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Event 3: Contact

For my 3rd event, I decided to attend the watch party of Contact. This movie was fantastic and fits really well with our course. This week we are learning about space and art, so it is no surprise that this movie is about space. The main character is part of a team looking for extraterrestrial life, and I personally think that is so cool! The program the main character, Dr. Ellie Arroway, works for is called SETI. Contact directed by Robert Zemeckis I was upset when they wanted to close the SETI program because they thought that nothing would come of it. I think it is absolutely crazy to think that earth is the only life in the universe. Of course there is more out there, it's just a matter of finding it. However, I was encouraged to see that they were given funding privately. And when they were allowed to continue, they found something they were looking for (prime numbers coming through the satellites). This is a perfect example of needing to have faith in the programs and people....
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Week 9: Space + Art

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This week, we learned about how space and art connect with one another. Space has always intrigued me, so I was very excited to learn more about it. Although excited, the concept of space is always hard to discuss because we just know so little about it. The fact that space goes on pretty much forever is mind-boggling. Pictures of space are pieces of art themselves. I love to see this artwork of galaxies, planets, and more. Technology has progressed so far that we are able to see things through telescopes that we have never seen before. For example, the image below shows the "spiral galaxy NGC 5643 in the constellation of Lupus (the Wolf)". It was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and is such a beautiful image.  NASA Galaxy Image Artists such as this weeks speaker, Richelle Gribble, travel around the world for their art. Gribble travels and explores different ecosystems for her artwork. She has lived in many interesting places around the globe, and her art reflects th...
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Week 8: NanoTech + Art

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This week's topic was nanotechnology and how it relates to art. Even though I knew it existed, I was still surprised to learn just how small the matter is that nanotechnology is able to manipulate. Having the capabilities to do this sort of manipulation opens up a whole field for scientists and artists to explore. Nanotechnology is even becoming more common as the technology improves and we are able to do more and more. Nano Structures Artists use nanotechnology to create different colors for their artwork. One specific use of nanotech for color is the inventions of Vantablack and Black 3.0. Vantablack is touted as the worlds darkest black. It is able to absorb 99.96 % of light when its on an object. This makes objects almost look flat because there is no light reflection. Black 3.0 is more for consumers and is also extremely black. These two paint colors can be used as more than just art, and have scientific uses too.  Vantablack covers statue and looks like black hole Nanotechnol...
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Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

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This week, we explored how neuroscience is connected to art. I think that one of the best people to show the connection between these two cultures is Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Santiago made beautiful pictures that are drawings of the cells. These drawings were a game changer, and he won a Nobel prize for it. The drawings are also still used in some textbooks today. They are so beautiful that even people who don't fully understand what they are would like to hang them up as art pieces. Santiago Ramón y Cajal Drawing Another example of art and neuroscience coming together is by Suzanne Anker and Giovanni Frazzetto. They took fMRI scans and overlaid butterflies on them. The butterflies are the same on each scan, but there are different ink blots that change the way the whole image looks. It is truly beautiful to look at.  Suzanne Anker Artwork Our guest speaker this week, Siddharth Ramakrishnan, spoke about how our mind's eye is able to visualize things, but it's different for e...
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Week 6: BioTech + Art

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I have found that bio art is one of the more interesting topics we have discussed so far this quarter. Biotech is such an important field that effects our lives on a daily basis. Before this week, I would have never considered biotech to be art. However, that has definitely changed because there are many instances that prove how art and biotech intersect. For example, Alba, a rabbit created by Eduardo Kac, had been genetically modified to glow a fluorescent green color. This takes immense skill on the scientific side of things because you are literally modifying things on a cellular level, but it also is an artistic representation of what people can do to make living things art.  Alba the glowing rabbit Using biology as a canvas to express yourself artistically doesn't just stop at fluorescent bunnies. They are also able to use biotech to modify foods, humans, and other animals. The possibilities are endless, which also brings into question whether everything they are doing is...
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Event 2: GATTACA

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On May 7, I participated in the watch party for the movie GATTACA. This was such an interesting film, and I am happy I decided to choose to attend. Right from the very beginning, this movie got me thinking. The beginning talked about how the parents can essentially choose the best sperm and egg to become a "perfect" child. The main character, Vincent, was a "natural" child and his brother was one of the genetically chosen child. I feel very bad for Vincent because he was always compared to his brother and felt he wasn't goof enough. This is particularly interesting because we can pretty much do this already in real life.   This is kind of scary that a movie that was not real is starting to turn into reality.  Sperm being put into egg It is upsetting that a society would only care about someone's genetics rather than anything else. Realistically, however, this is the direction our society is headed. We have so many tests that can tell a lot about us, and I th...
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Week 4: MedTech + Art

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This week’s lesson focused on how medicine, art, and technology all help one another to advance. Technology is the reason medicine is where it is today. Technology is so important to modern medicine, and there are often new breakthroughs in this industry because of it. Technology advances medicine One example of technology influencing medicine is the invention of x-ray and MRI machines. These imaging breakthroughs are extremely important in medicine today, and life would be a lot more difficult without them. Doctors are able to see into our bodies without having to perform surgery, and they can then give us the best treatment. Additionally, we have gone even farther and are now able to see our internals in 3D. These 3D scans help doctors even more, and are just one of the examples of how medicine continues to innovate with the help of technology.  Technology is also increasingly important when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. All around the country and the world, people use t...
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Event 1: Origami Revolution

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During week two, I attended the watch party where we watched the documentary "The Origami Revolution". This documentary was very interesting because it showcases just how complex and useful this ancient art form can be. The connection with math and art is very evident in this documentary. One of the people featured in this documentary created a computer program which will show you how to fold anything from just a sheet of paper.  Origami Folding Computer Software It was also shown that origami has many practical uses other than just being a visual art. For example, researchers are creating a bulletproof shield that can be deployed quickly and be easily transported. This invention, when it is finalized and delivered to law enforcement, has the possibility of saving hundreds of lives. Police Shield Another use of origami is in space. Researchers have found that if solar panels are in a flasher pattern, it can wrap around a rocket during launch and open in space. This can provid...
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Week 3: Robotics + Art

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For this week's blog post, I would like to talk about an invention of a machine that changed the world. This machine was the printing press. The printing press was created by Johannes Gutenberg. He mostly adapted existing technology to create this press. Once book making was mechanized, books were able to be mass produced and it was very profitable. This changed many sectors including religion. This is because the bible was able to be printed and distributed to more and more people.  First Printing Press Even though this was an amazing invention, there were people who realized that once something becomes mass produced, it is no longer special. Walter Benjamin actually discusses this in the article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”. In this article, he says that mechanization in general destroys the pure value of what art originally is. I understand his argument and agree that a handmade book is much more valuable than a mass produced one. However, I believe th...
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Week 2: Math + Art

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I think the concept of math and art together is very interesting. As an artist myself, I have not considered the fact that I use math all the time in my art without even knowing it. This is because I always considered math to be things like formulas. I was not doing any calculations while doing my art, but Professor Vesna explains in her lecture that math is much more than just formulas. Art is actually modeled after nature through something called the "Golden Mean". This concept helps artist to create a more natural looking art. The "Golden Mean" Perspective is also used in art all the time in art and is something that relates to math. The vanishing point rule says that there "should be a vanishing point to which all parallel lines in a plane converge". This helps to create the illusion of perspective on a 2D surface. Using math, the artist is able to guarantee that the geometry of the picture will look correct to the viewer.  All parallel lines converge ...
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Week 1: Two Cultures

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When learning about the two cultures of art and science, I came to the realization that I am very much influenced by these two cultures every day. In fact, I chose my major based on the fact that I am interested in both the arts and sciences. My major, cognitive science, connects art and science together in a way that I find very interesting. For example, some people who choose this major end up designing websites and apps, or go into the marketing field. I would hope to be able to use my artistic abilities with this major so I can work in the creative side of product development and design. Finding a major that encompasses aspects from both cultures was very challenging, as there is normally a great divide between them.  Graphic showcasing the various subjects which make up cognitive science. https://www.study-in-germany.de As I was reading the assigned articles this week, I found that Professor Vesna’s article, “Toward a Third Culture,” really resonated with me. This is...
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