Unit 4 - Medicine + Technology + Art

This week's focus is about art with relation to technology and medicine. I never thought there could be a relation between art and medicine, but that does not seem to be the case. There is a great importance in representation and perception of the human body and as technology advances, these representations that are produced become more accurate and useful in the medical field. The accurateness also connects these processes to art. In Silvia Casini’s article, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts," she mentions these connections. As the title reads, Casini explains how the MRI act as a portrait through the MRI scanning process and the feelings evoked from the process and it's resulted. I imagine that viewing one of these scans would be similar to seeing oneself in an artistic portrait, looking at something that seems similar to you but is not at the same time, a “shock of recognition,” a term that Casini mentions (“MRI as Mirror and Portrait”).

Shockingly realistic

There is another article, “Seeing Themselves: Photographers’ Self-Portraits ,“ that was written by Jessie Wender in which she stresses the importance of artists creating a self-portrait through a series of selected self-portraits and statements from the artist. I agree with many of the artists’ statements, especially the idea of self-portraits being used as a tool of self-reflection.

One self-portrait from the second article mentioned above

I also feel this week focuses on people using their own bodies as artwork. The lectures mention both plastic surgery and voluntary implementation as examples. In these processes, people let themselves be the canvas for others or themselves. In both these examples, people were able to view and/or discuss these procedures and it stirred up a variety of emotions. This helped me understand more about other ways people transform themselves into a canvas. There is a show in Syfy, called Face Off, a reality television show in which make-up artist compete against each other.This process not only conveys the technical skill, creativity and dedication of the contestants, in the same way, a painting shows the skills of its painter. 

"Creature Carnage"

Another example similar to this is cosplaying, the act of people dressing up and/or imitating their favorite characters from various movies, books and television. It’s through this that people show passion for their favorite characters and engage with others who share the same interest.

Anime Expo in front of the LA Convention Center

Both of these acts are examples of using one’s body as art and similar to the surgeries, and the MRI scan, the all have the potential to create conversation with and create emotion in the people involved, which I feel is a major component of artwork.

Citation

Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


Life Looks Really Different through an MRI Machine. YouTube / Vox, 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


Wender, Jessie. "Seeing Themselves: Photographers’ Self-Portraits." (n.d.): n. pag. 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.


"Creature Carnage." Syfy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.syfy.com/faceoff/photos/creature-carnage>.


Cosplay Gatherings. Anime Expo®. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.anime-expo.org/>.

Unit 3 - Robotics + Art

Mechanization is the process in which repetitive tasks that are done by manually are replaced by machinery. An assembly is a great example of a series of tasks in which each task is performed by a group of people. To replace this manual labor with machines would be an easy process and if implemented correctly, machines would be more efficient as they would produce more product with less chance of errors.

Fritos Production Line

From a business standpoint, this is great but for the workers, not so much. The assembly line process goes from many workers to very few specialized personnel to oversee that the machinery works correctly. Overall, I see that mechanization has a negative response from society. As mentioned in lecture, there are many examples of film and other media that depicts the fear and nervousness around the idea of robots becoming a normal part of everyday life. One film that comes to mind for me is the movie, i, Robot, that is about a society that depended heavily on humanoid robots that initiated a hostile takeover. Even so, there are people who are completely enthralled with the idea of robots becoming a normal occurrence in life.

See Robot Dog Run

Some people may be too ecstatic about the subject

There are both positive and negative opinions of mechanization and it is the same for how people feel about mechanization’s impact in art. Walter Benjamin talks about the effect that mechanical production had on art in his article, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Benjamin elaborates on the idea that through countless reproductions, that art loses its authenticity and uniqueness. Benjamin also writes the negative effect of film and how it changes the way people consume art. He explains that unlike paintings, films are a collective experience in which people’s responses control and affect the responses of others (“Age of Mechanical Reproduction”). I understand Benjamin’s claims because there are many instances in which there is a mob mentality, but I don’t think that mechanical reproduction is bad for art. Due to mechanization, many forms of art has become easily accessible by many. Even though there are pieces of art like films or video games in which each version a person has would be the same as another, due to the uniqueness of people, how they view or interpret these pieces of art would be unique as well, regardless of either they experienced it separately or together. I feel that the mass production of art does not inhibit but creates more conversation among people due to their unique interpretations.

Citation

How FRITOS® Original Corn Chips Are Made. YouTube. OfficialFritoLay, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

i, Robot. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004. Film.

See Robot Dog Run. YouTube. NTDTV / Boston Dynamics, 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Robot Cars Solve Everything - Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures 4K. YouTube. Rooster Teeth, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." (1936) Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Unit 2 - Math + Art

Butterfly Curve - Mathematical pattern

Math has a major impact on both art and science which gives yet another reason why the two are not so different from each other. As mentioned before, I am a math major who has also taken many science and computer classes so I understand sciences’ strong dependence on math. Even though I have less experience in art, I also know how math can be used in art in unique ways, depending on the medium.

You can see the 4 dimensions mentioned in Flatland

Flatland is an example of literature with a mathematical background.  The novel itself is even written in the style of a math or science book, due to it being split into sections. Edwin Abbott’s novel contains characters who are simply shapes, that are either zero, one, two or three dimensional to represent the different worlds that exist in the novel. Using these basic math principles, Abbott created an entire world with its own set of rules and hierarchy based on the shape of the citizen. Circles are classified as the highest status due to their uniform shape and having an infinite amount of sides (more sides equate higher status). 

Penny on a table

An example of a normal convention of their world is how they see each other. The citizens of Flatland can only see each other as lines and it is through physical touch or viewing the shading of the lines that citizens could tell who is what shape. A. Square, the main character, explains how citizens see each other in the same way anyone would veiw a penny on a table from the edge of the table.

Origami Cardinal

Origami is another art form that relies heavily on geometry to create a perfect and consistent origami sculpture that ranges from easy to very difficult construction.

My next example is one of my favorite practices I learned in art class and is the use of a vanishing point. Using a vanishing point gives depth to artwork through the use of slanted lines that converge to a single point. The use of a vanishing point helps create artwork that’s more realistic as it imitates how the human eye functions.

Delivery of the Keys - Vanishing Point Artwork

The use of math can help create compelling and beautiful artwork which explains why many artists choose to use math to aid them in their creative work. This highlights the difference between art and science through how they use math. Sciences focus more on computational results while art uses math principles to create art. The fact is, math is important for both art and science.

Citation

Butterfly Curve. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://mathb.hyde.wikispaces.net/AP+Calculus+BC+-+Jonynas>.

Flatland Cover. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Flatland-A-Romance-of-Many-Dimensions-Audiobook/B007X5EQVO>.

Abbott, Edwin Abbott, and Ian Stewart. The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2002. Print.

Penny on a Table. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Flatland_(first_edition)/This_World>.

Lang, Robert J. Cardinal, Opus 658. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.langorigami.com/art/art.php>.

Delivery of the Keys (Perugino). Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delivery_of_the_Keys_(Perugino)>.

Unit 1 - Two Cultures

The two cultures refer to seemingly polarizing disciplines of arts and sciences. My name is Eric Tyler Cooper and I am a 4th year applied mathematics major with a specialization in computing, so of the two cultures, I am closer to the science culture. I want to find work focusing on computing and I have great interest in computers and creating programs for them. In UCLA, there is clear division between arts and sciences, students who focus is math, science, engineering, etc., will have more classes on the south side of campus while students who major in English or film or other art forms would have a majority of their in north campus. From my four years at UCLA, I find this assertion to be true as most of my time spent is in south campus. I never viewed this structure in a negative way because it just seemed to make sense to me to have students of the same majors grouped together due to similar classes students of the same major take and teachers who teaches multiple classes in the same field. The Unit 1 lectures mentions how the structure of schools further divides the two cultures. I agree that UCLA’s structure creates a divide between two cultures. 

It is important to know that math and computers are not what I am all about because I’m also interested in video games as well. Now, video games could be considered as purely technical but there are a lot of aspects that contributes the structure of current video games such as music, design, and storytelling that makes me believe that video games are part of arts as well.

Exhibition that took place at the Smithsonian Art Museum

Pac-Man being played at the Smithsonian Art Museum

Victoria Vesna writes about the emergence of a third culture in her article and video games were the first example that came to mind when I was thinking about something that has the aspect of both sciences and arts. For a long time, I have been interested in creating and designing video games and I would love to be a part of that process if given the chance. This puts me in a unique position, similar to how C. P. Snow described himself in his article. I agree with Snow that the interaction between the two different disciplines is important and again, I use video games as an example. Without the collaboration between art and technology, there could not have been this new interactive art form.

Example of a game that evokes a vast array of emotions that is unique for each person

Citation

Melissinos, Chris. "The Art of Video Games: Chris Melissinos, Curator."YouTube. YouTube, 09 
Mar. 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l0Bs3wsgo>.

Smithsonian Art of Video Games 1. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.gametrailers.com/news-post/10940/the-smithsonians-wildly-popular-the-art-of-video-games-exhibition-leads-inventory-management-4-9-12>.

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. JSTOR. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

Telltale Games The Walking Dead Season 2. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.telltalegames.com/blog/categories/blog>.