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Showing posts from May, 2018

Week 8: Nanotech + Art

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UCLA spelled out using CO molecules (Gimzewki) Nanotechnology is a fascinating topic for scientists and non-scientists alike. Popularized in movies like Terminator, nanotechnology is shown to be a tool that should be feared. However, this is not true. In the lectures by Dr. Gimzewski, he shows that nanotechnology can be used to create art that is unseen by the eye. A particular work that impressed me was that of Lisa, one of Dr. Gimzewski's students ( Gimzewki) . While it looks simplistic, the process to move the atoms was complicated. This prompted me to look into nanoart even further. One of the earliest electron microscopy images The origins of nanoart began with basic electron microscopy from George Emil Palade (Orfescu). From there came the IBM's scanning tunneling microscope which allowed scientists to see individual atoms. Next, in 1989, Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer manipulated individual xenon atoms to spell out the IBM logo which is widely considered

Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

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A model of the neurons and synapses within the brain (Ghose) The human brain is remarkable. There are almost 100 billion cells connected by trillions of bridges that work together to keep us alive and control our movements (Voytek). Between every neuron, small electronic shocks send millions of messages every second. Each part of our brains has a specific purpose: the temporal lobe processes sound and language, the hippocampus and amygdala help control memory and emotion and the occipital lobe takes care of our sight (just to name a few) (Lewis). The way our brains function and how it keeps us alive and functioning is an art itself. A collection of Suzanne Anker's art Recently, many artists have begun using images of our brains for art. Suzanne Anker was one of the first pioneers of brain art through the Neuroculture movement (Vensa). She obtained pictures of neurological maps, traced a series of individual neurons and found that many of them looked like butterflies. T

Event 2: Vivarium

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On May 10, 2018, I visited Maru Garcia's 'vivarium' exhibit at CNSI. When I first entered the room, I was confused. It was a small exhibit, consisting of only two containers with plant life and soil as well as two videos playing on the walls of the room. However, upon closer examination, I noticed how complex and insightful this work of art was. Me at the exhibit I talked to one of the students that had a part in the work (I am not sure if it was Maru). Upon hearing her talk and re-examining the displays, I learned so much more about the whole exhibit. The videos on the wall were actually live video footage of the contents of each 'vivarium'. In the live video, you can see the richness of life in the plants and the scuttling of small insects in the dirt. In addition, one of the vivariums had a cutout hole while the other one was completely enclosed. I do not know how I missed this the first time, but there was a person's head in the vivarium through

Week 6: Biotech + Art

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Life is art. As mentioned in earlier lectures, the way our bodies function and keep us alive is a form of art itself. But what if we could play God? What if we can turn life into a visual or intellectual masterpiece? This is what many scientists/artists asked themselves in the late 20th century and early 21st century. The GFP Bunny Eduardo Kac's GFP Bunny was a huge breakthrough in the field of transgenic organisms (Vensa). Kac added the DNA of the jellyfish and concatenated it to that of a bunny rabbit (Kac). This miraculous work of art pushed the boundaries of biology as well as that of ethics. When news of the "glowing bunny" broke out, one of the first questions regarded the ethicality of the project. People accused Eduardo of physically altering and harming rabbits to achieve this goal (Nadarajan). However, Eduardo's work was on a genetic level and when the rabbit was in an embryonic stage. In addition, there were no deformities to the rabbit and no men