Event 3: Hammer Museum

For my third event, I went to the Hammer Museum in Westwood. When I went, most exhibitions being renovated, therefore, I was limited to what exhibits I wanted to see. I choose to go to the Armand Hammer Collection. The Armand Hammer Collection features a selection of artworks from the most fascinating periods in Western art history. The period included the Renaissance Era in Europe to the early twentieth century in the United States. The works included French impressionists and urban scenes. My favorite Artist included Gustave Moreau and Eugene Boudin.

Gustave Moreau's painting called "Salome Dancing before Herod", is a painting of the New Testament story, that depicts Salome performing a dance for her stepfather, Herod, at the banquet celebrating for his birthday. Although Moreau borrowed decorative elements from numerous sources and cultures, including Indian Turkish, Persian, Egyptian, Moorish, Roman, Greek and Etruscan, his system of symbolism was personal and originated from his imagination.

Eugene Boudin, one of the most famous maritime painters in France drew inspiration from the coastal villages and seaport of his native Normandy and nearby Brittany. Boudin's interest in recording a fleet moment in time, an idea also of interest to the impressionists, depicts the port of a channel town with simple wooden houses that line the dockside. His painting illustrated elements of art and architecture through the symmetry of his painting and accurate display of choppy seas and heavy skies that had been customary in European seascapes for centuries. In this sense I believe that this exhibit is completely relevant to our course this quarter. Art has been influenced by changing aspects of history and the accurate architecture and dimensions within the paintings truly embody our course. However, as of now, I would not recommend attending the Hammer museum within the next few weeks because of the limited amount of exhibits open. I want to revisit the Hammer after they open up their new exhibits.

Event  2: Getty Museum

For my second event, I decided to go to the Getty Museum. Even though I have seen the Getty Museum across the 405 Freeway for four years now, I have never had the chance to visit the Museum. I am so glad that this class requires to attend three different events because the Getty Museum is one of the most beautiful museums I have ever attended. My favorite exhibit was the Light and Paper Process- Reinventing Photography exhibit. This exhibit magnified photography and nature through the years and my favorite artists were Matthew Brandt and Lisa Oppenheim. 

 

Matthew Brandt, who is a Bruin Alumni is a experimental phographer who works with different processes and materials to create images that are at once beautiful, yet balanced with his artistic concept. The Getty museum provided us with an introduction film about Brandt that delved into his thought process of how he creates his art. He has been known to use everything from bodily fluids to food to develop photographs. 

 My favorite painting was Brandt's, "Rainbow Lakes" that embodied the essence of nature in the Midwest. However, he uses chromogenic prints while developing the film that gives his photographs an authentic appearance. The chromogenic prints allow for Brandt to soak up various chemicals and liquids to give a beautiful piece of art. Brandt's work allowed us to see his artistic ability and how he also interrelates science through the use of chemicals while developing film. 

Lisa Oppenheim graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor's degree in Modern Culture and Media, Art and Semiotics. Her work plays with the process of creating photographs and film. Her exhibit was beautiful as it showed a series of photos of the moon and elements in outer space. It was truly a narrative of the evolution of space and art, which was not only beautiful, but completely related to our class. I would 100% recommend going to the Getty for not only experience the impeccable beauty of the grounds, but also pertains to our class. The exhibit lasts until September and would recommend everyone going!

Event 1: LACMA Museum

I decided to go to the LACMA museum for my first event. It was my first time going to LACMA and I was very excited to see the exhibits and their famous restored cast iron antique street lamps that everyone has seen in the movie No Strings Attached. As I entered the museum I was handed a brochure that informed me of all the exhibits and Art and Technology resonated most with Desma 9.

The Art and Technology exhibit at LACMA had an array of art illustrating a strong interconnection with technology. There were array of examples that varied from photography to more technical construction art. The artist that I was most intrigued by was Robert Whitman. Whitman was matched with Philco-Ford (the technology arm of Ford Motor Company), where he worked with optical engineer John Forkner of the company's Aeronutronics Division. Together, Whitman and Forkner designed an environment for Expo '70 in Osaka consisting of a wall of corner cube reflectors and floating reflective Mylar.

A version of this was recreated in LACMA and I was able to watch a video of his creations that is shown below. The film was amazing as it demonstrated the thought process of interrelating art and technology. There was also an exhibit on photography that magnified the ability of art telling a story through photography. Artist, Larry Sultan had an exhibit on a series of photos that told a story about his life. He documented his family over the course of a decade that documented the delicacy of life and the progression of life through an artistic lens.

 I would recommend this exhibit because not only was it very interesting, but it also addresses many topics that we learned about it class. The exhibits delved into the idea of art and science and the understanding of dimension. Whitman and Sultan's exhibits were an excellent example of how art and technology are truly interrelated.

Week 9 Post

Week 9- Space and Art

I thought that this week’s lecture did a great job of summing up this course. The interconnection between space and art embodies all of the topics we have discussed including: biotechnology, nanotechnology, and mathematics. Space is such an amazing topic because it leaves so much up to the unknown. The Powers of 10 video encapsulated how there are times of “activity and inactivity” in space. There are some areas in space that appear completely black and some areas that look extremely compacted with stars. In addition, there have been many films within the past few years that illustrate space and space travel. Gravity is a film that accurately demonstrates life in space that allows the audience to partake in an amazing virtual experience. It is not focused on only the sci-fi aspect that we most often times see in movies such as star trek and star wars, but “it’s really concerned with emotional interiors”(Ebert). The Oscar nominated film also accurately portrayed the effect of zero gravity which provides us with a better understanding of the different 

elements within space. Living in space is now becoming a feasible possibility as artists and their imagination in pre-sputnik society inspire the curiosity and demand to explore space. Artists continue to encourage the exploration of space with their constant paintings of what is actually is the unknown of space.

Works Cited 

Miller, Ron. "The History of Space Art." Space Art. 1978. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://dreamsofspace.nfshost.com/spaceart.htm>.  

"Gravity Movie Review & Film Summary (2013) | Roger Ebert." All Content. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gravity-2013>.  

Hughes, James. "The Power of Powers of Ten." Slate. Web.

Powers of Ten. IBM, 1977. Film.

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture: 8 Space Pt3 1280x720.” UCOnlineProgram. YouTube. 29 July 2013. Web. 31 May 2015.

Week 8 Nanotechnology and Art

This week’s topic of nanotechnology has been my favorite lecture thus far. I found it fascinating that nanotechnology can be found in every aspect of our life, anywhere from cosmetics to the food we consume. Nanotechnology has become such an important factor within science because it has essentially broadened the areas in which one can explore and discover. It has also crossed paths with artists to work with.  James Gimzewski enticed me as he delved into the nanotechnology in cosmetics. Being a girl and an avid user of cosmetics, this truly caught my attention. I had no idea that the science behind nanotechnology has allowed the cosmetic industry to prolong their cosmetics expiration date. This could be good or bad because the long-term effects could be harmful or beneficial to one’s face.  However, with nanotechnology, there appears to be possible alternatives to the dangerous ingredients in cosmetics. For example, paraben is one of the most common ingredients in cosmetics that is used to prolong the life of the cosmetic and in combination with other products- used to prevent microbial growth. Nanoparticles have the possibility to replace parabens through the idea of using silver nanoparticles to give cosmetics the antimicrobial effect.  Nanoparticles will also be very beneficial for topical medicine. This would be a huge break through within the dermatology world because if the nanoparticle is properly sized so that it cannot penetrate through the organ cell walls, we may see an amazing advance for our skin. I have suffered from acne my entire life, therefore, making this revelation very exciting.  Over the next decade, there will be a major advance for cosmetics, as nanotechnology will provide cosmetic users to enhance their beauty in a more natural way.

Works Cited 

Mullens, Anne. "Parabens: What Are They, and Are They Really That Bad?" Best Health Mag. Reader's Digest Magazines. Web.

"Nanotechnology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web.

"Nanotechnology in Cosmetics." Nanowerk. Nanowerk. Web.

"Parabens." FDA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 22 May 2015.

Raj, Silpa et al. “Nanotechnology in Cosmetics: Opportunities and Challenges.” Journal of Pharmacy & Bioallied Sciences 4.3 (2012): 186–193. PMC. Web.

"Silver Nanoparticles: Properties and Applications." Sigma-Aldrich. Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC. Web. 22 May 2015.

UConlineprogram. “Nanotech Jim pt1-pt6.” Youtube. Youtube, 21 May 2012. Web.

Week 7: Neuroscience + Art 

I found this week’s lectures and discussions to be very interesting and relevant to our generation’s youth. I especially found the discussion of Carl Jung particularly interesting because it brought up amazing insight into what makes each individual unique, while still being interconnected with everyone’s past and present.  Jung claims of this “interior spiritual world whose existence we never suspected opens out and displays contents that seem to stand in sharpest contrast to all our former ideas” that demonstrates a true interdependency on science and art (Jung). Jung foils into this week’s discussion on illegal drugs. Illegal drugs are definitely a huge focal point for this week, as we are provided with concrete examples as to how these illegal drugs have effects on the human mind. Drugs directly affect neurotransmitters in the brain; people often experience strange side effects such as hallucinations or seeing objects that are not actually in existence. Drugs have been known to greatly influence famous paintings, songs, and other artistic masterpieces throughout the year. One example is the Beatles allegedly being on LSD that influenced one of their greatest hits “Lucky in the Sky with Diamonds.” The Scientific American Global states, “the potent mix of creativity and madness is imposed on writers and creative artists by the randomness of the genetic dice roll, but many artists with healthy minds chose to…induce madness with drugs to reach new summits in their art.” I found that the scientific research that has been deduced about the repercussions of dugs to the brain is very relevant for our generation because more and more students and young adults are ignorantly experimenting with drugs.  I also found this week’s discussion of the Brainbow to be fascinating because it explained the neural connections and how synaptic pathways in the brain are formed. Neurons in the brain communicate through synapses, which are created both before birth and in the years after. The Brainbow discussion truly demonstrates how children’s brains are do delicate and a sponge. During these years, if children are abusing illegal drugs, it can cause permanent damages.  If Brainbow is used to study early brain development, it will allow us to better understand how neural connections form in a developing child, which will allow us to understand the association of child development within a specific environment.

Works Cited 

"Brainbow." Center for Brain Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://cbs.fas.harvard.edu/science/connectome-project/brainbow>.

Creativity, Madness and Drugs." Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/creativity-madness-and-drugs/>.

"Jung.org." Jung.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.jung.org/Pres_ltr.htm>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience-pt1.mov.” Online video clip. YouTube. Youtube, 17 May 2012. Web. 15 May 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience pt. 2." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 29 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 May 2015.