Event 1 | Workshop with Linda Weintraub

Linda Weintraub and I inside the exhibit
This week I had the pleasure of attending Linda Weintraub's "Welcome to My Woods" workshop, held in the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Weintraub is an artist and author, who is currently the UCLA Art|Sci Center’s artist-in-residence. One of her goals is to bring awareness to environmental issues without emphasizing negative consequences, but rather by creating a lighthearted, interesting, and interactive experience. She envisioned this exhibit while meticulously plucking goose feathers. Noticing how each feather differed from the last, her innate curiosity kept her plucking for two hours without her even realizing. According to her, this tangible and engaging experience is what technology and mass-produced things take away from us. 

She poses the question, "How many hours do you spend interacting with material that is not mass-produced?" Everyone struggled to think of an exact percentage, but we all agreed that the amount of time per day we spend interacting with non-mass produced materials is little to none. However, as Weintraub pointed out, we overlooked our bodies and everything we hear, touch, and smell. 

Linda Weintraub's backyard, 
where all the materials in the exhibit come from
Weintraub's workshop allows individuals to connect with themselves and their senses through nature. No talking was allowed during the workshop, in order for everyone to get the most out of their experience. Each pile of boxes on the floor represent a different sense. The first sense/category I explored was Flavor & Aroma. In one box, I smelled different mushrooms and tried to describe their scent. In another, I tasted maple syrup. One of the Mass & Weight boxes instructed us to determine the mass of a bird's nest in pennies without touching the nest and another to rearrange ribs in the correct order. I found such tasks difficult to perform, as though my perception was limited. I realized that I am out of touch with my senses because I constantly rely on technology. In one word, my experience was refreshing.

Set of boxes in the center of the room
Fittingly, this workshop relates to this week's discussion of Robotics and Art, in which we study the Industrial Revolution and the implications of mass production. Weintraub essentially argues that mass production causes us to lose sight of reality. Furthermore, this exhibit embodies how art can be used as a vehicle to illustrate our intuition to discover, make hypotheses, and make qualitative analyses, whether or not, we are scientists. 

Here is a link to a video posted on the Art|Sci Center Facebook page of the workshop: video of workshop.






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