MedTech and Art

Dr. Vesna left us with an important concept this week as we discussed Medicine, Technology and Art; medical technological advancements are shifting our relationships with our bodies, our persons, and therefore the concepts behind the human body and its interpretation into the arts.  Because of this new understanding behind many principles of human life and bodies, we are faced with a plethora of fresh concepts and works.

The first thing that came to my mind as Dr. Vesna lectured about the advancements in technologies and its effect on us was DNA origami.  As scientists began to understand the interactions involved in nucleotides and DNA structure due to the different properties of adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine, they were able to manipulate the strands into various structures.  This is visualized below and shows how technologies, which were developed for the betterment of human health, can be used to create microscopic art that could have never been produced before.  Additionally, it gives a rather mysterious concept, the concept of genetic materials and their definition of the human everything, a rather appealing and harmless public image.

Beyond just social concepts and public image, these technologies have a huge potential for developing self-image and healthy behavior.  Dr. Wong at the University of Columbia in New York uses personalized avatars of patients to influence the behavior of his patients.  For example, people’s health behaviors (such as smoking, diet, or exercise) is evaluated and a future age is personalized into an avatar.  These doppelganger images (see below) proved to deeply effect patients and provide them with more motivation to change health habits.

Finally, I also explored hypothetical applications of technology in society through the dystopian hypothetical future film A Clockwork Orange.  In this movie, the main character Alex DeLarge undergoes an experimental aversion therapy, similar to brainwashing, in order to become less of a burden/danger to society.

 [image of Alex DeLarge undergoing the experimental therapy]

While this ends up not working out for the main character in the film, it does bring about the potential usage of technology to alleviate society’s issues through directly targeting the dispositions of the troubled youth.  This gives a little more ominous of a future then the other potential technologies mentioned throughout this week’s lecture, however it shows that the many facets of technological applications can be construed to differed mediums for art and societal interpretation.

References:

A Clockwork Orange. USA: Stanley Kubrick, 1971. DVD.

Habitual Films,. 'Shock, Shock, Horror, Horror'. N.p., 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Nature.com,. 'DNA Origami | Bio 2.0 | Learn Science At Scitable'. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/Ep0M2bOM9Tk.” Lecture. Medicine pt1 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/FIX-9mXd3Y4.” Lecture. Medicine pt3. Youtube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

Wong, Virgil. “Art Exhibited in Galleries and Museums around the World.” Art. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://virgilwong.com/art/>.

Bio-Artist Kathy High Exhibit

Because I am currently planning on entering a doctoral program in the Biomedical Engineering department next fall, I had a special interest in Kathy High’s exhibit; she decided to use the microbial environment of the body’s digestive system to convey her unusual ideas of art and nature and beauty.  The exhibit in CNSI therefore featured various self-portraits, art collages mixing the idea of children’s play grounds and digestive systems, as well as strange microbial samples.

One example of the strange microbial samples was in fact a sample of human feces suspended in honey, as seen below.

Despite the unappetizing nature of this piece, Kathy High’s ability to connect scientific inquiry and curiosity with art follows along the theme of the class.  She doesn’t showcase this literal piece of shit because she believes in the aesthetic, but rather because the idea of a whole microbial world that lives in our digestive system is somewhat beautiful.  I have often thought that the idea that there are 10 times as many bacterial cells as human cells in the body a wonderful feature of nature (which is what the rawest of art is based on). 

Additionally, Kathy High’s eagerness to share this wonderful feature of the human body and the ecological system with the public through this art can be shown through her collages.  

They feature a well understood concept, happy children, with the slightly more daunting large intestines.  How I interpreted this was that she wanted everyone to understand the comfort and importance of the microbial systems in our body to our happiness; while Kathy High’s methods are slightly convoluted, I believe that her art contains some of the most overarching themes of the course (i.e. that science and art are one in the same and need eachother to spread important concepts to the public).

Art & Robotics & Reproduction

Introduced by the guest lecturer, Machiko Kusahara, we were given a perspective on the influences of art and public opinions on development of technologies such as robotics.  By comparing the westernized and eastern ideas of what technology should develop to, we begin to understand how popular culture leads to development of the sciences.  For example, in the united states, robots are more focused on a purpose, either for manufacturing and repeated work due to heavy influences of the industrial revolution; while, in Japan, humanoid robots are craved, despite similar manufacturing needs.  This was believed to originate from the animation astro boy, which centers heavily around human-seeming (in emotion and in function) robots, and led to the Japanese craving human-esque robotic aids, despite the terrors of past technological warfare (nuclear bombs).

                

Further, to contrast with this is how technology has now begun to effect art, we can read Walter Bnjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Douglas Davis’s The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction.  Benjamin mentions that “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space…”  While this implies that replication does not provide the same artistic work as the original, one can also presume that he might believe that reproduction allows for the cheapening of art.  Because imitations are often accessible by multiple different routes (like the internet, as shown below), does this imply that it is less beautiful and/or powerful? This question is echoed in Davis’s work when he brings up that the original and reproduction concepts are converging.

References:

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18 Oct 2012

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction.” The MIT Press, 1995. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. 

Imgarcade.com,. 'Gallery For > Astro Boy Manga Japanese'. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Marshall, Colin. 'Read Free Digital Art Catalogues From 9 World-Class Museums, Thanks To The Pioneering Getty Foundation'. Open Culture. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Uconlineprogram. “Robotics MachikoKusahara 1.” YouTube. YouTube, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.

A Visit to the Getty

Art’s influence on the world, as well as the world’s influence on art, can be almost imagined when visiting the Getty.  Works from assorted eras of art and science filled various exhibits, ranging from decorative art in the 1700s, to World War I propaganda helped me get a grasp of what role art played in the development of science, technology and the public’s understanding of the world.

The first exhibition that truly, for me, exemplified art and technology intertwined was the decorative arts section.  In this area, I was presented with ornate desks, beautifully crafted chairs and beds, and gilded tools like clocks, porcelain and silverware.  One such object is the grandfather pictured with me below.

This clock is crafted like any other work of art, with attention to detail, precision and talent; however, the utility inherent in the clock implies a different time in history where technology and art were almost inseparable.  In all of the decorative arts, we realize that today’s world, which is obsessed with efficiency and convenience, lacks the old mentality that art and science are beautiful crafts which both lend themselves to the improvement of human society and daily life.

During the early 1900s, as portrayed by a World War I exhibit at the Getty, art is used as a type of technology used to provide society with ideas and opinions.  While the example of propaganda is often connoted as negative or sinister, art used to be the media to provide the public with information (even if biased).  As shown by the enlistment propaganda below, the world used to be greatly influenced by art as a route for information, and not used simply for enjoying and interpreting.

Math and Art from Nature to Modern Society

The juxtaposition of math and art has long been used to demonstrate to completely different areas of creativity and intelligence.  While many still believe in the distinctness of these two realms, I have always appreciated some similarities in the deep roots of mathematics and art. 

In general, art and math originate from observations of nature.  Art hopes to replicate or interpret the aesthetics of nature, while math tends to model and derive patterns in nature.  From the overview of African Fractals by Ron Eglash, I was introduced to fractals, which are patterns that repeat themselves at different scales.  This was modeled in design, computers, art, etc. but is seen everywhere in nature, as shown in the image of the fern below.

Because of this, mathematical concepts such as the Vanishing Points, explained by the Marc Frantz lesson “Vanishing Points and Looking at Art”, which use geometry and mathematical principles to predict artistic dimensions follow naturally.  Because nature is the source of mathematics as well as the source of our visual experience, concepts like vanishing points can be applied to artistic style to provide a natural image/artistic experience, as demonstrated by the charcoal picture below.

In direct contrast to concepts like vanishing points that provide art with a more realistic perspective, artists like M.C. Escher who like to bend the perspective of the observer to unrealistic mathematical manipulations provide a whole new era of art.  In the blossoming of modern art in the mid 1900s, he introduced “an extraordinary visualization of mathematical principles.  One example of this was his tessellations, or “arrangements of closed shapes that cover a plane without overlapping”, which he distorted as in Cycle from 1938 (as seen below)

Through these distinct demonstrations of art and math originating from nature and math helping art imitate and distort one’s perspective of nature, we notice that art and math are not so distinct, but rather deeply intertwined in all ways.

References

Ach, Sanjay. Real Lady Ferns. 2007. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

Eglash, Ron. 'African Fractals'. Ccd.rpi.edu. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

Frantz, Marc. 'Lesson 3: Vanishing Points And Looking At Art'. 2000. Presentation.

Platonic Realms,. 'The Mathematical Art Of M.C. Escher'. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.