SiningMDESMA9

    Before this week, I honestly couldn't tell you how Medical Technology and Art were in any way related.  But through the lectures and my additional research, I have found that these two ideas converge all over modern and post-modern art as well as many other places.  The first cool thing I found in my research was an entire article on the use of medical technology in art.  The one artist that really stood out to me was Marilene Oliver who experimented with the use of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in art. This picture I've included is entitled Family Portrait, and all 4 images are MRI's of an entire family.  I think these images are so unique and interesting, especially when you think about how these items of Medical Technology also serve as eye-appealing art.     However, sometimes people can take these things too far.  For example, the girl Orlan from lecture disfigured and reshaped her body to try and maximize her aesthetic be...

    This Friday I attended the Eco-Centric Art + Science: Prophecies and Predictions event. Even though I was only able to stay for the first two hours, I gained a lot from the two lectures given by artist Linda Weintraub and professor James Gimzewski. In the first lecture, Mrs. Weintraub informed us a lot about how modern artists are able to create really innovative artworks by reflecting on the relationships between human, art and nature in the age of industrialization. Professor Gimzewski, on the other hand, presented a very thought-provoking story about a subtle yet inspiring connection between art and science, which is closely related to the topics included in this course. Linda Weintraub during her lecture     In her lecture "WHAT's NEXT? Eco Materialism and Contemporary Art", Mrs. Weintraub talked about several artists and their contribution to neo-materialism through different kinds of art forms, including Gebhard Sengmüller and his "Parallel Image...

             This week's lectures are all about the convergence of art and robotics. To me, these two seemingly polarizing ideas come together to make a connection which is especially apparent within the medium of film. A good example would be the famous Will Smith movie, iRobot.  Although it received mixed reviews from movie critics, almost everyone could agree on the fact that this action movie also makes you think.  This movie follows the life of Will Smith and his dealings with these creatures of artificial intelligence and it provokes thoughts about things like robotics, humanity, morality, and consciousness.      Walter Benjamin also played a key role in the use of robotics in films.  In the 1930s, he wrote about how films should try and "gain control over technology and its effects" while also creating a sensational experience that goes far beyond an other form of media or consumption.  In modern fi...

    Making Art From Equations     This week's lecture is about the convergence of Math and Art.  As a significant part, or even "base" of all science, math plays a pivotal role in all aspects of life, even art!  In anything from a detailed drawing, to graphic design, to architecture, math is at work in tandem with art.  Especially nowadays, art is being taken to whole new lengths beyond just a palette and a canvas. Designers are now able to use computers to develop their own unique styles of art that help bring their craft into the technologically advanced 21st century.  This first article i read summed this all up pretty well: "Art is illusion, and transformations are important in creating illusion." These transformations are only made possible by the computers and the mathematics behind the computers that help this art come to life.          I still remember the following TED talk that I came across years ago, ...

  DESMA 9 Week 1 Blog       We have covered the topic of "two cultures" in this week,  two worlds of thinking, that of the arts and that of the sciences.  It is the conception and stereotype that scientists believe literary intellectuals to be "lacking in foresight" and "restricting of art to the existential", while artists think of scientists as "unaware of man's condition" and "shallowly optimistic" that caused the divergence.  It is interesting to me that C.P Snow, the man who coined the phrase "Two Cultures" in the 1950s, wanted the title of his lecture to be "The Rich and the Poor".  This in itself is evidence that there are many types of culture gaps between groups in our society. I'm from China, and in most Chinese universities students are separated into two groups of liberal art and science. And misunderstandings arise with stereotypes and conflicts between them. For example, most parents want ...

This is my first blog entry.