Week 4: MedTech & Art

I found this week’s lectures on the influence of medical technologies on art (and vice versa) to be especially fascinating seeing as I’ve always perceived the human body as an incredible work of art. I was especially mesmerized by Professor Vesna’s discussion of plastic surgery in Part 3 of her lecture — specifically our discussion of the french artist Orlan’s contributions to plastic surgery (Vesna, “Lecture: Medicine Pt.3”). Orlan, or Mireille Suzanne Francette Porte, is most famously recognized for her desire to “transform herself into a living work of art through plastic surgery” (Frank). In other words, Orlan attempted to transform her body by undergoing several (very public) surgical procedures in the hopes of resembling some of the world’s greatest beauties, such as DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” and Botticelli’s “Venus.” 

Beauty of Orlan
http://oldsite.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ecook/courses/eng114em/beautyorlan.JPG

Since the 1970s, Orlan’s views of plastic surgery have become very popular — convincing people of all ages to continue experimenting with plastic surgery to achieve their own version of “ideal beauty.” As I was researching further into Orlan’s work, I came across a very interesting article written for a Stanford history class which described Orlan’s work as “feeding into the rituals of female submission, analogous to primitive rites involving the cutting up of women’s bodies” for men (Rose). This article broaches upon an extremely important question: How far should women (and even men) be willing to go in terms of altering their bodies to achieve “ideal beauty” and to increase their chances of attracting a mate?

Plastic Surgery Procedures
http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fbnstatic.com/static/managed/img/Health/2009/July

Prior to teaching us about Orlan, Professor Vesna mentioned that the term “plastic” should be understood by its definition of “giving mold and/or form” to the human body (Vesna, “Lecture: Medicine Pt.3”). While the need for plastic surgery is viewed as somewhat “controversial” in today’s society (as suggested in the case of Orlan), I really liked this definition because I think that plastic surgery can truly transform someone’s life — especially someone who’s been in a traumatic accident or someone who needs special medical attention. I came across a really interesting website about this topic, entitled the “Reconstructing Lives Blog,” which consists of several patient stories about how plastic surgery saved their lives (“Patient Stories: Reconstructing Lives”).

Another example of how plastic surgery holds great potential is shown in the television show Botched on E!, which follows two plastic surgeons (Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif) who repair botched and/or distorted surgical procedures on their patients. In every episode, the doctors attempt to “fix” these mistakes made by previous plastic surgeons and usually, the doctors are successful at restoring their patients’ self-confidence.

Here's the trailer for the most recent season of Botched on E!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7vYEIUeENY 

Botched
http://evolutionusa.com/media/photos/botched_plain_1920x1080.jpg

Event #1: Charles Gaines' "Gridwork" Exhibit @ The Hammer Museum

Last weekend, I went to the Hammer Museum in Westwood to check out some of the current spring exhibitions. I was especially attracted to one particular exhibit, which showcased the works of Charles Gaines from 1974 to 1989. Entitled “Gridwork by Charles Gaines,” the exhibit looked extremely intricate and sophisticated at first glance. To be quite honest, I was initially attracted Gaines’ exhibit because first, I didn’t understand the artwork, and second, I saw that Gaines incorporated several numbers into his pieces— which I thought was strangely unique concept.

Here's the link to the Charles Gaines' Exhibit at the Hammer Museum:

http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2015/charles-gaines-gridwork-1974-1989/ 

Prior to visiting this exhibit, I had just finished watching Professor Vesna’s “Math & Art” lectures on the class website. Hence, when I stumbled across Gaines’ exhibit, I couldn’t help but notice his use of numbers to highlight the elements of depth and darkness within his photographs. I thought his artwork perfectly exemplified Professor Vesna’s point about the interplay between mathematics and art — how mathematics can further the study of art, and how art can further the study of mathematics. 

Essentially, the exhibit showcases several photographs of random scenes in nature or of human portraits and then, theses photographs are paralleled with Gaines’ attempt to recreate the photograph using numbers and colors, thus “investigating how a rules-based procedure constructs order and meaning” within these images (Hammer Museum Pamphlet). In other words, Gaines labels the density within his photograph using numbers, thus studying the layers of content within a photograph (i.e. the denser the ‘area’ being recreated, the higher the number used to label the ‘area’). 

I found this particular exhibit to be extremely relevant to our course because of how much it emphasizes the meshing of mathematics and art to create a deeper level of understanding regarding "depth" in photographs. 

Week 3: Robotics & Art

I’ve always thought that there’s something extremely beautiful behind the notion of creating a machine that’s faster and more powerful than the human capacity. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of my favorite Gothic novels, so when Professor Vesna mentioned Shelley’s work during this week’s online lecture, I began to think about “the beauty of speed and power” and how this beauty has influenced artists since the first industrial revolution ("Robotics Pt. 1," YouTube).

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

BarnesAndNoble.com

Here's the trailer for the 1931 Version of Frankenstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKyiXjyVsfw  

In his work entitled “The Work of  Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin attempts to dismantle the idea of authenticity via stressing the societal continuation of mechanical reproduction. He asserts that “the aura of the work of art” is what “withers in the age of mechanical reproduction,” meaning that art loses its luster once it can be replicated (Benjamin). He specifically cites the replication of a photograph as an example, claiming that the photographic negative then loses its significance; however, I would argue that there’s still something very attractive about experiencing “the original copy.” For instance (and again, I’m allowing the inner-English major in myself to surface), first editions, or moreover, original copies of famous books continue to hold immense value, despite the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press and today’s modern copy machines. While machines have allowed more people to experience these books (or using Benjamin’s example, these photographs), original pieces of art maintain a superior level of beauty. Furthermore, there’s beauty behind every machine’s ability to replicate these pieces of art.

ORIGINAL COPY of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'
"Most Expensive Books in the World" - Investopedia.com

REPLICATED COPY of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'
GoodReeds.com

This idea becomes especially interesting (and almost a little frightening…) when we begin to think about the idea that machines can also replicate human functions. In the Academy Award-winning film Her (directed by Spike Jonze), a man falls in love with a machine — or more specifically, “the first artificial intelligence operating system” (Warner Bros. Trailer). The movie questions the relevance of human-to-human interaction (compared to the enhanced human-to-machine interaction, as demonstrated throughout the film) and therefore, hints at the idea that one day, machines might be able to replace humans. It’s interesting to think about how sometimes, machines (computers, for example) are more capable than human beings. It’s one thing for a machine to replicate a piece of art or a human task, but I think it’s really fascinating to think about a machine being able to replicate human emotion. 

Here's the official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6p6MfLBxc

Her (Cover Photo)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/

Week 2: Math & Art

Prior to watching this week’s lecture and going over the assigned readings, I had always thought of mathematics as the furthest possible field away from the study and practice of art. In the past, I’ve always viewed mathematics as an attempt to “break down” art — to decipher art in the form of numbers, calculations, proportions, etc. Now, I know that my previous assumption was simply naïve. This week, I began to think of mathematics as its own unique form of art because, in order to generate solutions to a problem, mathematicians must embark upon a quest (driven by their sense of creativity and curiosity) to find the correct equation.

For example, Dr. Vesna mentioned the works of Piero della Francesca in her lecture, stating that he focused on “perspective” to show exactly how art became even more realistic during the Renaissance period via “lines, angles and proportion [when] speaking of points, lines, surfaces and bodies” (Lecture). In this sense, Francesca used mathematics to create artwork that was even more beautiful, due to geometric proportions and thus, a more realistic nature. He didn’t employ math to “break down” art (as I had previously assumed), but rather, he employed math to contribute depth and thus, realism to his work. I came across the following painting (entitled “Madonna and Child and Two Angels,” located at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City) which I think clearly demonstrates Francesca’s use of mathematical perspective to add “depth” to his paintings. 

"Madonna with Child and Two Angels"
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7bb0981bec-7656-455c-a77d-49ae48d9767b%7d&oid=442854&ft=*&fe=1 

***Notice the geometric faces, the distance between the Madonna and the Two Angels, and the depth of the room behind the Madonna, etc. 

I also really enjoyed looking through some of the websites provided to us this week. Reading about Robert Lang’s Origami as a “unique sculptural art” using crease patterns was especially fascinating — mostly because I never really thought about the fact that exact replicas of origami designs could be made in different sizes (as long as the origami artist just adjusted the ratio of the crease pattern). 

How to Make an Origami Elephant
http://www.origamispirit.com/2013/04/how-to-make-an-origami-elephant/

After further looking into the relationship between mathematics and art/science, I came the understanding that mathematics is used to further the progress of such fields, rather than simply “breaking down” these fields to a set of numbers. As I mentioned in my Unit One blogpost, I’m very interested in the entertainment industry; this particular unit (especially the video recording of Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time”) really reminded me of the recent Oscar-nominated film, The Theory of Everything. The movie emphasizes the necessity for mathematics to define the workings of the universe in the form of an equation but moreover, the movie emphasizes the importance of math as a form of artwork in and of itself. 

The Theory of Everything (Cover Photo)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980516/

Here's the UK trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Salz7uGp72c

Week 1: Two Cultures

I currently work at a television network (within the realm of series development and programming) and when I began working in the entertainment industry, I originally saw this space as entirely based in creativity. After working in television development for few years, I've determined that there's actually a science behind what I previously considered to be an "artistic" space — related to calculating our audience response, applying digital analytics, tracking social media trends, etc. — all of which are used to achieve higher ratings and ultimately, more money for the television network.

The Hollywood Reporter: 4.3.15 Television Ratings
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

This week, I was most interested in David Bohm’s discussion of creativity, seeing as I, too, find it extremely difficult to define creativity in terms of my job. While I like to say that my job is “creative,” there is definitely a distinct order and process to what I do — In other words, there is detailed, almost scientific process to go about when creating a television show. It becomes easy to “fall asleep” during the process, as Bohm says, which I why I think it’s important to always be making uncomfortable and somewhat risky moves in the entertainment industry to keep your creative ideas flowing. 

The Making of Best Picture 'Birdman'
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/making-birdman-alejandro-g-inarritu-761407

As John Brockman says, its impressive to find someone “who can take the materials of the culture in the arts, literature and science and put them together in their own way,” and quite honestly, that’s how I feel that the entertainment industry functions. There’s no specific track that one needs to follow and/or coursework that one needs to complete to break into the industry.  I meet people everyday in this industry with science backgrounds, art backgrounds, accounting backgrounds etc. I think that knowing that I get to interact with and cross the “the dangerous [cultural] divide” everyday is what makes me most excited about being apart of the entertainment industry. I find the industry to be a melting pot of people from either side of this cultural divide. 

Deciding Which Path to Tread: Lauren R. Crother's Blog
http://lauracrothers.com/2013/11/03/a-straw-man-walks-into-a-bar-the-scientism-vs-humanities-debate-goes-on/

I'm excited to continue taking this class because I really enjoy learning about how these paths (i.e. the field of science VS. the field of art) are diverging as time goes on.