Week 4: Medicine and Art

            As with all of the subjects covered so far, medicine has advanced from its original study and use in art. Artists originally studied the human anatomy in order to better represent people in their art. This eventually led to a better understanding of the human body and more advanced ways of treating illnesses. It would appear now that as medicine has advanced further, art is using medical techniques in order to make a statement like with Eduardo Kac and Orlan.

Figure 1: Performance artist Orlan

            Medicine has allowed for the use of one's body as a canvas for art, whether it be through plastic surgery or other forms of surgery and differentiation. Kevin Warwick has turned himself into a canvas through the implantation of a computer chip in his head that allows for him to control nearby appliances and even communicate with his wife (kevinwarwick.org, 2015). This is similar in nature to the addition of a third arm by Stelarc (stelarc.org, 2015). What is truly encouraging about these pieces of performance art is that they have led to advances in medicine and rehabilitation much like the initial study of the human body for art.

Figure 2: Performance artist Stelarc

            Our society puts a remarkable weight on the importance of medicine, as shown by its representation in popular art forms. For example, there are numerous drugs invented in movies that can cure essentially any illness and solve society's problems for us without putting in any of the necessary work. In the movie Lucy from 2014, the main character is injected with a drug that over the course of a couple days turns her into a superior being that bends time and space before consuming itself. Various other examples exist showing drugs giving people seemingly impossible powers or removing them from a harsh reality, like some drugs in today's world (unrealitymag.com, 2014).

Figure 3: Screenshot from Lucy

Works Cited

"Kevin Warwick - Home Page." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.org/>.

"Stelarc // Third Hand." Stelarc // Third Hand. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://stelarc.org/?catID=20265>.

"The Most Memorable Fictional Drugs in Movies and Television." Unreality Mag. 14 Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://unrealitymag.com/movies/fictional-drugs-in-movies-and-television/>.

Week 3 Blog: Art and Robotics

            The mechanization of the world around us began with the invention and subsequent wide use of the printing press in the 1400s. This has led to a mechanized world around us that Walter Benjamin asserts has jeopardized the spirit of art and ruined its authenticity (Benjamin, 1936). This opinion comes from 1936 and while I can understand Benjamin's point, I think that he has interpreted a change with no malicious intent as being a deadly threat to all art. It can only be imagined what Benjamin would think of the world we live in today, where a photo or reproduction of any work of art can be reached with a click. A modern interpretation of Benjamin's thoughts shows that while Benjamin argued that a work's aura is diminished by its reproduction and widespread viewing, this is not the case (Peim, 2007). More accessibility to art enhances its cultural value in a world where there are many other distractions for people in society.

Figure 1: Digital Representation of Van Gogh artwork

            Another effect of mechanization is the development of intelligent robots. Artificial intelligence has been hailed as the next step forward for progress of human society as well as the doom of the human race. It appears that the overwhelming opinion of the human race is that artificial intelligence is a bad thing. Noted technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has recently said that AI is the largest threat to human existence that the planet currently faces (Gibbs, 2014). Popular culture seems to agree with this opinion, with the most obvious example being the "Terminator" movies. It follows then that through this expression of art, the general population will follow this idea of AI as a threat.

Figure 2: Malicious robots depicted in "Terminator" films

            There are groups of people who argue that artificial intelligence will never reach the point of being able to think for itself and act maliciously towards the human race (Winfield, 2014). Whatever the thoughts, artificial intelligence development is continuing with the hope of possibly creating care robots or some other beneficial tools (Vincent, 2014). We can only wait and see how the development of robots continues and what effect it continues to have on society.

Figure 3: Care robot Baymax as depicted in "Big Hero 6"

Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." (1936). Print.

Gibbs, Samuel. "Elon Musk: Artificial Intelligence Is Our Biggest Existential Threat." The Guardian 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/27/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-biggest-existential-threat>.

Peim, N. (2007), Walter Benjamin in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Aura in Education: A Rereading of ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41: 363–380.

Vincent, James. "Japanese 'robot with a Heart' Will Care for the Elderly and Children." The Independent 5 June 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/japanese-robot-with-a-heart-will-care-for-the-elderly-and-children-9491819.html>.

Winfield, Alan. "Artificial Intelligence Will Not Turn into a Frankenstein's Monster." The Guardian 9 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/10/artificial-intelligence-will-not-become-a-frankensteins-monster-ian-winfield

Week 2 Blog

The intersection of math and art is an example of what can happen when the two cultures of art and science are allowed to interact with one another. From the golden ratio to the discovery of the vanishing point, math has affected art to a great degree throughout the ages. In particular it seems as if the golden ratio has had the most wide ranging effect on art. It was used to proportion the pyramids of Egypt, design the Parthenon, and then used in art like the Vitruvian Man and the Mona Lisa.

Figure 1: Vitruvian Man showing the use of the Golden Ratio

The use of mathematics in art led to artwork becoming more realistic, as better ideas of perspective were introduced into art. The idea of the vanishing point added depth to artwork that hadn’t been seen before. It is interesting to learn that mathematics led to realism in art, since mathematics today seems to give more of an artificial perspective. What I mean by this is that math is used in computer programs to create fantastical illustrations for movies or even for other live art.

Figure 2: A drawing illustrating the idea of the vanishing point

An example of this use of math for more artificial feeling art can be seen in the work of Nathan Selikoff. After looking through the other artists provided in this week’s resources, Selikoff’s is the most “unnatural” to me. He uses computer code to create moving art that can also be interactive with its observers. This is probably the least traditional art that I personally have seen yet it is still appealing to me. I think that it is very interesting that math is still being used to innovate new forms of art.

Figure 3: Screenshot of interactive art created by Nathan Selikoff

Citations

Frantz, Marc. "Lesson 3: Vanishing Points and Looking at Art." 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cs.ucf.edu/courses/cap6938-02/refs/VanishingPoints.pdf>.

Ida, Takashi. "“Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo Da Vinci and the Golden Ratio." “Vitruvian Man”    by Leonardo Da Vinci and the Golden Ratio. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://www.crl.nitech.ac.jp/~ida/education/VitruvianMan/>.

"Module 4." L4: Learn. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://gid70.rageyart.com/Lesson04/L04_learn.html>.

Selikoff, Nathan. "Nathan Selikoff | Fine Artist Playing with Interactivity, Math, Code." Nathan Selikoff. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. <http://nathanselikoff.com/>.

My name is Will and I am senior Civil Engineering major at UCLA, graduating in June. I am currently working part time for a Heavy Civil Engineering contractor here in LA and my job is pretty strictly focused on pure engineering, so having some art in my life will be a welcome respite. The relationships between art, science, and technology are relatively new to me, as I have not taken much time to think about their intersections. For this reason, I am interested in the unique content this class presents.

Regarding this unique content, I was interested to learn about this week's subject, as I had never really realized the distinct split that has arisen between art and technology. After viewing the first video presented this week however, the split was easy to see.

Figure 1: UCLA Campus Map (ucla.edu, 2015)

As the above figure shows, there is a distinct geographical split between the arts and sciences on the UCLA campus. The dotted red line is commonly referred to as the divide between "north campus" and "south campus" by students. This clear geographical divide somewhat proves the point of CP Snow that the two cultures have been created by educational institutions.

Figure 2: CP Snow bridging between the two cultures (Scientific American,  2009)

Snow's specific article/speech is interesting in how it brought about the idea of the two cultures when it was really attempting to bring to light other issues. The rich vs. the poor argument that was Snow's intended issue was completely lost amongst the issue of science vs. technology. In his paper, Snow makes it clear that the Scientific Revolution has not only created a divide between art and science, but a large gap between the rich and poor. This is an important issue that was seemingly ignored by the influential readers because it would indict them as the rich class that had used science to get ahead. The idea of a third culture is also interesting and I believe valid, but less so than Snow's original idea. 

Citations

Krauss, Lawrence M. "An Update on C. P. Snow's "Two Cultures"" Scientific American. N.p., 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2015. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-update-on-cp-snows-two-cultures/>.

Snow, C. P. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." Cambridge University Press (1959): 1-55. The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. Web.

"UCLA Interactive Map." (n.d.): n. pag. UCLA Information. 2015. Web. <http://www.ucla.edu/pdf/ucla-campus-map.pdf>.