Extra Credit Event Blog

The final event I attended was at Fowler Museum.  I visited the Making Strange exhibit by Vivan Sundaram.  This exhibit featured twenty-seven mannequins wearing clothing made up of recycled materials.  This is designed to combine fashion and the brand.  This portion of the exhibit was titled Gagawaka.  The other portion of the exhibit was titled Postmortem which utilizes anatomical parts in the displays.  The combination of these two portions of the exhibit highlight the inseparable topics of fashion and the human body.  Sundaram states that he is capturing beauty and illness, pleasure and pain, life and death.  To me I felt that this exhibition displayed some of the issues that we have in today's society, and the consumer world in which we live.  Many of these pieces of artwork related to an issue within society.  One of the first pieces of artwork I encountered was of a suit hanging from the ceiling filled with medications.  This caught my attention and made me think of the problem of over prescription of drugs in today's world.  Another that was similar was made of pill wrappers.

Another was made of bras, and to me represented the obsession that people have with fashion and beauty.

This exhibition was different than what I was expecting and was very abstract, but made me think a lot about different topics and issues.  It evoked many interesting thoughts.  

Event Blog 3

I next visited the Jane Mi installation at the MFA Exhibition in the Wight Gallery.  This exhibit was very unique.  My first impression was that it was a beautiful, well designed display.  This exhibit connected to class because it combined both science and art.  The exhibit had multiple different features that all tied together.  In combination these features gave me a sense of being in a different, unique environment.  One of the items on display was the Hawaiian translation of the Antarctic treaty.  This ties together the theme of this display, and of both Hawaii and Antarctic.  This treaty questions how sovereignty is determined, making Antarctica only available for scientific research not for military use.  

Another central feature of the exhibit was the iceberg tracker, which complied data from both the Brigham Young University Iceberg Tracking Database and NASA.  This display was projected on to the ground of the exhibit.  I felt that this was very applicable to modern day issues because it could relate to current climate change and global warming problems.  I am not sure if it was the goal of Mi to address this issue, but I personally felt as though it was very applicable.  

Overall this exhibit was interesting to visit and similarly to Robert Gero's display, provided an overall feeling and atmosphere. 

Event Blog 2

The next event that I attended was the LASER symposium on May 21st.  This event was informational and provided a unique experience, with multiple brief presentations.  Each speaker was given about five minutes to present their project.  Of the many projects that were presented my favorite was the presentation by Misha Rabinovich and Caitlin Foley.  They presented on their topic of pink noise.  

They created a Pink Noise Salon in which people can experience pink noise.  The presenters explained that pink noise is natural sounds found in nature.  Pink noise has an inverse relationship between frequency and volume.  It is not to be confused with white noise.  White noise is the sound of static.  Pink noise is found to have meditative effects.  A few of the items that can be found in the Pink Noise Salon are the Heart Hat and Shellphones.  The Heart Hat amplifies the sound of one's own heartbeat.  The Shellphones play relaxing sounds of the ocean.  Rabinovich and Foley are interdisciplinary artists, who combine nature, art and the human body.  Pink noise is supposed to be representative of nature's sounds, which are meant to be beneficial to people, providing relaxing and meditative results, all displayed at the Pink Noise Salon.  Here is a video showing their exhibit in New York. 

https://vimeo.com/108192777

Event Blog 1

The first event that I attended was the exhibition by Robert Gero titled Infinity Structures: Paradoxical Spaces.  This exhibition was featured in the UCLA Art|Sci Gallery in the CNSI building.  Robert Gero is a perfect example of combining many disciplines to create something unique and powerful.  He combines art practice, philosophy and social-architectural systems in his works.  Upon entering this exhibit I was puzzled, and did not understand what I was seeing.  My first impression was that I was in a dimly lit room, with Styrofoam pieces extending from ceiling to floor

Once there I was able to listen to the artist speak and realized the significance of this display.  The gallery represented infinity, and this work engaged the idea of infinity as an object of math and as a natural world object.  All of the structures were grounded on the floor, but the many iterations of the display continued to twist and distort.  One thing in particular that I really enjoyed about visiting this exhibit was the many ways in which it connected to class.  This work truly embraced the idea of combining disciplines, in this case mathematics and art.  It was fascinating to be able to see this in-person.  Gero describes the exhibit as turning static space into dynamic space, and I agree with this description.  The exhibit engaged many senses.  The atmosphere of the exhibit was also very stimulating with the dim lights, video projections (by Benjamin Lein) and soft playing music (by Randy Greif) in the background.   

As Professor Vesna stated, people have always been fascinated with space.  This holds very true to me, and I found this week's topic of space and art intriguing.  Space is an unimaginable place, and the technology that has developed to teach us everything we have learned about space is quite amazing.  

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Learning about all of the steps that were utilized to reach what we know today about space is incredible.  I learned a lot about the history of space technology this week.  In relation to the connection between art and space I found the idea of the "no gravity" art exhibition very unique.  The exhibition Dancing on the Ceiling: Art and Zero Gravity represents this idea of weightlessness on earth.  The exhibition is based on two primary ideas: the theme of transcendence and the idea of zero gravity (Forde).   

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One of the exhibits that can be viewed at this gallery is titled Float! by Thom Kubli.  This exhibit involves viewers getting into a floatation tank, while listening to the soundtrack created by the artist.  The artist describes it as an "anti-environment" experiment.  The water in the tank is body temperature and has a high salinity volume in order to cause the person in it to float (Forde).  The idea is that your senses are deprived of stimulation and you are able to completely relax as you enter into a, "meditative, trance-like state" (Willett).  Here is a short video further describing this interesting and unique exhibit: 

This tank relates to space because it creates a "zero-gravity" feel.  Another, different variation, of zero-gravity art was created by Frank Pietronigro who created "drift paintings" in which the artist physically floats in zero-gravity while painting.  Here is a photograph of the chamber in which he paints ("Frank").

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Pietronigro has worked with NASA in order to create these artworks.  His goals are to, "create a new medium of space art but to also enrich the culture of space exploration" ("Frank"). 

Images:

[1]http://7-themes.com/6810480-space-wallpaper.html
[2]http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/189/hires/8785.jpg
[3]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/738718main_frank-paint-chamber-horizontal_226-170.jpg

Works Cited: 

-Forde, Kathleen. "Dancing on the Ceiling: Art and Zero Gravity". Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2010. Web. 31 May 2015. 

-"Frank Pietronigro: Zero-Gravity Space Artist." NASA. NASA, 2 April 2015. Web. 31 May 2015. 
-Pietronigro, Frank. Frank Pietronigro:Interdisciplinary Art. Frank Pietronigro, 2014. Web. 31 May 2015. 
-Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 1-Intro". UCLA. Web. 31 May 2015. 
-Willett, Claire. "Defining Gravity: Thomas Kubli's "Float! Thinktank 21".  New York 2night. Cities2Night LLC, 2011. Web. 31 May 2015. 

This week's topic of nanotechnology was extremely informative and applied to many different disciplines.  It was fascinating to learn about the ways in which nanotechnology can apply to topics such as food, beauty products and medicine.  Vesna and Gimzewski describe nanotechnology, stating that it, "requires input from practically every scientific discipline, but it also needs direct and intense collaboration with the humanities and the arts" (1).  This is truly an upcoming application of technology, and it is obvious that this will be an important discipline in many fields in the future.

I enjoyed listening to Dr.Gimzewski's lectures.  In one of his lectures he brought up the topic of nanotechnology and sportswear.  He described the use of silver nanoparticles in clothing material that help to provide the clothing with and antimicrobial affect (Gimzewski).  I found this particularly interesting because I have seen many advertisements for such products but never knew the science behind it.  With further research I learned many interesting things about the textile industry and how they utilize nanotechnology to create unique and useful products.  For example, one article I read by Michael Berger discussed the application of nanotechnology and textiles to make them fast-absorbing and quick-drying.  One of the challenges with this technology is getting the nanoparticles to stay in the clothing after washing.  This video below shows this technology being utilized, and in this case the nanoparticles stay in the material for up to 20 washes (Berger).

One other successful example is the use of silic and clothing.  This use of nanotechnology creates clothing that never gets water.  The liquid simply runs right off of it.  Aamir Patel is the creator, and he states, "You'll never worry about a sweat stain or dirty odors again" (Hornyak).  This interesting technology can be very useful! 

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Another unique product is compression sleeves that weave copper nanoparticles in to the fabric and are supposed to reduce pain and swelling.  One brand that sells such products is Tommie Copper.  Their website claims that their products have, "helped over one million people get back to doing what they love" ("About Us").

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However, in the case the use of nanotechnology, although clever, was not found to be very effective.  The use of compression sleeves has been proven to be effective in helped to reduce inflammation and improve performance, but it was found that a copper compression sleeve versus a regular compression sleeve were not different ("Copper Wear Reviews").

In conclusion, while the use of nanotechnology has many benefits and a lot of potential to create some amazing products, just like any other technology some companies take advantage of it to make money.  The copper compression sleeves is an innovative idea, it just needs some more work to make them more effective and practical.  


Image Links:
[1] http://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2013/12/17/bd7c1c53-6de8-11e3-913e-14feb5ca9861/resize/620x/d6427f05240551ddbefcea88a5780fdb/shirt.png
[2] http://www.tommiecopper.com/men-s-comfort-back-brace

Works Cited:
-"About Us." Tommie Copper. Tommie Copper, 2015. Web. 24 May 2015.
-"Copper Wear Reviews." BrightReviews. Bright Reviews, 2014. Web. 24 May 2015.
-Berger, Michael. "Nanotechnology improves wool fabrics." Nano werk. Nanowerk, 12 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 May 2015.
-Gimzewski, Jim and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of fact and fiction in the construction of a new science". 26 Jan. 2004:1-8. Print.
-Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech for Artists Part 3 - Dr.Gimzewski. UCLA. Web. 22 May 2015.
-Hornyak, Tim. "Laugh at spills and sweat with this Silic stain-proof nanotech shirt." Cnet Tech Culture. CNET, 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 May 2015.  

The topic of neuroscience is complex, and its connections to the world of art are fascinating.  When beginning the lecture for this week's topic I was unsure how neuroscience would connect to art, when I think of neuroscience I think of a strictly scientific subject.  This week's lectures and resources opened my eyes to the connection between neuroscience and art.  One specific topic that stuck out to me is the Brainbow system.  This was described in Professor Vesna's lecture as the process by which individual neurons can be distinguished from one another using a fluorescent protein (Vesna).  Some images associated with this Brainbow technique are displayed below, they are quite beautiful.

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This system is discussed in the article "Neuroculture" by Frazzetto and Anker.  The Brainbow system is described in this article very well, stating it is, "a sophisticated transgenic technique, provided extraordinary picture of neuronal circuitry, rivalling artistic representations" (Frazzetto and Anker 817).  This goes to show the fascination that people have with the brain and its unique structures.  However, while the Brainbow system may appear as a piece of artwork, it is extremely useful in science and the medical field as well.  The Brainbow system is utilized to figure out how the brain works.  It is thought that this new technology will be useful in diagnosing and treating brain disorders (Waugh).  This has completely changed the way in which we think about the brain, and given us a much better understanding of its mechanics.  It used to be thought that the brain was just a bundle of tangled wires, but it is now known that it is more of an interwoven system of fibers that cross at right-angles (Wough). 

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Along with providing very valuable medical information, Brainbow is enjoyed by many as aesthetically pleasing pieces of artwork.  Through my research on this topic I discovered many different places in which Brainbow was utilized for art.  This photography work below is being sold online for $400.

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Here is another description of the Brainbow method combined with some beautiful photographs, in my opinion this video is a perfect example of the conjunction of these two disciplines.  

Image Links:

[1]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/04/article-2154368-13710595000005DC-283_634x455.jpg 

[2]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IZCZV5-v3S4/maxresdefault.jpg

[3]http://25.media.tumblr.com/6b968eefe73542a8fb86c857394c7259/tumblr_mkhbcuL0Fy1r2m36ko1_1280.jpg

[4]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2154368/Somewhere-brainbow-New-3D-maps-brain-will.html

[5]http://www.gregadunn.com/product/brainbow-hippocampus-white-print/

Works Cited:
-"Brainbow." Center for Brain Science. Center for Brain Science. Web. 17 May 2015. 

-Drinker, Will. "Brainbow Hippocampus." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 March 2014. Web. 17 May 2015. 

-Frazzetto, Giovanni and and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Science and Society 10 (2009): 815-21. Print. 

-Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture 1." UCLA. Web. 17 May 2015. 

-Waugh, Rob. "Land of Dreams: Harvard scientists map most complicated terrain in the universe - the inside of the brain." DailyMail.com: Science and Tech. DailyMail.com, 5 June 2012. Web. 17 May 2105.