we cannot deny that we are using our laptops to do most of things that people did before the age of internet. Laptops are treated as human beings that they are doing the jobs which human should do physically, such as shopping, social contact, and so on. It is so true that Hoph addressed for her works, “the overwhelming presence of technology in our lives by contending with the ways in which the now-ubiquitous laptop mediates and enables, but also limits, human interaction.”

 




Sunday, June 4, 2017

Space + Art


Formation of Earth - Ron Miller
Space and art seem like two quite different subjects that it is impossible to show an intersection of them. However, art in which relates with space represents that the knowledge of the universe has been discovered, understood, and conveyed by some way of art. It is amazing that people would be able to know and see what is the outer space look like from artworks which include the creations of photograph, fiction, and etc. According to the lecture video, the professor, Victoria Vesna, gave an infusive opening to briefly introduce the space where is a yearning for travel in the future; she said “we have been fascinated by the sky, the stars, the plants and we have looked at the cosmic ocean for thousands of years.” Before the age of the invention of the telescope, all the points of light in the sky attracted attention of ancient astronomers and they did a romantic thing for those stars- making Roman names of deities to call them, such as Venus which means the goddess of love and beauty. For me, this work- making names for all stars to give themselves meanings, was creative and imaginative, and it was a part of art.

"The Pale Blue" dot. The rays of light are artifacts on the photo from the Sun.
-NASA

Owing to new technological advances, people have been able to use the telescopes to look at and observe all the shining spots in the sky, even taking photographs of them, such as “Pale Blue Dot,” a photograph of planet Earth that was taken by Voyager 1 space probe. By showing from the photo, the apparent size of Earth is less than a pixel. The planet is appearing as a tiny dot that against the vastness of space. Carl Edward Sagan, an astronomer, cosmologist and author, was impressed by this photo, and he contributed a book named “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.” He pointed out that on the dot, “every human being sho ever lived, lived out their lives”.
Another example is about Ron Miller, an illustrator and author specializing in science, astronomy, and science fiction, has published more than fifty books. Also, he is a production designer and an artist that he has designed postage stamps and worked on motion picture. He has ever described that the Earth actually has a ring like Saturn. And there are so many incredible photos shown on his post “If Earth Had a Ring Like Saturn.”


It is a good comprehensive topic of which combining art, science, and technology. All the beautiful works struck me and those visions give me hope for the future. Not only the photo works, but also the imagines the artists captured in ink, oils, watercolors and bytes. Importantly, all the artworks are waking dreams of us.











References:
"A Pale Blue Dot - Animated Version." YouTube. Ed. Gokumon17. YouTube, 13 July 2015. Web. 04 June 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH12FJDmVpU>

Miller, Ron. "If Earth Had a Ring Like Saturn." Io9. Io9.gizmodo.com, 20 May 2013. Web. 04 June 2017. <http://io9.gizmodo.com/if-earth-had-a-ring-like-saturn-508750253>
Sagan, Carl Edward. "A Pale Blue Dot." The Planetary Society Blog. The Planetary Society Blog, 1994. Web. 04 June 2017.<http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/earth/pale-blue-dot.html>

Szoldra, Paul. "26 Years Ago, Carl Sagan Gave Us an Incredible Perspective on Our Planet."Business Insider. Business Insider, 14 Feb. 2016. Web. 04 June 2017.<http://www.businessinsider.com/pale-blue-dot-carl-sagan-2016-1>

Victoria, Vesna. "8 Space Intro 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 04 June 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPAmpBiVHY>

Victoria, Vesna. "8 Space Pt1 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 04 June 2017.

Victoria, Vesna. "Space Pt4." YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2012. Web. 04 June 2017.

Victoria, Vesna. "Space Pt5." YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2012. Web. 04 June 2017.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Nanotech + Art

When we retrace the progress of technology, the trend of technology apparently is making things as small as possible. The evolution of mobile phones is a great example to illustrate the phenomena. While looking back over a distance of a century, the classic brick phone, which was named The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was a big step of the invention of handheld mobile. But, it was not the end of making the communication devices more smaller and easier to carry-on, and it is the goal that people constantly striving for excellence. Nowadays, we are using the “Smart Phones” in which have been becoming our daily necessities and personal belongings. Indeed, they are portable with a pocket-size and intellectual. Curiously, what is the idea and the way to make “The Smaller” possible, not only for phones but also for everything? After watching the video “Making Stuff: Smaller” which was credit by David Pouge, a new version of future technologies is impressed into my mind. Plus, the video make me believe much more that future technologies will depend on tiny stuff, even invisible, which is against the concept of the past “seeing is believing.”
bone audio speaker at the nanoscale
The lecture of this week is taking about nanotechnology and art. According to the video, we have been taught about the history of nanotechnology and its concept. Nanotechnology was introduced in 1959 by a scientist, Richard Feynman. He did not give the term “nanotechnology” in his lecture “There’s plenty of Room at the Bottom”, instead, he provided the idea of narrowing the focus to the smaller particles of items. The idea certainly have been influencing strongly in today’s technology. Doubtlessly, nanotech spans much of areas, such as chemistry, medicine, or even art.
By visiting a web page of The Art.Base, it details an event of international arts festival exhibition which was showing the unique works that developed for art in the age of nanotechnology. All creations were operated at the intersection of art, science, and technology. The exhibition certainly demonstrated the innovative idea of the collaboration of contemporary art, science, and technology. The creation, Boo Chapple- Transjuicer, turns me on because the project is to make audio speakers out of bone at the nanoscale.


Pandora flowers Courtesy Jian Shi, University of Wisconsin

In short, science surely can produce art and most of art works show materials smaller, more delicate and beautiful. The Professor, Victoria Vesna, who is also a chair of the UCLA Department of Design/Media Art, has said “new science is about a shift in our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity.” It is enjoyable to browse the art-works with novel skills of technology; meanwhile, it is good to learn about new nanoscale materials and their potential used.


Reference:
1. Vesna, Victoria. "Nanotech Intro." YouTube. UCOnlineProgram, 26 March 2012. Web. 28 May 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvp924_pbgc.

2. Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech Jim Pt 3." YouTube. UCOnlineProgram, 21 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0HCNiU_108.

3. Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech Jim Pt 2." YouTube. UCOnlineProgram, 21 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=76&v=HEp6t0v-v9c.

4. Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech Jim Pt 4." YouTube. UCOnlineProgram, 21 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=103&v=yHCuZetAIhk.

5.Lovgren, Stefan. "Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 23 Dec. 2003. Web. 29 May 2017. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1223_031223_nanotechnology.html>

6. Lilley, Maiken. "The Art of Nanotech." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 May 2017. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/art-nanotech.html>

7. "Art in the Age of Nanotechnology." Art.Base. The Art.Base, n.d. Web. 29 May 2017. <https://art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>

8. Pogue, David. "Making Stuff." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 May 2017. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-stuff.html#making-stuff-smaller>

9. Nguyen, Nicole. "The Evolution Of The Cell Phone-How Far It's Come!" ReadWrite. ReadWrite, 04 July 2014. Web. 29 May 2017. <http://readwrite.com/2014/07/04/cell-phone-evolution-popsugar/>

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Neuroscience and Art

The topic of this week, Neuroscience and Art, is interesting because it is a new page for me to realize more about the relationship of consciousness and art. I am not surprised that the human brain is composed of twenty-seven separate organs, and they localize in specific regions of the brain. Therefore, as stated, any of human behavior is dependent. This proves that some parts of the brain can be bigger while you are expert at handling some particular subjects, such as math, sport, or literature, because those particular parts are used more than the others. Yet, I am surprised about the saying of metaphor from a great artist and scientist, Santiago Romon y Cajal, he said “neurons are as mysterious butterflies of the soul," which is referred in one of the video of the lectures.





Wings of these butterflies, the dendrites were traditionally considered as passive integrator of synaptic information (Cajal). Indeed, the picture is so beautiful and I have never thought that way- our perception can be shaped to be a different butterfly. The way, in which we can see effectively that how neuroscience can be twisted together with art, is the pictures of scan- FMRI butterfly (2008), which were created by the artist, Suzanne Anker. This scanning work represented the idea that how modern brain science has penetrated popular culture. She explained this works as “a way to picture a thought…”



It is kind of a cultural equivalent that art creates metaphors which make science more transparent for the non-scientists. When art meet neuroscience, it is amazing that something invisible, such as our consciousness, can be visualized to see how neural networks enable us to think, act, and love. By drawing the beautiful pictures of neurons in which the neuroscientists observed under the microscope, such the artworks would facilitate the understanding of neuronal theory, which has been stated by Cajal that “the connection between neurons is contiguous rather than continuous.” Thus, there is a saying from him, “There can be no doubt, only artists are attracted to science” because art and science exist side by side and play a part together.


Neuroscience not only links with paper artworks but also can be the creatures of fine jewelry or silver sculptures. For example, Luke Maninov Hammond, a contemporary jeweler and neuroscience imaging specialist, contributes jewelrys and sculptures that inspired by neuroscience. And he is uniquely positioned as a scientist-artist who has expertise in neuroimaging. Isn’t it incredible that we can apply neuroscience as an intellectual ready-made to understand art, and explore more about human nature!

References:
Anker, Suzanne. "Bio Art." Suzanne Anker. Suzanneanker.com, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://suzanneanker.com/>

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10.11 (2009): 815-21. Web.

Hammond, Luck Maninov. "Images by Lukemaninov." Luke Maninov Hammond (@lukemaninov) | Instagram Photos and Videos. Pictaram, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017.

Noƫ, Alva. "Art and the Limits of Neuroscience." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 May 2017.

Regine. "BRAINWAVE: Common Senses." We Make Money Not Art. We-make-money-not-art.com, 26 Mar. 2008. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://we-make-money-not-art.com/brainwave_common_senses/>

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt1.mov." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 14 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. "Mind Intro." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2017.

Bio-Tech and Art

While having an open-minded understanding of the connection which includes the subjects of medicine, technology and art, it is not hard to imagine that art could be linked and combined with biology. However, in fact, as being completely new in the field of biology, it has been kind of hard to process everything which has been said in Ellen’s essay, “Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classification.” Yet, the article still gave me something new about the differences between copyright and patent protection and how it applies in the arts, as well as the ethical issue which has been raised in this subject.

Personally speaking, as for being more creative on art work, it is the thing that people should think twice that how valid it is for artists to “challenge conventional classifications of life.” In this subject, bio-tech and art, has sometimes been giving the effort to be provocative that stands on the edge between morally correct or incorrect. According to Ellen’s article, the author mentions a clear example of such this kind of artworks that were created by Eduardo Kac. In some ways, Kac’s art can be very controversial and hard to understand for many of us because his ideas and contributions blur the line in our recognition of classical taxonomy with computational programming and bioengineering.

A-positive, credit by Eduardo Kac

The work, “A-positive,” which was done by 1997, examined and explored the delicate relationship between the human body and emerging new breeds of hybrid machines machines that incorporate biological elements and from these elements extract sensorial or metabolic function (Kac 1997). That is, a human being could have a direct physical contact with a robot in terms of  the two emerging forms of human and machine interface penetrate the boundaries of the flesh. As to be a new category- hybrid biological robot, it has been ascribed as “biobots.” This event reflects on the condition of the human body in the new context in which biology meets computer science and robotics. As well, this is the beginning of the concept of “bio-art.”


GFP Bunny, credit by Eduardo Kac

Controversially, a transgenic art work- GFP Bunny, named Alba, has been created. Yet, the implication and relevance to issues of today’s society of this work are discussed because the project is a complex social event that starts with the creation of a chemical animal which never existed in nature. However, it is an eye-opening subject. For me,  “Bio-art” is a subject which is swarming with nonsense and sense. This new subject will be leading us to the world of “Defining Life” and thinking differently in art and science. Ultimately, human creativity has no limit and beyond infinity.



References:
"Bio-Art, Ethics and Engagement." Waag Society. Waag Society, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://waag.org/en/news/bio-art-ethics-and-engagement>

Kac, Eduardo. "ART AT THE BIOBOTIC FRONTIER." Ekac. Ekac.org, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://www.ekac.org/apositive.html>

Kac, Eduardo. "GFP BUNNY." Ekac. Ekac.org, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017.<http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html>

Kac, Eduardo. "Art at the Biologic Frontier," in: Roy Ascott, ed., Reframing Consciousness (Exeter: Intellect, 1999), pp. 90-94. 14 May 2017.

Levy, Ellen K.. “Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications.” DESMA 9. Web. 14 May 2017.

Slawson, Kim. "Eduardo Kac's GFP Bunny, a Work of Transgenic Art, Or, It's Not Easy Being Green." Eduardo Kac's GFP Bunny, a Work of Transgenic Art, Or, It's Not Easy Being Green. Kac Web, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://www.ekac.org/slawson%203.html>

Vesna, Victoria, narr. “BioTech Art Lectures I-V.” N.p., . web. 14 May 2017.

The Exhibition at Hammar Museum, Judith Hopf

This exhibition was presented at the one of the corners in Hammar Museum, and it was shown in a way so amusing. The project was organized b...