Week 10 blog post

Nicholas Copernicus, although delaying it, still eventually shocked the world when he theorized that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of our solar system. Since his scientific Inquiry, and quite frankly for thousand of years before, humanity has been  obsessed with the stars and beyond. In today's age, Technology is allowing us to explore and view space like never before. I think the biggest event in modern human history was Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon for the first time. The way that Mrs. Vesna talks about space exploration and art really resonates me. I think its clear that space means a lot to many people.

I think an awesome thing that Mrs. Vesna touched on was virgin galactic, http://www.virgingalactic.com/. This company, a spin off company of Richard Branson's virgin airlines, was meant to be the first commercial space flight company! and now many others like Mars one and the Elon musks famous, SpaceX . This video is awesome:
I think something even cooler is the planetary resources company that some great minds are collaborating together to create. While the company itself would make trillions of dollars, the technology and even art in the process will be beautiful and revolutionary.
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/space-exploration/future-spaceflight/

Event 3 blog post

For my third event I decided to go to the Marc Foxx Gallery. Out of the different options of places to choose from in LA, I originally overlooked the Marc Foxx Gallery. However, with limited ways of getting around, this gallery proved convenient and worthwhile. 

Upon first look at the inconspicuous building, I was underwhelmed and not very excited. That all change when I walked into a mad house of people looking very busy and an extremely messy gallery. Nobody who worked there even noticed that a complete stranger had walked into the gallery! I coughed a few times and introduced myself to the nearest employee and asked if i was in the right place. The lady told me yes! but sadly they were closed. I quickly explained that I was a student studying art at UCLA and she immediately introduced me to the owner of the gallery! We struck up a conversation which eventually led to him letting me hang out and watch the process of them making the gallery look beautiful! 
Sadly, I forgot the name of the artist that they were exhibiting but He flew all the way out from Berlin to display his magnificent works. I even had the fortunate opportunity to meet him and get a picture! 
 
My favorite piece was the bright red one above this sentence. I really thought all of the work was extremely thought provoking and I found myself spending a few minutes staring at each one. I would recommend this gallery to anyone who enjoys art! the opening night will be this Saturday and I am planning on going! These painting made me love art a lot more than I already did. I believe the red one represents a heart mangled with emotions or maybe sickness. I believe that art is a form of science that takes trial and error and intense observations. These paintings were intricate and while they don't have anything to do with technology, I still believe they bridge the gap between the two cultures by showing a method similar to the scientific one through these beautiful paintings.
Overall, it was an incredible event and a place I will sure visit again.  

Event 2 blog

For my second event of the quarter I decided to go to the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. The last time I went to LACMA I was with my grandma when I was around 12 years old. Since then, the museum has grown into an incredible work of art in itself. My favorite part of my trip to LACMA was definitely the rain room. Completely sold out for the next few months, the rain room was not on my list of things I was going to see while I was there. Fortunately for me, there was a women giving away her ticket right as I walked by the Exhibit!

I think the Rain room is a perfect subject to discuss in this class because it uses state of the art technology to create a beautiful, unique, and immersive experience for people. with sensors on the roof, one can walk into a room that has rain pouring from the roof without getting wet! The water magically stops pouring wherever your body goes. It truly is a unique experience. http://www.lacma.org/rainroom#landing

 I couldn't take pictures of the actual Rain room because I didn't want to risk my phone getting wet, but it was a remarkable.
My other favorite work was the light fixtures in the Broad center. These luminescent bulbs create a beautiful mixture of colors.

I believe that LACMA is a perfect place to visit with DESMA 9 in mind because there are so many different exhibits that use technology to create extraordinary things. Having taken this class, I now appreciate these works much more than I did when I was 12!!

Week 8 Post

I think one of the coolest and most useful aspects of nanotechnology is for medicine. Dr. Gimzewski discusses the possibility of making Chemo therapy less toxic through a breakthrough Nano medical technology called Abraxane.  Will Nano technology revolutionize medicine? 

Dwaine Emerich and Christopher Thanos wrote a journal article going over the various potential benefits that Nanotechnology presents us with. From using it for Diagnosing and Screening or sequencing DNA and even gene therapy with next generation delivery methods, Nanotechnology provides incredible oppurtunities to improve healthcare.  Their article can be found here.

While researching for this assignment I found a really cool program that brings nanotechnology to classrooms. By doing so, Nano Art 21 brings science and art together in schools to promote learning and research. 

"From art to science in protein crystallization by means of thin-film nanotechnology" is an article that discusses how nanotechnology can be used in medicine to make proteins crystalize more and in the process, creates beautiful art images of protein crystals. Another Article that teaches nanotechnology through stained glass. 

Dr. Gimzewski also says that Nano technology devices are small enough to enter cells! something that I never knew we had the ability to create. 

Week 7 post

Suzanne Anker and Giovanni Frazzeto are a great example of the coming together of our left and right brains to merge artistic creativity, neuroscience, and psychosocial interactions. The two take brain scans and then add a butterfly to the scans. The end result is a "subtle optical illusion." The optical illusion creates an image of butterfly's that look different but are very much identical to each other.

Something that I found while researching the topic of neuroscience and art is the brain art competition by the Neuro bureau. The art submitted is beautiful and relevant to this weeks topic

The idea that our brains are more than just scientific marvels isn't expressed very often, and its cool to see artists taking a unique perspective on a highly scientific area of research. This is especially true because of how much we still do not know about the way our brains function. further, This video from Stanford university explains some brain functions with artistic beauty

Curious, I quickly googled the keywords "brain" and "art" and the first 3 articles I found were about how the two together create synergy. What I find interesting is how many people I know believe that they are either creative or number oriented, not both. 

http://www.aaas.org/news/how-engaging-art-affects-human-brain

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/how-does-the-brain-process-art-80541420/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/how-art-changes-your-brain_n_5567050.html

How can so many studies point to benefits but an abnormally low number of people try to bring the two together? 

This Research done by our very own UCLA students discusses the various forms of activities that can help strengthen our brain. things like meditation and working out promote positive developments. UCLA research

Work cited

Brooks, Katherine. "Study Says Making Art Is Good For Your Brain, And We Say You Should Listen." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. 

Wheeler, Mark. "How to Build a Bigger Brain." UCLA Newsroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/how-art-changes-your-brain_n_5567050.html>.

Tucker, Abigail. "History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian."History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.

Zambon, Kat. "How Engaging With Art Affects the Human Brain." AAAS. N.p., 17 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.aaas.org/news/how-engaging-art-affects-human-brain>.

"Brain Art Competition 2014." The Neuro Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web.

Week 6 post

Similar to what i wrote about in my first event blog, biotech + art part 1 video explores the use of sound and art with biology. Specifically, the Audio microscope developed by Joe Davis. The microscope works by transmitting light data into sounds. Ive never thought of sounds as an outlet for beautiful artwork to come out of Biotechnology, and i love it!
Beautiful video of sound and technology This video blew my mind and I believe that way more can be done with sound than artists think about.

This is a peer reviewed article that explains the creation of a new non invasive way to listen to cells. However, "Sound waves are widely used in medical imaging, such as when doctors take an ultrasound of a developing fetus." (Science daily). Ultra sounds were used in the images I discussed in my last blog post about the controversy of human fetuses.
Further, I find even more interesting the way that E. Coli responds to sound. Similarly to that, researchers at MIT released a Youtube video showing the ways in which sounds can help find rare cancer cells in the human body. 

While controversial, the labratory tests that produced an Oncomouse are extremely interesting to me. In my opinion a philosophical debate erupts over our right to induce cancer to other animals for research. is the suffering of one species worth potential benefits for humans?  This Article, conducted by the world intellectual property organization debates that very question.

Biophysical Society. "Listening to Cells: Scientists probe human cells with high-frequency sound." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 February 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130201095936.htm>.

Anne Neimetz - event blog from her lecture in the Broad Art center

At first, and Im going to be honest, I wasn't overly excited to attend Anne's lecture on campus this afternoon. I am always hesitant about art exhibits because most of the time I find them redundant. However, Anne's lecture made me rethink what I thought art was. By using technology and, in my opinion more importantly, sound, Anne has developed "media critical" and thought provoking works. My notable favorite was her collaboration with musicians and engineers which resulted in a beautiful composition of technology and art. The music was expertly and appropriately composed to display the wonders of a beautiful tesla coil, but more prominately, Anne's contribution to the project was my favorite aspect.

Besides that unique collaboration, Anne's student project that involves wearable technologies brought me back to the cyborg's we discussed towards the beginning of the year. Wearable technology is the step we must master before taking the leap to implantations that will change the way our bodies work.

Besides her student run projects, the most entertaining part of her lecture was when she overlapped different hertz frequencies at the same time. alone, they sound boring and monotone, but playing similar frequencies at the same time creates a harmonious tune that is enjoyable. 

Thank you Anne for expanding my mind in the world of art!