MedTech + Art

For the past three weeks, Professor Vesna’s lectures have continued to surprise me by connecting art with opposing fields such as mathematics, technology, and robotics. Then I asked myself, why do I continually jump to the conclusion that art is so different from these subjects? I have recently learned that these fields have a lot more in common with art than I ever imagined, especially when it comes to medicine. Medicine and art are both closely connected to the human body. I believe that art is an expression of individuality while medicine allows us to break down and analyze the human body. Over the past two millennia, art has played a significant role in shaping the way that the world perceives medicine.

This image closely relates art with the anatomy of the human body, which is open for interpretation

It is amazing to think about the influence that the evolution of medicine has had on art over the last few decades. For instance, the first MRI machine took five hours to produce one image and influenced artists who were working with film during the 20th century. Today, the use of MRI scans have become one of the most common ways for physicians to diagnose brain tumors, torn ligaments, cancer, strokes, and much more. This noninvasive way to look into the anatomy of the human body can be viewed as a result of art. In 1514, Andresa Vesalius, also known as the "Father of Human Anatomy," was the first one to provide an accurate representation of the internal structures of the human body. His research helped further modern medicine because the treatment of disease was able to be found in his studies of human anatomy. During the Renaissance, artists created images of science and medicine that are still evolving with modern day technology. 

This image shows the original MRI machine, which was named "Indomitable"

Another example regarding the evolution of medicine and art is plastic surgery, which originated in India four thousand years ago. I have always thought of plastic surgery as a recent technological advance in the medical field. However, I learned that in addition to dealing with medical issues it is also a method of expression and art in our culture. Hailing from the East, plastic surgery was used in reconstructive surgery for skin grafts and eventually evolved into a way for people to sculpt themselves. However, I believe that technology can have a negative influence on art, especially when it comes to aesthetically enhancing cosmetic beauty. According to lecture, Orlan is a French artist who is most commonly known for transforming herself into a living work of art through plastic surgery. I feel like this says a lot about our society and goes to show just how our culture has evolved.

This image shows plastic surgery being preformed on Olan's face to enhance cosmetic beauty

"The Link between Medicine, Science and Art." EurekAlert! American Association for Clinical Chemistry, 29 July 2002. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Frank, Priscilla. "ORLAN Talks Plastic Surgery, Beauty Standards And Giving Her Fat To Madonna (PHOTOS, INTERVIEW, NSFW)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.

Andreasen, Nancy. "Creativity in Art and Science: Are There Two Cultures?" Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. Les Laboratoires Servier, 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341649/>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt1." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt2." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.

Week 3: Art and Robotics

Without even realizing it, I have grown up in a society where robots play an integral part of our everyday lives.  I was unaware of the impact that robots had on society, especially its relation with art. Whether it is a simple robot like an iPhone or a more intelligent robot such as an automaton, our society depends on these mechanical technologies as a mechanization of labor. However, in order to have the technology that we have today it is important to consider how the earliest machines contributed to the growing Renaissance. It was not until the Second Revolution that society began to accept robots as a mechanism of labor. It is crazy to think that this single invention eventually led to modern industrialized robots that have the ability to mimic human actions.

This shows the beginnings of the assembly line and mass production

The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in the 1430’s was the beginning of the assembly line production. This has its advantages and disadvantages. It decreased employment and manual labor while increasing mass production. Walter Benjamin believed that ability to reproduce art took away from the “aura” and authenticity from original art. As this may be true, I disagree. After watching the lectures from this week, I feel like society would not be nearly as sophisticated without the help of robots.

Da Vinci's Soldier Robot 

In the middle of the 20th century, Leonardo Da Vinci created innovative devices and materials that possess mechanical qualities. His inventions are still highly regarded today in the fields of mechanics in addition to art. His works plays a significant role in robotic history. The device above is called the "solider robot," which is an automaton that is capable of some human-like movements.

Dating back to the 1920’s, the Ford assembly line paved the way for future endeavors in the growing field of mechanics. It is so interesting how robotics has such a strong connection with art. For example, the idea of the robot came out of theater. In other cultures, especially Japan, robots play a unique role in the lives of humans. The robots possess aesthetic qualities that allow them to take of the form of humans. In Japanese culture, it is intriguing how robots are almost considered as equals to their human counterparts. In addition to that, the humanistic forms of these robots are strongly connected to art in the sense that they are aesthetically created to emulate human mannerisms.

This image shows the interaction of robots and humans in an artistic setting in Japanese society

Works Cited

"The Invention of the Printing Press - PsPrint.com." PsPrint.com. PsPreint A Deluxe Company, 2 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

"Walter Benjamin - Biography." Walter Benjamin. The European Graduate School EGS. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

"Leonardo Da Vinci's Robots." Leonardo Da Vinci's Robots. All On Robots. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Arendt, Hannah. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Walter Benjamin. Schocken/Random House, 1 Feb. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Math and Art

Before this weeks lecture, I often comprised the studies of mathematics, science, and art as their own distinct entity. However, I learned that these fields have many overlapping aspects that influence each other. The connection of art and science is through mathematics and art, which in turn brings art and science together by the use of technology. Artists throughout history have incorporated mathematics in their creative work and expression to create precise shapes and sculptures through varying perspectives.

An interesting thing I learned in this weeks lecture is that in order to create shapes in visual art, an artist needs to use mathematical formulas to calculate the measurements and dimensions to get an accurate product. The ideas of perspective did not come to the West until the 13^th Century when Giotto painted scenes with the illusion of depth, which was driven by intuition and the understanding of linear perspective. However, Brunelleschi was the first person to use the correct formulation of linear perspective by incorporating the use of geometry and algebra to produce art.

 

This is one of Leonardo's Illustrations for Pacioli's Divina proportione from Renaissance Art

It is interesting to think about how our knowledge in mathematics has played a significant role in our society throughout history. For instance, zero was originally used punctuation mark in Ancient Mesopotamia and was not declared a number until it appeared 650 AD India by mathematician Brahmagupta. His ideas spread through China and eventually made its way to the Western mathematics system in the 1600’s.

This is ancient Babylonian cuniform expressing zero

After reading FlatLand: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott, I couldn’t help but think that the cohesion of math and art plays a much bigger role in our world than I ever thought. Not only are math and art used to help make sense of the physical world but of the unobservable universe as well. Modern technology has had a huge impact on the relation of math and art by furthering our knowledge and helping us see the world through different perspectives.

Al-Haythem understood the Optics to create dimension

Sources and Links

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/unit13/unit13.html

http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses/m446-03/pl322/pl322.html

http://www.islamic-study.org/optics.htm

Works Cited

Abbott, Edwin. “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.” N.p., n.d. Web. 12 April. 2015. <https://cole.uconline.edu/content>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Math + Art.” Lecture 2.

Math Intro. By Victoria Vesna. YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 12 April. 2015. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHiL9iskUWM&feature=player_embedded>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 12 April. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg&feature=player_embedded>

Two Cultures

C.P. Snow lectured that the polarization between “Two Cultures” in modern society is the leading obstruction to solving the world’s main issue: the wealth gap. He argued that the division between literary intellectuals and the natural sciences propose a societal issue, specifically condemning educational systems for being the source of the problem. Stephen Wilson discusses the mutual influences between art and technology and art and science. His claim on “Two Cultures” revolves more around bridging the wealth gap as opposed to Snow’s position of strict polarization to a single culture.

UCLA is a perfect example of the division between the two cultures. Our campus is comprised of two separate regions: north and south campus. North campus is home to those who pursue the arts and humanities while south campus is for those who study math and sciences. As a pre-psychology major, I am influenced by the two cultures every day seeing as I mainly reside in south campus.

The division between North and South Campus

The concept of “Two Cultures” is also evident in my heritage. I was born and raised in America but have been exposed to German culture from my mothers side of the family. Although these are two very different cultures, I feel like I am able to adapt to both cultures as they have played a significant role in shaping me as a person.

http://kevintakinggerman110.blogspot.com/2010/12/final-question-on-german-culture.html

Before this weeks readings, I often integrated the concept of “Two Cultures” into a single entity, never consciously questioning the separate distinctions between the sciences and humanities. Now that I think about it, the existence of these two cultures has played a major role in my life and continues to do so every day. However, the development of a third culture comprised of ideals from both the arts and sciences can provide the world with new opportunities to ultimately close the wealth gap. This third culture represents grey area in-between the separation of art and science. It encompasses ideas from both cultures and is not so black and white. 

This winding river represents the grey area of the third culture

Citations

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York, 2000. Print

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. Science Magazine. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. The MIT Press, 1 Apr. 1968. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1571951?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>.

Grahm-Rowe, Duncan. "John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art." Wired UK 3 Feb. 2011. Print.