Week 9: Space + Art

For all human beings, the space and beyond is always fascinating yet mysterious. We have spent countless efforts attempting to explore the universe and yet we still only know very little about it. For artists, the space is also an important subject as many seek to find the true meaning of life from the universe.

While the whole history of us exploring the universe is interesting, I find the concept of the space elevator particularly fascinating. A space elevator is a proposed space transportation system and consists of a cable anchored to the surface of the earth that extends into the universe. As we are still awed by the skyscrapers in Dubai and New York, the idea of building an elevator into the universe is pure magic. Besides, the space elevator could reduce the cost of transporting humans and materials into the universe significantly. If we were able to build the elevator, we must be one step closer to conquer the universe.

The proposed space elevator

The space has always been an important subject in art works. Largely unknown to us, the space is like a blank canvas where we can put our wildest imagination on. Artists also tend to explore the meaning of life from the universe. One of my favorite sci-fi movies, 2001 A Space Odyssey, discussed the topic of what humans positions are in the universe and what super smart A.I. means for us. 

The poster of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey

With the improvement of technology, space travel and inhibiting outer space have been more possible than ever. Hopefully the day will come soon when everyone can afford to travel to the space and explore the universe.

Several private companies are exploring the possibility of commercializing space travel

Sources

Vesna, Victoria. “Space and Art: Part 2.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2012.

Ghani, Mikal. “60,000 miles up: Space elevator could be built by 2035, says new study''” PRI. N.p., Dec 2016.

Howell, Elizabeth. “Wild Inflatable Space Elevator Idea Could Lift People 12 Miles Up''” Space.com. N.p., Oct 2013.

Ebert, Roger. “"2001" -- The Monolith and the Message''” IMDB. N.p., May 1999.

Lant, Karla. “SpaceX Just Broke a Major Milestone in Commercial Space Travel'” Futurism. N.p., May 2016.

Event 3

This week, I went to the Hammer Museum for the Judith Hopf exhibition and it was quite fun and thought-provoking. Judith Hopf attempts to display the vitality of everyday objects through multiple medium including paintings, sculptures and short movies. I think many of the pieces would lead people to rethink their relationships with the seemingly plain objects that we encounter and use everyday.

In Hopf’s Waiting Laptops painting series, she gave the laptops emotions and characteristics that only humans have. Some laptops look sad and some look exhausted. Through their frequent interaction with us, our laptops have in some sense become extensions of ourselves. As I am typing this post on my laptop, weird as it may sound, I feel that the laptop have somehow absorbed my thoughts and helped preserve them. Hopf’s work really makes us reexamine our relationships that we have with our everyday objects.

A print from the Waiting Laptops series

There was also a series of sculptures made out of bricks, a kind of material rarely used in contemporary sculptures. Some of the sculptures also looked as if they were breaking through the floor, wall or ceiling. Her creative perspective really helped transformed the gallery into a fun place and attempted to upend the spatial constraints of the architecture.

A short video displaying a car which seems to have emotions

I would definitely recommend the Judith Hopf exhibition at Hammer to my fellow classmates. The exhibition is both fun and thought-provoking. While we take the objects that we use everyday for granted, we really should take a moment to think about how we interact with these objects and how they have become part of us.

Me at the exhibition

Week 8: Nanotech + Arts

Although largely invisible, nanotechnology has made presence in many parts of our lives. It is rather fascinating the idea of manipulating particles at a scale we can’t see with our eyes. Nanotechnology has provided new perspectives for artists and artworks also inspired many of the innovations in the field of nanotechnology.

A buckyball molecule

Buckyballs, C60, are among one of the first discovered nanoparticles. They are composed of carbon atoms linked to three other carbon atoms by covalent bonds and have a spherical structure. Because of its properties, buckyballs have been used in several fields. For instance, it is used to reduce the growth of bacteria in pipes and membranes in water systems. It is also widely used in medical fields. Scientists initially were unable to come up with the structure of buckyballs. However, inspired by Buchminster Fuller’s architecture, scientists eventually discovered the football-like structure of buckyballs. I think this is a beautiful example of how arts inspired science.

The Biosphere by Buchminster Fuller which resembles the structure of a C60 molecule

Artists and scientists are also collaborating to make art out of nanotechnology. Researchers at IBM Research released a short animation, A Boy and His Atom, on YouTube in 2013 which tells the story of a boy and a wayward atom who meet and become friends. The animation was done by researchers who moved around carbon monoxide molecules, a kind of nano-sized particle, with a scanning tunneling microscope. The animation is now the world's smallest animation.

A frame from A Boy and His Atom

As nanotechnology develops, it is quite exciting for us to see what innovations nanotech can bring us both scientifically and artistically.

Sources

Ghani, Mikal. “Scientists are becoming artists, thanks to 'NanoArt''” PRI. N.p., Dec 2016.

Entin, Ari. “IBM Research Makes World’s Smallest Movie Using Atoms” IBM News, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2012.

Syoox, Paul . “25 years of C60 : Nature Nanotechnology” Scientific American. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.


Elizabeth, Landau. “The discovery of buckminsterfullerene” CNN. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2003.

Phong, Naureen. “Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?” PLOS. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

Neuroscience, the study of our brains, mind and consciousness, has always been fascinating as it helps us to understand how our thoughts are formed and how we perceive the world we live in. It has been a great source for artists and the art works artists made also inspired neuroscientists in their research and studies.

An image from the Brainbow Project

The study of brains is extremely complex and it has only been around 100 years since we really began to understand our brains. A lot of fascinating research has been done since then. The one that interests me the most is the Brainbow project led by a team of researchers at Harvard University. Using fluorescent proteins, the researchers marked neighboring neurons with different colors. Thus, they were able to trace individual neurons and see how neurons are connected in the brain. While it has great scientific value, I found the project aesthetically pleasing as well. The image of the colored proteins resemble rainbows and that’s how the project got its name.

The cover of the Beatle album Revolver

Besides, the discussion of LSD from the lecture reminded me how LSD led musicians to create great music. With the help of LSD, the Beatles created their masterpiece Revolver. The psychedelic effects of LSD brought them a lot of inspirations. Other great artists like Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys also benefited from the use of LSD. While the drug helped them with their artworks, it also did serious damage to their health and personal lives. 

An image stimulating the effect of LSD

How our brains and mind work is still much unknown to us. The field of neuroscience will definitely continue to fascinate artists.

Sources

Gilmore, Mikal. “Beatles' Acid Test: How LSD Opened the Door to 'Revolver'” Rolling Stones. N.p., Dec 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience and Art: Part 3.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2012.

Kwon, Diana. “The Brainbow Connection: Viewing Nerve Cells in Living Color” Scientific American. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.


Elizabeth, Landau. “What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience” CNN. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Ghani, Naureen. “When Arts meet Neuroscience…” PLOS. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Week 6: BioTech + Art

BioTech involves the manipulation of the body for artistic and scientific purposes. This topic is both fascinating and controversial given its nature. A lot of moral questions are raised in the process of creating art out of BioTech, and it’s hard to draw the boundaries between what is moral and what is immoral. 

Kathy High's rats

I personally believe that life is indeed a valid expressive medium, and arts involving life helps us look at ourselves and the world we live in from so many different perspectives. For example, the project HLA-B27 by visual artist Kathy High involves some retired rats from pharmaceutical research and how the artist came to become intimate with them. Rats, despite their appearance, are actually very close relatives to human in terms of their DNA construction. Thus, rats are widely used in labs to test drugs. Kathy High’s project reminds us that while we do cruel experiments on rats, they are still life forms close to us and should be respected.

Stelarc with his third ear

However, I think there are times when the experimentation of art with bioTech went to far. Stelarc, an Australian performance artist, had a third ear implanted on his arm. While he claims that it is “generating that anxiety, that uncertainty and that ambivalence and reaction that makes the body re-examine the world”, I personally only found the project too aggressive and not making much sense to me. Should we harm our own body to do such exploration? What risks can we take when we make art using BioTech?  I think these are the questions artists should ponder before they make BioArt. 

BioArt is emerging with the improvement of technology

Sources

McCafferty, Georgia. “The Man with an Ear on His Arm” CNN. N.p., Oct 2012.

High, Kathy. “Embracing Animal” Kathy High. N.p., Web. April. 2004.

High, Kathy. “HLA-B27” Kathy High. N.p., Web. Oct 2008.

Vesna, Victoria. “BioTech and Art: Part 5.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2012.

Wong, Virgil. “Art Exhibited in Galleries and Museums around the World.” Art. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Event 2

This week, I went to the Mnemoawari exhibition by E. Joteva, an M. F. A. candidate at UCLA. The exhibition has 3 cryo sculptures which melts gradually over 3 days of the exhibition. Each cryo ball has stuff like mushroom pieces and tree branches inserted into them. I think by showing the melting of the cry balls, Joteva is trying to present us with the process of something material disappearing gradually, transferring into memory and immaterial impressions. 

A giant melting ice ball 

Besides the three cryo balls, there’s also an interactive part with a pair of VR glasses. After putting on the glasses, my whole vision was occupied with one of the melting cryo balls. I could also see the ball from different angles by moving my head around. The effect was pretty intriguing, and enhanced my impression of the cryo sculptures.

Another giant ice ball

Overall, I think the show is really interesting. The three melting ice balls are aesthetically pleasing and provides us with new ways of looking at material objects and how they vanish into our memories. The VR part is also novel, and shows how technology can enhance art creations. While I would recommend the show to my fellow classmates, I think the show can also be improved in terms of its content. The melting ice balls alone might be a little tedious as to how the artist want to convey her ideas. It would probably be better if the artist can add something that people can relate to, some everyday objects, to make her ideas more concrete.

Me at the Show

                                                          

Midterm File Link

https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/684222/assignments/5817677/submissions/3220042?download=49308765

If the above link does not work, please go to the Google Drive address below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tNNxD6_fMzcVBhdU8yVkVRT3M/view?usp=sharing