christinelDESMA9 Unit 8

I have never been interested in nanotechnology. It was actually very hard to pay attention to the lectures this unit because of my lack in interest. In their article “The Nanomeme Syndrome,” Professor Vesna and Professor Gimzewski explain why I, and probably many other people, have a lack in nanotechnology: “One thing is certain however, as soon as we confront the scale that nanotechnology works within, our minds short circuit. The scale becomes too abstract in relation to human experience” (Gimzewski and Vesna). Even though I have no interest in these matters, I still have to come to terms that nanotechnology is all around me. For example, even the makeup and sunscreen I wear every day contains nanotechnology (Gimzewski). I also thought about all the possibilities that nanotechnology has to offer, for the better or for the worse.

Microscopic robot that can travel through the human body.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/395894623474487611/

Nanotechnology offers so many possibilities to both artists and scientists. For example, Richard Feynman want to write 25,000 pages of Encyclopedia Britannica on a pinhead (Gimzewski). This leads to artwork that is made on the nanolevel. I think nanoart can create really cool interactive exhibits. In addition, in the PBS Making Stuff Smaller, “[Scientists] are developing microscopically small robots that travel into the body’s deepest reaches to diagnose, treat, and even destroy deadly diseases” (Progue, NOVA). Fortunately, scientists can keep finding ways to further develop medicine to help people through nanotechnology.

Vesna & Gimzewski’s Zero@wavefunction art project. “Here we created together a piece that allows the audience to manipulate the buckminsterfullerene (buckyball) using their shadow” (Vesna).

http://victoriavesna.com/index.php?p=projects&item=14

Despite the good, nanotechnology does not come without possible consequences. “In both the philosophical and visual sense, ‘seeing is believing’ does not apply to nanotechnology, for there is nothing even remotely visible to create proof of existence” (Gimzewski and Vesna). This made me think about how in the future, people can create nanoweapons. We could be living in a world where our bodies can be invaded by microscopic robots, and we wouldn’t even notice.

DNA robots http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1278133/Meet-nano-spiders-The-DNA-robots-day-walking-body.html

Works Cited

Gimzewski, Jim and Victoria Vesna. “The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of fact and fiction in the construction of a new science.” Arts.ucla.edu. Web. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Gimzewski, Jim. “Nanotech Jim pt1.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Gimzewski, Jim. “Nanotech Jim pt3.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. Accessed 22 May 2017.

Gimzewski, Jim. “Nanotech Jim pt4.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. Accessed 22 May 2017.

“Making Stuff: Smaller.” NOVA. PBS.org, 21 Aug. 2013. Web. Accessed 22 May 2017.

christinelDESMA9 Unit 7

Hearing about neuroscience always makes me more conscious about my brain. This happened when I took my neuroscience GE and when I watched Professor Vesna’s lectures this week. As I learned in neuroscience, this state of consciousness is called metacognition - being aware of being aware. It makes me think about how my brain controls what I’m thinking about, my fingers to type, my eyes to see, my lungs to breathe, etc. In addition, Professor Vesna mentions the importance of neurochemicals. It made me think about what neurochemicals are released in my brain as I process information. For example, my neurons probably transmitted serotonin and dopamine, pleasure neurotransmitters, when I saw FMRA butterflies and Brainbows (Vesna) because they looked visually pleasing to me. In a TED talk, Christopher deCharms discusses how MRI can show how your brain processes as it’s happening (TED). This made me wonder how I would feel if I saw how my brain was feeling.

http://bhekisisa.org/article/2013-06-28-00-theres-gold-at-the-end-of-the-brainbow

I also thought about how important our brains are in the information age. Information is continuously thrown at us, and our brains have to process that information. In the quarter system, a lot of information is thrown at us in a relatively short amount of time. For example, if the math professor wants us to memorize a lot of math equations, we have to hope that all those equations do not only stay in our short-term memory, but also in our long-term memory for our exam.

http://www.pinsdaddy.com/explain-three-stages-of-memory_rD9b4cyvXpT8ia%7CRigeZR8mRwhr9F*exCbIGk2AXdlI/

Professor Vesna also talked about all these psychologists and scientists who experimented with drugs. For example, Freud frequently dabbled with cocaine, Huxley tried mescaline, and Leary experimented with LSD (Vesna). Albert Hofmann claimed that he had an “extremely hyperactive imagination” while on LSD. This reminded me of an artist we talked about in neuroscience. This artist drew several self-portraits while on different drugs (HERB). Some of the self-portraits are really strange, but overall, they are intriguing. This really made me think about the possibilities and capabilities of the human brain.

http://herb.co/2015/06/29/30-different-drugs-30-self-portraits/

Works Cited

deCharms, Christopher. “A look inside the brain in real time.” TED.com. TED Conferences, Feb 2008. Web. Accessed 16 May 2017.

HERB. “This man took 30 different drugs and drew 30 self-portraits.” HERB.co, 29 Jun 2015. Web. Accessed 16 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience-pt1.mov.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. Accessed 15 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience pt3.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. Accessed 15 May 2017.

christinelDESMA9 Event #2: Mnemoawari

Mnemoawari by E. Joteva was a great interactive experience. The event description said: “mnemoawari will perform a cycle over the course of three days, during which three cryo sculptures will release their entropic potential into virtual and material memory. The interactive multimedia installation deals with the power of awareness within the transference and formation of immaterial impressions” (UCLA Design Media Arts). Even when given this description, I had no idea what I should expect. Once I went through the exhibit, I knew I went through an adventure.

The first stop in the exhibit was Dream Augur, a “projected photograph of a dream-wave portrait” (Joteva). It’s a dynamic projection of a circular blue figure that seems to emit rays. I came to see this projection as a sun.

The second stop was three hanging sculptures Not All Cycles Can Be Contained, which were made out of water, flowers, fungi, seeds, sand, light, aluminum, sound, heat, and time. A reddish orange sphere suspended in the air by rope that dripped a clear liquid into a large vessel below. The liquid in the vessel was reflected on the wall behind the sculpture. Closeby in the other corner was another reddish orange sphere suspended in the air by rope. Liquid, orange this time, drips off the sphere into a vessel. I came to see these spheres as planets. In the other corner was a grayish sphere suspended in the air by rope. It hung over an empty glass vessel, which sits in a metal pan of fine sand. I came to associate this as Earth’s moon.

The next stop was a VR station called A View from Within. When I looked into the VR set, it seemed like there were crashing waves all over me. I associated this station as Earth.

The last stop was projections of the previous three spheres called Mnemonic Place Fields. The projections enlarged the spheres, forcing me to notice the detail and materials. I saw how the first sphere had twigs, how the the second sphere had flowers, and how the third sphere had shells. At this point, a story of earth and space had formed in my mind. The natural materials represent the Earth: the twigs represent earth/dirt, the flowers represent life, and the shells represent water. The sculptures and the void around them represent space.

I went through the exhibit again to experience it aware of a story. The viewer starts off at the blue projection, the sun. Then the viewer travels to the two reddish orange spheres, perhaps Mercury and Venus. Next, the viewer travels to the grayish sphere, the moon. Finally, the viewer sees Earth through the VR set. On the sign at the entrance of the exhibit, Joteva includes sub titles under the names of her works. These sub titles include: can you remember a future?, can you remember a present?, can you remember a place between?, and can you remember a past?, which reaffirms that the installations have a storyline. As the description said, the installation “deals with the power of awareness.” I believe this installation, with its materials and storyline, really forces the viewer to be aware where they are in terms of the adventure and their actual physical position. I have no idea what the artist actually meant to convey, but despite that, I still had an out-of-this-world experience.

Sources/Links

Joteva, E, curator. Mnemoawari. 2017. University of California, Los Angeles. 9 May 2017. https://dma.ucla.edu/events/calendar/?ID=1007

http://dissolve.com/video/Bird-eye-aerial-view-ocean-waves-washing-over-rocks-royalty-free-stock-video-footage/001-D1214-2-013

https://www.google.com/search?q=over+crashing+waves&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS729US729&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwievNv01eTTAhUY_WMKHYBaA_8Q_AUICigB&biw=1235&bih=693#tbm=isch&q=over+crashing+waves+birds+eye&imgrc=cTgxlbGQjTR9CM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vul3H3vHswg

https://www.videoblocks.com/video/4k-birds-eye-view-shot-of-vintage-sewing-machine-foot-and-empty-needle-vulgzkd3gilii43bv/

christinelDESMA9 Unit 6

Photo: Chrystelle Fontaine

As Professor Vesna mentions, biotechnology and art is a very controversial topic. Even though I think art is meant to arouse emotions, some of these biotechnology pieces aroused horror and disapproval. I think that artists should be allowed to experiment with biotechnology as long as it brings no harm. I also think that artists working with scientists in the lab is a great way to bridge the gap between the two worlds.

When Eduardo Kac claimed the GFP bunny as an art piece, Professor Vesna mentions that animal rights activists called it abuse while scientists dismissed it as silly (Vesna). Despite that, in his article, Kac mentions that “[the GFP bunny] immediately awoke in me a strong and urgent sense of responsibility for her well-being” (Kac). Since he genuinely cared for the bunny, it dismisses the claims of the animal activists and scientists. In addition, Kira O’Riley “explored traditional lace making techniques with tissue culturing to create invitro living lace of skin culture from cells biopsied from her body” (Vesna). I believe she has the right to do this since the cells were from her own body. Overall, it seems their art has not caused harm.

Adam Zaretsky said “We breed our meat for tenderness, why shouldn't we breed ourselves for intelligence or good looks? The point of presenting you with all of the most recent technology is to underscore the fact that the ethical debate is important” (Zaretsky). I think that even though some of the work in biotechnology arouses fear and disapproval, these works had to be done to spark talk about the ethics in this field. I believe that once a consensus on ethics is reached, biotechnology + art won’t be as controversial. In addition, these debates will ultimately strengthen their values and collective consciousness.

Kac also said brings up the issue of “Ongoing dialogue between professionals of several disciplines… and the public on cultural and ethical implications of genetic engineering” (Kac). Since this topic seems to force discussion and artists are working with scientists in the lab, the gap between the two worlds is lessening.

Mixing bio + art can create things like:

A photographer captures a starfish larva capturing algae. 

Works Cited

Kac, Eduardo. “GFP Bunny.” Rabbit Remix. Web. Accessed 9 May 2017. http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html#gfpbunnyanchor

NikonMicroscopes. “2016 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - First Place.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 14 Dec. 2016. Web. 9 May 2017.

“Understanding GMOS & What It Means for Your Food.” Honestly. The Honest Company Inc, 30 Oct. Web. Accessed 9 May 2017. https://blog.honest.com/understanding-gmos/#

Vesna, Victoria. “5 bioart pt1 1280x720.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 18 Sep. 2013. Web. 9 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. “5 BioArt pt2.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 18 Sep. 2013. Web. 9 May 2017.

Zaretsky, Adam. “The Art of Germline Mutagenesis.” Aesthetics, Mutation, Ethics, and Heredity. Emutagen.com. Web. Accessed 9 May 2017. http://emutagen.com/germline.html

CHRISTINE_LIM_DESMA9_MIDTERM

Google Drive Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByAC_3Bh5qAtOXphZGkwbEpXbnc/view?usp=sharing

PDF Link:

file:///C:/Users/Christine/Documents/CHRISTINE_LIM_DESMA9_MIDTERM.pdf