NatalieMyszkowskiDESMA9

  Week 9 blog post: Space and Art Initially, the connection of space to the humanities is apparent as each of the planets is named after the Roman gods and goddesses. Today, we have seen a huge separation between the arts and science, but (as we learned in this course) in the past, back when the planets were named, the separation was not as wide and this is demonstrated by the shared names of the goddesses and the planets. Another important connection between the arts and science is through science fiction, which began as early as the 1800s. Science fiction is important for the advancement in science much of the motivation to create and innovate, comes from the ideas of writers. We dream up these incredible ideas, such as putting a man on the moon, and we push ourselves to make these dreams a reality. Not only does science fiction allow us to imagine new frontiers, but it can also inform people of what is already a reality. For example, The Martian by Andy Weir, while it is a fict...

Before this week, I was not entirely sure what nanotechnology even was but I found that it is a field of science and technology that involves the control and manipulation of matter at the extremely small scale of atoms and molecules. Nanotechnology encompasses a wide range of disciplines that we have discussed in this class, such as chemistry, biology, and engineering which are all related to art, just as nanotechnology also is.  One significant aspect of nanotech's relation to art lies in the materials it enables artists to work with. Artists can use nanomaterials to develop paints that change color based on temperature or light exposure, resulting in dynamic and interactive artworks. Airikh explains how innovations in nanotechnology have made the paints she uses exhibit colors more vibrant than ever before. Another pigment created with nanotechnology by Surrey NanoSystems called Vantablack which is an artificial material described as one of the darkest substances ever created. Th...

Week 7: Neuroscience and Art Perception is hugely important in the creation and understanding art, and perception is tied closely to neuroscience. The relationship between art and neuroscience is a growing field of study that explores the intersection between the brain, perception, and artistic expression.  Perception is a process that our brains interpret and make sense of the world around us involving the brain's ability to receive, process, and interpret sensory information from our environment. By studying the neural pathways, brain regions, and cognitive processes involved in perception, neuroscience helps us understand how the brain transforms sensory input into meaningful perceptions of the world. In order to create art, we use our senses for inspiration for art. Then perception is important in bringing our ideas to live in sculptires, on the canvas or any other artform, for others to then percieve and appreciate.  Much of the connection between neuroscience and art rev...

 Event 3 This event titled "Leonardo da Vinci on Visualizing the Forces of Nature: Gravity" is a dialogue that discusses da Vinci’s ideas about gravity that were much before his time. The two speakers we got to hear from are Claire Farago and Matthew Landrus. In an age of climate change, Weve started looking at DaVinci’s work again to examine his interests in the natural world and one of the profound ideas da Vinci had were about gravity. Professor Gharib has staked a claim that Da Vinci knew about gravity before the famed Gallileo, and that Gallileo learned from Da Vincis notes. Da Vinci used his knowlege of mechanics and geometry to understand this science.  Da Vinci looked at the grains of sand as they fell and began to understand gravity and had profound ideas that were before his time. According to da Vinci, as the grains of sand fall, it gains speed due to the constant acceleration imparted by gravity. Da Vinci may have not had the expiramental work and mathmatical proo...

Event #2: Rita McBride's Particulates at the Hammer Museum The event I attended was Rita McBride’s Particulates which is a part of the Contemporary Collection at Westwood’s very own Hammer Museum. I attended this event on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 16th. McBride initially caught my eye because she is from Des Moines, Iowa, but as I looked further into her work, I found it to be extremely eye-catching and interesting on a deeper level.  Particulates is very striking visually, as it is made of neon beams of light in a vibrant green hue. The beams transform what is essentially an empty space into an entirely new world. McBride's art explores the relationship between architecture, design, and art which is reflected in the space she chose to display Particulates. The space in the Hammer Museum reflects those of office buildings and the drab corporate world that has been transformed through McBride’s installation. The beams pierce through a mist of water molecules, dust, and surfa...

  This week we discussed bioart which is a complex artform that combines biology and art, that scholars have many different definitions of. Ultimately it is a contemporary genre of art that incorporates living organisms such as plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi to create art. Bioartists use different methods in their work such as genetic engineering, tissue culture, and biomimicry. Bioart is beneficial to our society and culture because it is innovative, explores new types of creativity, and is a great source of interdisciplinary collaboration, allowing science and art to be expressed at the same time. However, it also raises ethical concerns because of the unavoidable use of life in this medium. One example of where concerns were raised was with a project by Eduardo Kac where he genetically modified a bunny to be bioluminescent and “glow” titled Alba. This project was created to raise ethical questions about what it means to genetically modify life in regard to more commonplace...