katelyns

As a biochemistry major, I am fascinated by the artistic feat of models used to teach biological processes, especially intricate 3-D videos and animations. However, this week I learned that art in science is much more than a tool to visualize processes. Exploring the development of how we study human anatomy--from human dissection to non-invasive techniques, made possible by technology--reveals a symbiotic relationship between medical technology and art: artists studying anatomy to create and scientists relying on complex artistic models to study the body. Silvia Casini's essay on MRI images as portraits provides a novel perspective on how medical technology influences art. In her essay, Casini discusses Justine Cooper, who was the first to incorporate MRI scans into art work with her video RAPT I . Cooper's video suggests that by suspending a moment in time of the human body, the MRI allows one to contemplate their mental state. The video includes sound, which lends itsel...

This week’s discussion of Robotics and Art was not what I expected. I envisioned learning about the ways in which artists and scientists use robotics to create. Instead, we viewed robotics from a cultural perspective, focusing on the history of industrialization and robotics, the implications of such technologies on society, and how these robots and mass-produced media later connect the arts and sciences. One of the works I studied was Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, in which he explores society’s perception of art in the age of mass production. According to him, mass reproduction eliminates the originality and authenticity of art, thus "changing the reaction of the masses toward art." (Benjamin) He describes people who go to films as passive participants to exemplify how reproduced art ultimately results in the “liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage”. (Benjamin) His description of the public as an "absen...

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...