Week 9 : Space + Art

Of all the topics we talked about in this course, this week’s was the least surprising but yet the most interesting one for me. It was not to my surprise that art and space were intersecting subjects. People at my age have all grown up in the era of space. The ideas of space and universe have spread in popular culture, and they’re present everywhere in our lives; they’re in movies, in talks, in images, in school, and in our imaginations.

One of the scenes from Interstellar Movie.
<http://www.zmescience.com/science/physics/interstellar-black-hole-special-effects-0423432/>

Artists not only fulfill their own thirsts for exploring the world through their artworks, but they also strive to show the wonders of the universe to a wider audience. Art plays a crucial role in inspiring people and in building a broader interest and support for space exploration, for turning the idea of moving people and goods from the surface of the Earth to outer space into a reality. 

International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA) is for example one of the premier organizations that work for this cause. Artists of IAAA hope to raise awareness about the space. A lot of movie effects, numerous book and magazine covers, or artistic images illustrating the newest astronomical discoveries are done by an IAAA.

Artists have not made the connections with space only on earth, but art itself has fused into the outer space. In 1986, Space Shuttle Columbia traveled with four original oil paintings of American artist Ellery Kurtz. These original artworks were the first to enter Earth orbit. In 1993, another work by the artist Arthur Woods, “Cosmic Dancer Sculpture, was flown to the Russian Mir Space station.  Later In 1995, he also created the first Art Exhibition in Earth orbit, called Ars ad Astra, which contained 20 original artworks from 20 artists.

 

Cosmonaut Alexander Polischuk and the Cosmic Dancer sculpture in the Mir space station: the Cosmic Dancer had became a part of the living space of the cosmonaunts aboard the Mir station. 
<http://www.ours.ch/cosmicdancer.php>

To me, space is where all discoveries are made as there’s plenty of room for creativity and inspirations; space is the freedom of mind. As poetic as that might sound, I think this is exactly why space and art are so intertwined. Space is the best medium for an artist!

Cosmos and Space Wallpapers
<http://wallup.net/artwork-space-astronaut-space-art-stars-black-holes-painting-paint-splatter-floating-digital-art/>

sources

1. Foust, Jeff. "When Space and Art Intersect." The Space Review. N.p., 8 Sept. 2009. Web. 01 June 2017. <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1460/1>.

2. Puiu, Tibi. "Interstellar Movie Is Helping Scientists Model REAL Black Holes." ZME Science. N.p., 04 Jan. 2017. Web. 01 June 2017. <http://www.zmescience.com/science/physics/interstellar-black-hole-special-effects-0423432/>.

3. "The Leonardo Space Art Project Working Group." N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017. <http://spaceart.org/leonardo/vision.html>.

4. Vesna, Victoria. “Space  and Art.” DESMA 9. Lecture

5. Wallup. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017. <http://wallup.net/artwork-space-astronaut-space-art-stars-black-holes-painting-paint-splatter-floating-digital-art/>.

6. "What Is Space Art?" International Association of Astronomical Artists. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017. <https://iaaa.org/what-is-space-art/>.

7. Woods, Arthur. "The" Cosmic Dancer": Sculpture and the Absence of Gravity." Leonardo (1993): 297-301.

8. Woods, Arthur. "The Cosmic Dancer Project : Sculpture and the Absence of Gravity." N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017. <http://www.ours.ch/cosmicdancer.php>.

week 8: NanoTech + Art

As Gimzewski and Vesna beautifully explain in their article, the recently developed science of nano-materials and nano-technology is in fact a shift of paradigm which changes “our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity.” Therefore, this new science needs visualization, interpretation, and a narrative to illustrate “what is sensed and not seen”. And, this is exactly where art and nanotechnology converge.

So, art makes nano-tech easier to understand, and nanotechnologies have resulted in creation of nano-art. In 2003, an exhibition at LACMA which was focused on confluence of art and atoms allowed visitors to experience nano-scale by sensing. Viewers could use their hands to feel atomic properties such as repulsion and attraction, or to feel what it's like to manipulate atoms one by one. On the other hand, many artists have taken advantage of nanotechnologies to create their artworks. For example, nano-materials and nano-tech have been a source of inspiration for this California-based artist and scientist, Christian Orfescu. In addition to aesthetic aspects of his work, he also uses his art to inform people about the new technologies of the 21st Century.

Black Eye NanoOctopus| The artist created a nano-sculpture by hydrolyzing a tiny drop of a titanium organometallic compound coated with gold. The image is visualized with a Scanning Electron Microscope.<https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/>.

Nebula of Man| This picture, made of layers of nano images, shows the profound impact of the nano world on our macro lives, our planet, and our universe.<https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/>.

Nanotechnology does not only influence art and artists but it penetrates into many sectors of our society. For example, food companies today are developing nanomaterials that impact the health benefits of foods. Some clothing manufacturers are making water and stain repellent clothing using nano-sized whiskers in the fabric. And, medical professionals and researchers are developing nanoparticles that can deliver drugs directly to diseased cells in your body. So, manipulation of atoms on a very small scale creates numerous opportunities in many fields. However, scientists, artists, and other experts should carefully take the steps in exploring the benefits of nanotechnologies to ensure a safe and smooth transition of our society a new one.

Drug delivery using nano-robots
<http://medicalfuturist.com/getting-smaller-and-smarter-nanotechnology-in-healthcare/>.

Sources

1. Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The nanoneme syndrome: Blurring of fact and fiction in the construction of a new science." Technoetic arts 1.1 (2003): 7-24.

2. Feder, Barnaby J. "The Art of Nanotech." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 May 2017. <https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/>.

3. Lovgren, Stefan. "Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?" National Geographic. N.p., 23 Dec. 2003. Web. 25 May 2017. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1223_031223_nanotechnology.html>.

4. "Nanotechnology Applications: A Variety of Uses." UnderstandingNano. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2017. <http://www.understandingnano.com/nanotech-applications.html>.

5. "Nanotechnology in Healthcare: Getting Smaller and Smarter." The Medical Futurist. N.p., 15 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 May 2017. <http://medicalfuturist.com/getting-smaller-and-smarter-nanotechnology-in-healthcare/>.

Week 7: Neurosci + Art

Historic studies on brain, and more recent studies of neurology have been a great source of inspiration to art and the artists for a long time. Interestingly, father of neuroscience, Santiago Ramon y Cajal , himself is a true example of an artist and a scientist coming together. Not only his works on neurons and the idea of consciousness resulted in Nobel prize, but also he fulfilled his thirst for art through his work. He explored his imaginations and expressed his discoveries artistically in his drawings of nervous systems in his textbook, butterflies of the soul. Many other scientists, including Suzanne Anker, later worked on Cajal’s idea of butterfly and produced capturing pictures using MRI scans of brain.

<https://neurofantastic.com/brain/2017/1/13/sfn14-art-of-neuroscience-with-michele-banks>

<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2874373/A-beautiful-mind-Japanese-style-art-inspired-neuroscience-reveals-grey-matter-colourful-glory.html>

Developing a visualization method, “Brainbow,” which could distinguish individual neurons using fluorescent proteins also opened a door to more opportunities for the artists to explore the brain. Artists did not, however, stop on neurons. The concepts of memory, dream, conscious and unconscious mind have also been topics of considerable attentions. We can for example see how Sigmund Freud’s and Carl Jung’s theories have shaped David Cronenberg’s ideas and has driven his narrative in his film, “A Dangerous Method”. The movie mainly focuses on the aspects of our lives that are affected or controlled by our unconscious mind.

<http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-dangerous-method-2011>

This week’s topic also reminded me of the previous event I attended at UCLA. The emphasis of Eli Joteva’s artworks was on brain and its functionalities. Using neuroscience and technology, she had portrayed the processes by which memories fade away and dreams revive in our brains. Her work was a example of how neuroscience and art together can reveal different aspects of humans. As Giovanni Frazzetto and Suzanne Anker have said in their article, “ideas, concepts and images in neuroscience widely circulate in culture and are portrayed in literature, film, works of art, the mass media and commercial products, therefore shaping social values and consumer practices”.

Sources

1. Ebert, Roger. "A Dangerous Method Movie Review (2011) | Roger Ebert." N.p., 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 20 May 2017. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-dangerous-method-2011>.

2. Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10.11 (2009): 815-821.

3. Goodfriend, Wind. "Freud & Jung in "A Dangerous Method"." Psychology Today. N.p., 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 May 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychologist-themovies/201210/freud-jung-in-dangerous-method>.

4. "Santiago Ramon Y Cajal: "The Father of Neuroscience"." Brain Connection. N.p., 04 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 May 2017. <http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2013/02/26/santiago-ramon-y-cajal-the-father-of-neuroscience/>.

5. Vesna, Victoria. “Neurosci  and Art.” DESMA 9. Lecture.

6. Woollaston, Victoria. "A Beautiful Mind: Japanese-style Art Inspired by Neuroscience Reveals Grey Matter in Much More Colourful Glory." Daily Mail Online. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 20 May 2017. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2874373/A-beautiful-mind-Japanese-style-art-inspired-neuroscience-reveals-grey-matter-colourful-glory.html>.

7.  "#SfN14: Art of Neuroscience, with Michele Banks." Neurofantastic. N.p., 15 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 May 2017. <https://neurofantastic.com/brain/2017/1/13/sfn14-art-of-neuroscience-with-michele-banks>.

Week 6: Event 2

Eli Joteva’s solo show on memory, titled as "Mnemoawari", was astounding. She had presented the concepts of memory, dream, and confrontation of the past and future though her uniquely made artifacts. Three hanged iced balls would capture your eyes and a fixed enthralling sound would fill your ears as soon as you’d enter the gallery. A bright blue picture was projected on one of the walls and digital movies of the iced balls were playing on the other side of the room. You can catch a glimpse on some parts of the installations in the following video. 

She had illustrated the contrast between what is preserved and what's not by putting the iced balls next to a recorded digital video of each. While the movies were playing forever, the balls were gradually changing and melting away. As Eli explained, she had presented the cycles of change in our memory and also maybe in our lives through her art. The spheres would gradually turn into unknown shapes to the viewers as they were melting, just as the way our past and memories fade away in our minds. Before fading away for ever, each piece of memory in our brains changes so much as time goes by that it is sometimes way far from what had happened in reality. And during this time, we experience and feel differently as we remember things differently.  

Fig 1| Me and the bleeding ball

You could see yourself in all the objects and pictures. Looking at the iced balls, you could think it was you, the nature, or the earth that was encapsulated in those spheres. I was totally driven away by this creative piece of art when I heard her explanations. This iced ball was made of her favorite red flowers, and as the ice was melting, red water drops were collected beneath it.  

Fig 2| "Bleeding" Iced Ball

The ball resembled the earth and it looked like that the earth was bleeding hard to get rid of its past. Although it had a desire to preserve its present features, it could do nothing but to let go of the past, and to move forward with its future and fate. Also, the transient state of the ball would remind the observer of the transience of the present moment. This illustration also made me think of the nature. To me, the whole idea could be applied to the cycle of changes in nature as different seasons arrives.
Looking at the ball, I was thinking of how painfully nature gives away what it has at the end of each season; colorful leaves of dead trees fell on the pavements, and this is when fall says farewell and gives its place to winter. 















During the time I was there, I was also hearing a capturing sound that I later came to realize it was echoing Eli’s ideas in the room. The sound was electronically synchronized to the water drops of the following melting ball, but it was in fact connected to all the other installations too. As soon as I figured this out, I felt like I had entered to my brain and  each “ding” was the sound of a bit of my past memories echoed in my brain. 

Fig 3| Water drops from iced ball hit metal tray and create sound.

The concept of dreams and desires of future was also demonstrated in Eli's creative digital picture. The piece was called " Dream Augur", and it was a projection of her roommate's brain waves. To create the art piece, she had put a glass of water next to her roommate as she was dreaming and thinking and Eli had then frozen that water. She had also recorded her brain waves at the same time, and then decoded the color harmonics of her brain waves. The colors were then superimposed on the image of iced water. So the whole picture looked like a ball (or better called a person) which was radiating away its dreams. 

Fig 4| Dream Augur

Using technology, she was able to present her art uniquely and creatively. For me, it was very interesting to see how technology could help an artist in expressing what she had to say so eloquently. This experience truly opened my eyes to the potentials that merging of technology and art brings about. I definitely recommend going to her future art shows. You'll be surprised by how much you will learn.

Fig 5| Picture with Eli

Week 6: Biotech + Art

Biotechnology and decoding human’s genome has opened door to many opportunities for the scientists and artists to innovate non-ordinary living organisms. Just to give you a glimpse of what has been done by the artists, we may consider the works of Eduardo Cats and Joe Davis. Eduardo Kac plugged a fluorescent protein into a rabbit with the help of a scientist and made her glow. Joe Davis, on the other hand, planted a map of milky-way in the ear of a transgenic mouse and engineered a sign of human intelligence into the genome of e-coli bacteria. But apart from aesthetic and innovative aspects of their work, their work has also served as a critique to the things that scientific world brings us.  

By growing bacterial patterns, scientist Mehmet Berkmen and artist Maria Penil have created this piece of artwork, called "Neurons.” 

<http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/12-microbial-masterpieces-grown-petri-dishes>

<http://io9.gizmodo.com/7-bio-artists-who-are-transforming-the-fabric-of-life-i-558156053>

Bio-engineering and bio-art have always been the matters of controversy.  A lot of people wonder what will happen if someone decides to control genetic manipulation and begins to hold physical or political power. Many others argue that living creatures should not be manipulated, misused, or harmed. However there’s a narrow line between what is ethical and what is not, and it is hard to realize when one crosses it. Some consider engineering tissues to be morally acceptable when it is done for the sake of improving the health of human beings. But the same action is viewed as wrong if it’s done for pure scientific or artistic purposes.

<http://www.keyword-suggestions.com/
Z3JlZW4gZmx1b3Jlc2NlbnQgIHByb3RlaW4gc2NpZW50aXN0cw/>

I personally think that it is significantly important to talk about the ethical issues that are stemming from these topics. And there’s no one better than the artists and the scientists themselves who can ignite such discussions. If scientists, artists, and the public are engaged in an ethical debate, it will be easier to distinguish between wrong and right in the long run.  Because, exploring the potentials of the living medium is not wrong by itself, and we just have to build up the boundaries gradually.

<https://rakabe.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/ethics-of-biotechnology/>

Resources

1. Dvorsky, George. "7 Bio-Artists Who Are Transforming the Fabric of Life Itself." Io9. N.p., 24 June 2013. Web. 12 May 2017. <http://io9.gizmodo.com/7-bio-artists-who-are-transforming-the-fabric-of-life-i-558156053>.

2. "Green Fluorescent Protein Scientists." N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2017. <http://www.keyword-suggestions.com/Z3JlZW4gZmx1b3Jlc2NlbnQgIHByb3RlaW4gc2NpZW50aXN0cw/>.

3. Haridy, Rich. "Art in the Age of Ones and Zeros: BioArt." New Atlas. N.p., 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 May 2017. <http://newatlas.com/art-ones-and-zeros-bioart/48391/>.

4. Leary, Catie. "12 Microbial Masterpieces Grown in Petri Dishes." Mother Nature Network. N.p., 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 May 2017. <http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/12-microbial-masterpieces-grown-petri-dishes>.

5. Pasko, Jessica M. "Bio-artists Bridge Gap between Arts, Sciences." NBCNews. N.p., 04 Mar. 2007. Web. 10 May 2017. <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17387568/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/bio-artists-bridge-gap-between-arts-sciences/#.WRZRG4jytEY>.

6. Stracey, Frances. "Bio-art: the ethics behind the aesthetics." Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 10.7 (2009): 496-500.

7.  Walden, Stephanie. "BioArt: Is It Art? Is It Science? Is It the Future?" Mashable. N.p., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 May 2017. <http://mashable.com/2013/10/29/cutpastegrow-bioart/#ZrL0nHLP5Oqm>.

8. Vesna, Victoria. “BioTech and Art.” DESMA 9. Lecture.

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Week 5: Midterm

Hi everyone!
Here's the link to my midterm project.
PARASTOU_MORTAZAVIAN_DESMA9_MIDTERM