Designed by Pedro Reyes,"This Is The End" showcases the “Unconventional Narrative Strategies” by the individual artworks of Ed Atkins, Loretta
Fahrenholz, Tommy Hartung, in which they address various themes such as trauma,
melancholy, surrealism and the uncanny, was a surreal experience. The
complexity of the video ultimately looks at the physical and emotional tole
that depression has on individuals. Whether it may be mental or external, the
interpretations of the narratives of human emotions are at an elaborate point
of view.
Desma 9
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Event # 3: This Is The End
Event # 2: "Provocations" by Heatherwick Studio
"Provocations" by Heatherwick Studios was
an extraordinary event that looks at the everyday household item, and thinks of
new “inventive work, that combines novel engineering and new materials and
innovative design”. From large architectural project in South Africa, the U.K,
Abu Dhabi, to the ceremonial lighting cauldron for the London 2012 Olympic
Games, Heatherwick Studios imagination is a “diverse body of work that defies
easy categorization and eschews any notion of a signature style.”
Event #1: Kathy High Exhibit
As I entered the exhibit, the first thing that caught my
eye was a jar filled with an unknown specimen. I didn’t really pay attention
to it until I read the letter that was written by the author. “Dear David Bowe,
I have a bargain for you…I am a life-long fan…I was hoping these photos might
grab your attention for a moment. I want to exchange these for a throw-away
item, your poo.”
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Space + Art
Whether it may be the Milky Way, Medusa Nebula, or even the
sight of the Moon, space will forever be light years of galaxies and unknown
planets waiting to be discovered. As we finally close out this blog, I feel as
if the entire class really helped boil down to this point of space and art. The
relationship between the other blog topics can be defined as concrete and
definite; whereas space deals with the “unknown” and fulfilling human
curiosity. We’ve covered topics from math to culture to nanotechnology, all in
which have endless amount of theories and facts to back up their own well
beings. Although multiple parties, industries, and organizations dedicate their
time and effort to space and its life, why does it seem as if the world of art
is more so drawn to space in comparison to the others? This is because space
combines it all.
It’s
ironic how space combines the other topics into one relation to art for space is
merely the void between the celestial planets themselves. With this void is
what draws human curiosity (neuroscience); it’s with this void that astronauts
make precise calculations on destinations and missions (mathematics); it’s
because of this void that more and more technological development has increased
the past century (technology). We see that art’s mission is to define all the
voids in life by expressing every bit of life’s aspect. But how does one go
about expressing a void? This is where space comes into play with art. Art
unravels the very mysteries of life that we have yet to find existent. Space
gives us clues on how to unravel the unknown by celestial bodies and galaxies
that we now express through multiple variations of art. Maybe that is the
purpose of life, to never fully discover all that is needed to discover but
rather to enjoy the process and passions you find along the way. Just as if one
were to travel in space, might as well enjoy the view rather than focusing on
an end destination.
Considering it's the last blog post, I just wanted to say Thank you Professor Vesna and all the TAs for offering such
an amazing course during my last quarter here at UCLA. I am now ready to enter
the real world of the “unknown” and looking forward to my journey.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Nano-tech + Art
I've recently read an article on the exhibition at the Los
Angeles Country Museum of Art, called “Nano”, as it merges both the art and the
atom. With art-making processes, visitors can experience moving molecules while
manipulating atoms. Nanotechnology focuses on the process in which it studies
the scale of atoms and molecules and their development. What I am intrigued by
is the notion that art can make things easier to understand nanotechnology. The
project itself was actually founded by our very own Professor Victoria Vesna.
Professor Vesna stated, “This new science is about a shift in our perception of
reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity”.
Art has
its way of making the surreal become a reality. Art puts its light on the idea
that nanotechnology looks at things that are impossible to see with the human
eye. We’ve seen every week that art makes the impossible, possible. In this
case, having individuals interacting with molecules, getting to see atoms with
their own bare eyes, and using these to invest in research and development, is
what the progression of life has come to.
Molecular
inspirations has come about through many artists. “Nanoart” really dives into
the notion that everything is made up of molecules of atoms. These specimens
are the foundations of life itself, and without them, we wouldn’t exist. Art
helps conserve the importance of molecule and atoms by highlighting them in
their natural state. It is only with this conservation and admiration of atoms
and molecules that nanotechnology and grow and thrive from.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Neuroscience + Art
With this week’s topic on neuroscience and art, I will be
focusing on “memory”. Both neuroscience and art focuses a lot on the idea of
memory and how individuals not only interpret their memory, but how often are memories
kept.
The
study of neuroscience looks at the psychological and physical development of
the brain itself. Art and neuroscience work hand in hand both on the
psychological aspect spilling over to a physical relationship. Both art and
neuroscience touch upon the idea of an individual’s consciousness, and what it
means for an individual to be conscious or unconscious. For the purpose of this
blog and memory, we will be gearing toward the conscious memory of an
individual when dealing with the relationship between neuroscience and art.
Neuroscience
looks at the anatomical and behavioral nature of an individual’s memory so as
long the memory is kept. Art in the other hand interprets an individual’s
memory and uses that with core objectives for the art piece. In 1959, C.P. snow
indicated that there were now two cultures in the educated world, the
scientific and the artistic which is separated by mutual incomprehension.
Artists not understanding scientists, and vice versa. (Vesna, Week 7)
When it comes to one’s
memory, both art and neuroscience understand that memory is faulty and continuously
changing. Discoveries from both neurologists and artists see that when one’s
perception of a memory first rejects something as ugly, it later perceives as
beautiful, which underlines patterns that have yet to be recognized in both fields.
The combination of artistic theories with hard data from neurologists is needed
to see “memories” in a new light. When one thinks of how a memory came to be,
one can either think of the scientific reasoning with the gustatory and
olfactory nerves or one will lean toward a theoretical understanding and
catalog of perceptions. What really helped during this week’s blog was that
both the field of art and neuroscience are needed to comprehend how every memory
is significant. No matter the experience or feeling caused by it. For a memory
is only as real as the last time you remember it. (Lehrer 20)
Citations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vesna,V Desma 9 Video Lecture Week 7
Max, D. T. "Swann's Hypothesis", 2004. Page 1-3
Lehrer, John, "Misreading the Mind", 2007, Page 15-17
Lee, Hesnok, "Brain Damage and Consciousness", 2005 Page 20-21
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Biology + Art = Bio-Art
This week’s blog focuses on the importance of bio-art and its political impact. But in order to look at these relationships, one must look
at the main disciplines involved in bio-art. In a book titled the Necessity of Art, it suggests that if we look back in history, we
can see that the disciplines of art and science both originate from rituals of
everyday living. The book states that the “common ground between science and
art can be characterized as an underlying will to enhance human understanding and
extend our experience of the world”. Both Art and science share dynamic
skillsets of observation, experimentation, and research while harnessing the
desire of understanding something new and communicating this to others
(Carolina 15).
Bio-art represents the long human
tradition of shaping the living environment. In the Pala Antonelli “Museum of
Modern Art”, staff members were forced to kill a work of art. Bio-artists Oran
Catts and Ionate Zurr, producers of the “Tissue Culture and Art Project”
created a thumb-size jacket called the “Victimless Leather” for the museum that
was created from mouse tissues. (Gyostray 26). The “jacket” was house in a
sterile glass ball in order to contain the cells that were still alive,
multiplying, and threaning to clog the incubation system. Artists like Catts
and Zurr are perfect examples of individuals breaking down the arbitrary
division between the living and nonliving. Over the years, many artists have
been giving up studio time in order to be a in a laboratory setting. (Miranda
13). This transition is the result of not only self-interest, but for future
generations.
Creativity breeds creativity especially
in the expansion of forms of public participation in the disciplines of art and
science (Outlaw 2). This implies that the more innovation there is, the more
innovation there eventually will be. Artists and scientists attempt to simulate
life and create new life-forms while accepting the various classifications of
life (Levy 15). Bio-art forms from the “Victimless Leather” to even pieces of
steak formed from the live cells of a frog are innovations that bring a new
political light and advocacy statement. That people must come together to
understand their personal role in acting upon collective issues in our world
today such as climate change and species loss. Is Bio-Art the only form of
collective action for these particular issues? How is one supposed to
participate in Bio-art with a lack of resources?
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CITATIONS
Levy, Ellen.
"Defining Life: Aritsts Challenge Conventional Classifications. 2003.
1-17. Print.
Outlaws Symposium, "Meanings of
Participation:Outlaw Biology? Outlaws, Hackers, Victorian Gentlemen." 1-8.
Print.
Miranda, Carolina.
"Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. Web. 11 May
2015.
Gyostray., Katrina.
"Art and Biotechnology: When Art Looks into Science." Art and
Biotechnology. 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 May 2015.
Chen, Chin-Chung.
"Do Humans Need GMOs? -- A View from a Global Trade Market." Do
Humans Need GMOs? -- A View from a Global Trade Market. Web. 11 May 2015.
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