Desma 9 Spring 2017

Nanotech and art are needed to understand one another as seen in paintings by Christian Orfescu and from the nanotech exhibit at LACMA in 2003. Christian Orfescu uses nanotechnology in his art that he calls nanoart (Feder). This is interesting when one considers that nanotech is with objects that are 100 nanometers or less. For reference, the average circumference of a strand of hair is 80,000 nanometers (Feder). Orfescu has annual competitions for artists interested in creating nanoart. These artists have to rely on nanotechnology to create it as there is no other way. Orfescu’s goal is to spread awareness to nanoart. To influence those competing in his art competition, he sends them microscopic images so they have an idea (Feder). (Example of a painting by Orfescu) In 2003, LACMA had an exhibit where people can use art to understand nanotechnology. This exhibit was created by some experts from UCLA including Dr. Vesna. In the exhibit they have buckyballs and a sand mandala

(Neuroaesthetics)     There is the study of art and the brain called Neuroaesthetics. This is studying art while using neuroscience (Noe). This is the idea that art is made in the brain and that there may be science behind art. Researches look at events in brains to have an understanding of art (Noe). This is interesting as I sometimes wonder why some are more artistic than others and this can help explain why. This seems like an interesting field to go into for the final. (Recognizing Faces) (Baby looking at his face in mirror)     Another article I read was by CNN and it goes into what the brain recognizes in art, mainly lines, faces, and color. Line drawings are an outline that one can picture without the lines. For example, someone drawing a picture of your room, your brain can tell it is your room even though the objects in your room are not outlined in black (Landau). They are the same neural networks we see in the real word so it is easily recognizable (Landau). N

(Lecture Hall)     I recently attended a lecture hosted by Linda Weintraub called “What’s next for Planet Earth” and there were UCLA professors giving short presentations. Since I was seeing this talk for a bit between classes, I was only able to see Dr. Charles Taylor give a presentation on birdsongs. In an article by the Daily Bruin, “ [Taylor] hopes to identify what birds are trying to communicate when they sing. ‘If we understand what birds are saying, then we have a window into their mind’” (Somani). I found this to be interesting as Dr. Taylor wants to understand the reasoning behind birdsongs. (Dr. Taylor's Powerpoint)      In his lecture we saw videos of Dr. Taylor and some of his students recording and playing birdsongs to see what would happen. Interestingly, we heard birds chirp back or fly somewhere. He later played a little bit from some music he made which incorporated the songs from multiple birds. Before attending this presentation, I knew that birds ha

Since the choices one makes, draw out their lives, life can be argued a an expressive medium. How one lives their life each day is up to them. Their body or life is an blank canvas and the actions are the paintings or drawings. An example of biotech is the GFP Bunny, or fluorescent bunny. The bunny was in a sense created by Eduardo Kac, mixing different genes from other organisms to make the albino bunny light up if under the correct lighting. This is an example of transgenics. This “offers a concept of aesthetics that emphasize the social rather than the formal life” (Kac). They do things for the society and because it has an appealing look. This GFP bunny is unique in that Kuc created it as opposed to breeding the bunny a certain way. (Alba, the Fluorescent Bunny) Artistic technology is technology that looks appealing to the eye. For example, a human robot compared with a clunky looking robot. This technology should be valued for its purpose as well for its appealing look. I

Hey All, Here is my proposal to Dreamember: Remember Your Dreams! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WANalTktglqPUtS3-aNVW4k8eq0pPivf8DHriVmLISc/edit?usp=sharing