Event 3 : LACMA

The last place I went to was the LACMA, arguably most famous for the outside than it is for it’s inside. On the outside lies the world famous “Urban Light” piece, essentially a collection of lamps perfectly symmetrical and placed closely together. It is truly kind of a strange sight to behold, because normally one is used to lamps being singular and here, they’re placed closely together in design.

Since the LACMA was created in 1965, it’s now the largest art museum in the western United States most known for the picturesque Urban Lights, and it’s collections of Asian and Latin American art. When I went to the LACMA, it was vital for me to check out some of these pieces. 

Unlike the Getty, it is extremely easy to get lost in the LACMA. Housing multiple stories and having different hallways without signs, it’s essentially an air conditioned maze. The first part I stumbled upon was Renaissance Art. What differed with the Getty is that the LACMA had architecture around the time period, specifically Gothic Art. There was a doorway from France dated to be around 1450-1500. I marveled at who big it was and I loved looking at the intricacy of the work. Perfectly symmetrical, it incorporated two elements of gothic architecture including decorative style and the ornate, and having a pointed arch. 

It was cool to look at the Gothic Arch because it uses mathematics to construct a stable door, technology to make it, and the final piece is artwork. A perfect example of using multiple concepts we’ve used in class in one piece of art. 

From there, I checked out the Buddha Shakyamuni in the Asian art. A late 6th century piece, it was pretty incredible to see the multiple sculptures and the intricate design. The craftsmanship on all the pieces (including Shiva as the Lord of Dance) was breathtaking and the emphasis on the peace and meditation was nice. As a person unfamiliar with Buddhism, I really liked the pieces and really came to appreciate the artwork and religion. 

What I came away with from the LACMA was the different pieces and their incorporation of multiple concepts we've learned in class. For example, the Renaissance art incorporated technology in techniques like “vanishing points”, and the Asian art had a feeling of two cultures by way of art, math and even nature.  

A great place to visit and an even better place to enjoy a pizza at the LACMA Cafe, I had a great time. 

Event 2 : Getty

Going to the Getty is something that is high on the list for any person visiting Los Angeles. Having not been there, I figured it would now be a perfect time to go! 

Upon arriving to the Getty, I was caught in awe of the detail that the place had. Normal museums have a very old feel to them but the Getty has a more modern feel due to it’s precise mathematical design ranging from the way the bushes and hedges are trimmed to the design of the shuttle going up to the museum. 

One thing that anyone will notice is upon arriving also, is the balance it has between nature and structure. The museum itself is situated on top of a hill amongst many trees and secondly, the way it incorporates water is also beautiful. There’s a giant fountain, placed perfectly perpendicular to the center and falls perfectly in line with the stairs. The angle that it’s set gives a mathematical pinpoint that highlights the excellence of the architecture. 

Walking into the Getty, many of the walls of the building include glass. Glass is used by architects to make space appear bigger and not only does it do that, but it allows the viewers of the Getty to enjoy the sunshine of southern California and the view from the hills. 

I was interested in seeing some paintings from the Renaissance period and checked out many.  What I thought was cool was how many symbols in the artwork there were. So many biblical symbols within the artwork, it definitely was part of the design in nearly all of the artwork. Many motifs reoccured in multiple paintings, including the symbol of the dove and holy grail. 

What I learned at the Getty Museum is how art really has played a role in society. What I appreciated most about the visit was the emphasis art got. Whether it be in the design of the hedges, or the waterworks highlighting the architecture or looking at pieces from hundreds of years ago was that art, as basic as it sounds, makes people happy. You can appreciate the purity of the dove, relax and feel one with nature with the fountains, or feel the warm sunshine and admire the mathematically perfected glasswork the GC offers. 

Loved every moment of it and being free to students,  I highly recommend the Getty. 

Event 1: Pompeii Exhibit

On May 8th, I flew up to Seattle to experience the Pompeii Exhibit with my family. The last time it would ever be in North America, I was really looking forward to going. Held about 20 min from my house, it was at the Pacific Science Center downtown. As you walked into the exhibit, the first thing we were showed is a video of the earthquake and what the day it was like. Back when it happened and Mount Vesuvius blew in AD 79, the exhibit would show what life was like in Pompeii before the eruption and after it erupted. 

Why I really wanted to use it for our DESMA 9 Class is because I wanted to see if Italians back in the first century used concepts that we have learned about in this class. 

To begin with, the sculptures that they had were plentiful. The first room you walked into had the “Imperial Portrait” which was dated to be around 27 BC- 68 AD. What I found interesting was it combined mathematics with art because, the Greek Polycitos believed the total height of a figure should be seven times the height of the head. As you can see in the photo below, the theory is applied here and I found that really interesting. 

My favorite part of the exhibit was the gladiator part. Looking at the shinguards, helmets and everything else had me completely in awe because of the technology they had to make it. The intricate details were mind blowing and often times, they were so elaborate that they depicted stories like the Trojan War. 

The last thing I saw in the exhibit (but forgot to take a picture of) was the medical equipment they used. By far the most intriguing to me, they had a lot of tools for incisions but at the same time, the tools were secondary to the practice of medicine. It said that there were many elite medical practices that only the wealthy could afford and that’s why many of the social status and elite stayed at the top because the money stayed at the top.

Overall, it was fascinating to see things from BC and in the first century and I learned that even back then, the concepts we’ve learned 

                                 

Week 9: Space

As we wrapped up the last blog post, this week’s discussion regarding Space completely pieced all of the previous blogs into one. I found it extremely interesting from the perspective that Professor Vesna taught it by giving the historical perspective up to the space race and now the privatized dominance of the industry. 

What I never thought about before, but really got me thinking about afterwards was in the second lecture, “the Space Race sparked the need for more math and science classes.” I knew that the space race was mainly a Kennedy-funded mission for economic and social reasons but not necessarily for scientific reasons. However, the idea that public education started to put a higher emphasis on math and science to gain a global advantage is really intriguing to me.

The art that comes from space definitely has to be the design of these futuristic ideas that haven’t come to fruition yet. Thinking about the designs of these future (or simply fictional) projects, it’s cool how nanotechnology, robotics, and mathematics all come together with artistic concepts to design engineering marvels like the space elevator to possibly become a reality. 

I also realized during the lectures that by putting anything into pop culture, the public’s interest and even governmental interest can become of it. Watching the likes of The Jetsons or Star Trek changes a person’s perspective on the once impossible becoming a reality and creates an obsession. 

This "obsession" idea to me, is the culmination of this class. I had an epiphany watching the last lecture, that whenever something reaches popular culture, people immediately create a bias and label the “right” or “wrong” side. This has happened recently with art. Nowadays, people value jobs that are mathematically or scientifically driven, but as I learned in this lecture and countless others: art is what holds them all together. 

Word Count: 309

Works Cited

Marshall, Elizabeth, and Oziem Sensoy. "Rethinking Popular Culture and Media." : Introduction. Web. 1 June 2015.

"Space Program." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Web. 1 June 2015.

"The Space Race." NebraskaStudies.Org. Web. 1 June 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Space Pt6." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 1 June 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "8 Space Pt2 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 1 June 2015.

Week 8 : Nanotechnology + Art

Nanotechnology has easily been the most fascinating unit so far in my opinion because of it’s potential to help society and what little we know of it. 

Starting with the first lecture, I was amazed by the STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The fact that we can combine scientific research and make a picture out of an atom artistically, which is something we can’t even see is incredible. Quantum dots as well really blew me away because when it comes down to it, we are creating a picture of energy at the most basic form. 

Aesthetically thinking, creating a picture from a movement (electrons/atoms in general), is fascinating because it links art and science, thus creating a third culture that was talked about during week one. 

The most encouraging thing I learned about this week however was regarding nanoshells. Nanoshells were discovered very recently by a team at Rice in 2003 and they have been linked to antibodies that recognize cancer cells. This discovery could lead to huge steps in cancer research which would progress society immensely.  Also, the fact that nanotechnology can be used to regenerate tissue and organs amazed me. By designing molecules with the capacity to self assemble into nano fibers, once the molecules injected into the body with a syringe they can regenerate cells of tissues and organs.

Overall, I was fascinated by nanotechnology and specifically the aspect that we cannot see the science behind atoms but we create artistic representations to help us conceptualize the science. I thought a lot about the MedTech unit in comparison to this one and I realized, the medical world specifically relies so much on artistically representations to make sense of the science. For example, in the fifth video this week when it talked about cervical cancer cells and their structure, Dr. Gimzewski broke down the structure of the cells and how form fits function. Therefore, if we can get a structure of a cell down to a consistent picture, then scientists can predict what it’s function will be.

I’m realizing more and more how art benefits science and I hope that others who live in the belief that sciences are “superior” realize that their models and representations are based upon artistic related concepts. 

Word Count: 375

Sources:

Boyd, Jade. "Nanoshell Therapy to Be Tested in Lung Cancer Clinical Trial." Rice University News & Media. 2 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 May 2015.

"The Scanning Tunneling Microscope." The Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Web. 25 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Nanotech Jim Pt5." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 25 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Nanotech Jim Pt6." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 25 May 2015.

"What Is Nanotechnology?" What Is Nanotechnology? Web. 25 May 2015.

Week 7 : Neuroscience + Art

In watching the first video, what struck me to be interesting was the idea of “being” conscious and the idea of the mind being separate from the brain. As the definition states in the video, “A sense of one’s personal or collective identity.” Could the existence of a person itself be a consciousness of them or do they have to attain movement in order to be considered conscious? If you think about it in the literal sense, the only use the body has for the mind is to make it move. If one takes that standpoint to thinking about the mind, the mind is a collection of ideas, beliefs and dreams whereas the brain could be looked upon as the aid to the body, or the captain of movement. 

Thinking about it aesthetically, if the body never moved, what would be the point of having a brain? A collection of ideas, beliefs, and thoughts themselves would serve useless if one could not act there thoughts out. 

Another thing that stuck out to me about this topic is that researchers openly admit they could be wrong. In the second lecture, there’s a Freud quote in which he says, “All I’m doing is pointing out…And I can assure that in a hundred years time our work will still be rejected.” 

This was really refreshing to me because it seemed in previous topics such as religion vs science, science vs art, etc that there was an open controversy but ultimately one side was right. The thing about neuroscience is it’s such a complex topic that there’s no real answer. Similar to art, it’s open to the viewers interpretation and that’s what I enjoyed about it.  

Word Count: 289

Works Cited

"Existentialism." Philosophy Talk. 7 Mar. 2006. Web. 18 May 2015.

"History of Neuroscience." Columbia.edu. Web. 18 May 2015.

Sarich, Christina. "The Mind vs. Brain Debate (What Is Consciousness?)." The Cuyamungue Institute. Web. 18 May 2015.

Satel, Sally. "Distinguishing Brain From Mind." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 30 May 2013. Web. 18 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt1.mov." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 18 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt2.mov." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 18 May 2015.

Week 6: BioTech + Art

In society, it seems that we value “artistic” things as those related to the natural arts like drawing, singing, and

acting. However, just as we talked about in the first week of lecture, the bridge between science and art can be

linked to a third culture if we stop portraying art and science as two different things. In biotechnology for

example, by seeing the videos about the rats and animal testing, how much different is a scientist than an artist?

An artist modifies their work to create it to their sense of what they deem beautiful. A scientist in biotechnology

modifies genetics to fit what they deem beauty. Beauty, is in the eye of the beholder in the case of art and in

biotechnology, beauty can mean a range of things: physical beauty, beauty in the way it could help technology,

or beauty in the way it will help mankind. 

I believe there should be more restriction for scientists in biotechnology than students in the academia world.

Similar to the morals displayed in the movie in movies, especially in the newest Jurassic Park, Jurassic World,

“playing God” by being the overall creator and artist of a living organism is in my opinion, too much

responsibility. Other things like stem cell research that can be used to help people and simply help a person

rather than recreate them, I think can be explored more in depth and have less restrictions. One thing I am

completely against is genetically modifying food. We have too much wealth in this world to not

have enough supply. 

Last but not least, what intrigues me is after watching these weeks lecture and resources is pondering if human

creativity should be limited. I think enviably, we progress as a human society with the improvement of ideas and

technology. It is the ideas that lead to the technology evolution. However, I think by being a society rooted in

ethics relating to that of the Bible, creativity in regards to human life will always come with a limit. This limit is not

a bad thing whatsoever and I think, similar to learning about the Hippocratic Oath, it’s always good to have an

ethical standard to live up to. 

Word Count: 369

Works Cited: 

"Genetic Modification." Genetic Modification. Web. 11 May 2015.

Munger, Dave. "Seed Magazineabout." Agriculture in the Wild § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 11 May 2015.

Resnik, David. "National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences." What Is Ethics in Research & Why Is It Important? NIH, 1 May 2011. Web. 11 May 2015.

Schuler, Barry. "Genomics 101." TED-Ed. TED. Web. 11 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "5 BioArt Pt3." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 11 May 2015.

MedTech + Art : Week 4

Prior to this week’s teachings, I thought that yes, art had some influence on the world of medicine but now, I realize it has a huge influence on the medical world. 

Since the beginning of time, humans have been fascinated by the workings of the human body and specifically, I learned, human dissection. Artists played a crucial role in human dissection during the Renaissance period because they had to accurately draw the findings. We’ve come a long way since that and now have X-rays and MRI machines. 

Technology and knowledge itself builds off of other ideas and without the early workings of those artists and the detailed depictions of the body they provided, who knows where we’d be now. 

Speaking of technology, nowadays doctors can examine what’s on the inside of the body and see what makes up the structure of what the artists drew during the renaissance period. X-rays and MRI machines reveal to the observer what is happening intrinsically and help to solve the problem from inside out. 

Personally, I am very thankful of modern day technology in the medical field because of all the injuries I’ve had with baseball. Surgery is something we take for granted as citizens but what’s interesting is that it’s not always been that way. 

The Hippocratic Oath, an oath traditionally taken by physicians, is one that attempts to uphold ethical standards. These standards include pro life, no surgery, and privacy among patients. However, over time due to various changes in society and it’s standards, the oath has now changed to be much more vague. I am personally a fan of the traditional oath but can see why it has changed over time.

Word Count: 282 

Works Cited

Bambach, Carmen. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Anatomy in the Renaissance. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"Kevin Warwick - Home Page." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Medicine Part 1." YouTube. University of California. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"X-Rays: MedlinePlus." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

Week 3: Robotics + Art

Call me a control freak, but I like to trust myself in performing a task over anyone else. An autonomous vehicle? No thanks.

With the resources this week, it’s made me ponder a lot about the effects that robotics have on the future of mankind. Not only in the way we create art and perceive reality, but even in the way we think. 

Recently, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceEx, invested $10 billion in “preserving AI friendliness.” With such a prominent member of the futuristic niche investing so much in the public’s safety, it’s worth thinking about the danger of artificial intelligence. 

Even back in 1936 when Walter Benjamin wrote about mass production and it’s effects on society, he predicted the harm it could cause. The problem with assembly lines and mass producing an “original” into “copies” is it takes away the creativity and imagination of the general public to become absent- minded and rely on new ideas of few for the next new thing to produce. This in turn, makes the creator of the thing to be the one in power and the ones making the thing simply absent minded followers. Sounds like a “robot” doesn’t it?

So are we the ones becoming robots? Are machines becoming the ones who are taught to think on their own? It’s an interesting idea to ponder.

When artistic genius comes together with technological mastery, the result is speed. Seamless, efficient, attractive. Human beings love speed. On the football field, on their home WiFi, in getting to one place to the next… As hard as it is to deny that I don’t love speed, I think it’s destroying us. 

If you are one who believes in the Big Bang Theory, the universe didn’t evolve within a matter of seconds. It took time. 

If you believe in God, the creation of the universe didn’t instantly happen. It took God seven days. It took time. 

The point I try to make is that good things take time. Lasting relationships, great businesses, good food, all of them are not based on the principle of speed. Robotics is a matter of cutting down the time it takes for a task to get done in order to make our lives easier. 

Does mankind want things to be easier or do we want something sustainable and wholesome? 

Word Count: 390

Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Www.marxists.org. 1 Feb. 2005. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Best, Jo. "IBM Watson: The inside Story of How the Jeopardy-winning Supercomputer Was Born, and What It Wants to Do next." TechRepublic. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Hanson, David. "Robots That "Show Emotion"" TED-Ed. TED, 1 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Mack, Eric. "Why Elon Musk Spent $10 Million To Keep Artificial Intelligence Friendly." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Robinson, Howard. "Dualism." Stanford University. Stanford University, 19 Aug. 2003. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Week 2 : Art + Math

As this week’s topic focused on how mathematics has influenced art and science, I have began to realize how important mathematical (specifically, mathematical technologies) are to the creation of art and science. 

A great example of this is NASA’s Hubble Telescope. Within the telescope, two mirrors reflect light off of each other, with the second reflection focusing light through a hole in the center of the primary mirror. Through technology and mathematical workings, we can get a glimpse into outer space and begin to understand it’s scientific meanings. 

The idea behind a telescope is very similar to the idea of a “vanishing point” that Brunelleschi formed in 1413. He developed the idea that there should be a point where two parallel lines converge on a single point. With this idea, the idea of “perspective” in a painting held new meaning because it was backed by geometric principles. 

Perspective, as Piero de la Francesca said, did not simply deal with the three principle parts of drawing, proportion and coloring, but it incorporated lines, angles and proportion; all mathematical concepts. 

Perspective also translates to children and adult favorites, optical illusions. When the brain sees an optical illusion, it tries to process these two dimensional images into three dimensional data. For example, when one looks at a black and white grid, the grid is simply a grid on a piece of paper; two dimensional. However, what the artist does in creating this grid is make the brain use what’s called “lateral inhibition”, a scientific explanation that essentially disables your peripheral vision.

To sum it up, as much as mathematics has been deemed essential for students and art has been taken out of school, there is no denying the two hold equally important to society as a whole and to each other. 

Works Cited

Haring, Lin. Long Ride Into Vanishing Point. Digital image. Fine Art America. Web.

Hermann Grid. Digital image. Wikipedia. Web.

"Hubble Essentials." HubbleSite. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Jacobs, Nathan. "How Optical Illusions Trick Your Brain." TED-Ed. TED. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

"Lateral Inhibition." Www.indiana.edu. University of Indiana. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

O'Neill, Ian. Our Universe. Digital image. Discovery Channel. 7 May 2014. Web.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Week 1: Two Cultures

After reading through the material and watching the lecture videos, what really stood out to me throughout the debate and conflicting views regarding the separation of arts and sciences was the origins of education. According to the "Changing Paradigms" video, the entire idea of public education stemmed from an enlightenment view of intelligence and what that entailed essentially was that there is this "academic gene pool" of non academic and academic people. Ironically, early on, artists and the more creative people of the world were labeled as the non-academic and more mathematical and scientific people were labeled as the academics of the world. 

As a political major myself, I belong to the stereotype of a "North Campus." At UCLA specifically, North Campus majors are labeled as the "stupider, less likely to get a job, and actually have a life" people. When viewing the ballerina video, I saw the ballerina spinning clockwise and this puts me under the category of a creative, right-brained individual. Does that make me a "dumber" person? No. 

I believe, as C.P. Snow did, that the educational system is to be blamed for the separation, stereotypes and ultimately a greater wealth gap between art and science. This major fault within the educational system will never allow for a “3rd Culture” where the bridge is gapped between the arts and the sciences. 

With my educational background and perspective, I think it really benefits me because I follow the philosophy to always follow your passions and the success, whether it be money, love or happiness will follow. If you focus on “what makes the most money” like a south campus major, then your passions will die, as will your love and happiness for things you’re involved in. One of my favorite speeches of all time is Alan Watt’s “What if Money was No Object.” What the speech is about is essentially, follow what you like doing rather than follow what makes money. Going to college in general, as said in the paradigm shift video, is to receive a quality education and that’ll lead to a solid and secure job. However, kids nowadays and their parents view certain majors (South Campus) as the only jobs that college is worth getting a degree for. 

What if we all followed our passions? What if we all realized our creative potential? Imagine the worlds we’d conquer.

Word Count: 396

Citations:

Robinson, Sir Ken. "Changing Education Paradigms ." RSA Animate. , . 16 June 2008. Lecture.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Professor Victoria . "Two Cultures: Part II." UCLA, Los Angeles. 5 Apr. 2015. Lecture.

Vesna, Professor Victoria . "Two Cultures: Part II." UCLA, Los Angeles. 5 Apr. 2015. Lecture.

Watts, Alan. "What If Money Were No Object?." , . Lecture.  (Video is off Youtube and I do not know the original lecture date, city and venue.)

Media:

What If Money Was No Object?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSyHWMdH9gk

Changing Educational Paradigm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Two Cultures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUr4xxZ_0gw#t=111

DESMA 9- Week 1, About Myself

My name is Chad Sagmoen and I'm a first year, Political Science Major. I am currently the manager for the UCLA Softball Team and also a member of Zeta Beta Tau, a fraternity here on campus. I enjoy playing sports, relaxing on the beach and swimming. I'm originally from Seattle but am loving it down here in Los Angeles. Figuring out how to make this blog was kind of confusing so I will be in touch with my TA if I have questions. Cheers to a great quarter!