Extra Credit Event 1

EXTRA CREDIT EVENT 1

I was unable to attend the opening night of Delete Me due to a class conflict so I instead attended the following day but was not able to meet with any of the artists. I saw a few of the artists in the gallery however they were with DMA professors in what I assume to be critiques. The Delete Me show was a showcase for recent work of the DMA MFA students. The work covered a large variety of mediums and topics.

The work I will focus on was Kate Hollenbach’s USER_IS_PRESENT. Kate is my TA for my Network Media class this quarter. She has shown and discussed a number of her pieces in our class so I was excited to see her piece in the show. Kates work tends to focus on the mobile phone and how we relate to our devices.

Her piece USER_IS_PRESENT was no different, it also stemmed from her interest in our relationships with our mobile phones. The piece consisted of three screens depicting what appeared to be layered views of an iPhone screen - our view and one of the phone itself. One view being the view of what Kate can see of her phone and the other being what the phone see’s back of her. In her statement about the work Kate describes it as “the experience of a place and time cannot be complete in just the physical or virtual world alone: presence is now required in both.” There was a variety of imagery from emails to videos of her face walking or sitting in class.

I really enjoyed this piece. I think it is a very accurate depiction of how much our devices have encompassed and taken control over our lives. You could view practically Kate's whole week in a condensed period of time and space because her phone was there to experience the whole thing. It also shows how much of her focus is on her device throughout the day because a majority of the imagery was her looking at the screen.

I also think this fits impeccably with the rest of Kates work and is recognizable as her style of work which I think is very important. I also think the piece was relatable to anyone even if you did not previously know Kate, her work or story. I am not sure why there were three screens however I think aesthetically it was a good choice.

Below are a number of photos of me at the gallery.

Event 3

For my third event, I attended the Final Review Session with Professor Vesna and the TAs on Wednesday 5/24 from 12 - 2 in EDA.

Here are my notes from the review:

Quiz - Due June 9th

• Meet with group 6/8 to review readings. Each person is in charge of one week (weeks 6-9)

Blog Summary - Due June 9

• Combine all blogs into one condensed PDF. Include brief summary of what you learned each week and how the knowledge fit together. 
• What is the synthesis of the 10 weeks?
• Can you summarize the core concepts and information into 1 paragraph?
• Combine blogs 6/4 after Week 9 is complete
• Finish summary on 6/5

Essay - Due June 11

• Use your major or area of interest as a base for your topic
• Economics 
• Food Sustainability
• Begin essay outline 6/4
• First draft 6/7 - Send to TA for review
• Find images and related artwork
• Proofread and submit by 6-11

Space, Science & Art

SPACE, SCIENCE & ART

This week’s lecture and reading focused on space, the final frontier, which Vesna refers as the “place where it all comes together” which is fitting since it is our last unit.

Professor Vesna begins with the history of space and space travel beginning with Copernicus and his heliocentric concept of the solar system. His impact on the history of the understanding of space was very significant. The next major phase of discovery was Galileo’s Telescope. Although it was not until after World War II, that contemporary space exploration actually began and was achieved. With the focus of the cold war being the arms race, competition in space exploration became imminent among countries. The Soviet Unions’ launch of Sputnick had a huge impact on the idea of space travel and created a great amount of paranoia around
around the world. The space race greatly impacted the education system and increased math and science programing.

The Russians were the first to send a living being into space to test the physical or physiological impacts that might occur - a dog, Leica. She died after 6 day in the trip because of the batteries controlling her life support system that failed. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, landed July 20th 1969. A number of people were in space and circled the earth prior to this. Numerous space shuttle disasters occurred following this.

While traditionally space research and travel is seen as science, we can change our perspective view it through the lens of art and design. Because much of space is still a mystery and unknown to us to this day, it is up to the artists to use their imagination and take free reign to dream up plans of what civilization might look like on the moon, or what extraterrestrial life may resemble. Space has no restrictions or rules. Any dream or fantasy is off limits. Rules of physics, scale, or time do not exist.

Wall-E , one of the many movies inspired by space exploration

The mystery and availability for creativity of space has inspired numerous films, shows, art works, media and more over the years. Including, Men In Black, Pixar’s Wall-E, Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, paintings by Chesley Bonestell, Tomorrowland in Disneyland , Spielberg’s E.T., etc.

Chris Hadfield - photo from a YouTube video he filmed from space

Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut who now serves as the Commander of the International Space Station, shares photographs of his travels throughout space. He published a photography book of these images called “You Are Here – Around the World in 92 Minutes”. He also post on various social media channels including his YouTube channel where he posts videos.

One of Thomas Ruff's photograph of space from the NASA website

Thomas Ruff, a photographer, took photographs from the NASA website of satellite imagery and created works of art and even 3D printed some of them. They are perfect examples of the blend and crossover between science and art when it comes to space.

Overall, space is probably the best example of the opportunity for the blending of art and science simply because there is so much mystery and unknown that is assciated with space. Therefore there are no rule to be followed which allows for countless possibilities and imagination.

CITATIONS

"Where Art And Space Travel Meet: Why Is The Art World Suddenly So Captivated By The Cosmos?" Creators. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2017.

Thomas Ruff - March 8 - April 21, 2012 - Images - Gagosian. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. "Week 9: Space and Art." UCLA. Lecture. Web.

Staff, SPACE.com. "Astronaut Chris Hadfield's Amazing Photos of Earth From Space." Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2017.

Kennedy, Randy. "When the Space Age Blasted Off, Pop Culture Followed." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Sept. 2007. Web. 03 June 2017.

NanoArt

Nanotechnology & Art

This week’s lecture and readings focused on Nanotechnology. Dr. Gimzewksi, a former IBM researcher and UCLA professor who works at CNSI, conducted our lectures and spoke about the importance and prevalence of nanotechnology in science and technology.

NanoArt by John Hart

NanoArt by John Hart

Nanotechnology is the science, engineering and technology conducted at the nanoscale. The term nanotechnology was coined by Norio Taniguchi in 1974. A nanoscale is roughly 1-100 NANOmeters. There are 25,400,000 nanometer in 1 inch. Nanotechnology is used in numerous fields including chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering. It is very broad, we can see nanotechnology present in almost everything in our everyday life including athletic socks, waterproof fabrics, and self-cleaning glass.

In "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", Richard Feynman suggests that bigger isn't always better. I like his quote "there's plenty of room at the bottom", which highlights that bigger isn't always better. As an example of this, he wrote 25,000 page of the Encyclopedia Britannica on the surface of the pinhead. He made a note that a pinhead actually has room for 260,000,000 pages.

Erin Drexler and Ralph Merkle came together to form the Foresight Organization and there created ‘the Assembler concept’ at the molecular scale. The discovery of the Bucky Ball and the scanning tunneling microscope led to a breakthrough in moving atoms as single-atoms. Richard Smaley argued against Drexler’s theory. Gimzewski discussed much farther in depth the history and impact of nanotechnology. But while science and technology are probably the first fields you think of when you hear nanotechnology, it is also used in art. Nano art is art in which the artist manipulates molecular matter. It can’t be seen by the naked eye because it is at the atomic scale. It can be seen through an atomic-force microscope.

Gimzewski and Vesna co-wrote “At The Intersection of Art and Science” and in it say, “nanotechnology and media arts, by their very nature, have a common ground in addressing the issues of manipulation, particularly sensory perception, questioning our reaction, changing the way we think. They are complementary, and the issues that are raised start to spill over into fundamental problems of the limits of psychology, anthropology, biology and so on. It is as if the doors of perception have suddenly opened and the microscopes imperfection of truly representing object form forces us to question our traditional (Western) values of reality” (Gimzewski and Vesna).

Nano artist, Frederik De Wilde is the creator of a new color called “blacker than black” or as he calls it “superblack”. It is said to be 10 times stronger than black and give an illusion of a black hole. De Wilde is a perfect example of blending science and art in the use of nanotechnology.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-30/scientists-are-becoming-artists-thanks-nanoart

Public Radio International did a great piece called "Scientists are becoming artists, thanks to 'NanoArt'" focusing on the ability for scientists to move into the art world through nanotechnology.

CITATIONS

"Feynman.com - Richard Feynman Online." Feynman.com - Richard Feynman Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 2017. <http://www.feynman.com>.

Gimzewski, J. "Nanotechnology + Art, Pt. 3." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 2017 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXjNbKDkYI>.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanoneme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science." Technoetic Arts Technoetic Arts 1.1 (2003): 7-24. Web

Vesna, Victoria. “Intro to NanoTech + Art." UCLA, Los Angeles. Lecture.

Vesna, Victoria, and Jim Gimzewski. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science." (n.d.): n. pag. Web <http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/publications/02-03/JV_nano/JV_nano_artF5VG.htm>.

Neuroscience & Art

Neuroscience & Art 

This week’s lecture and readings focused on the overlap of Neuroscience and Art - and Neuroaesthetics. Neuroscience is the study of the brain. We looked at three major topics surround the brain - (1) the discovery of the brain and its’ structure and chemistry, (2) dreams and the unconscious mind, and (3) min-altering chemicals. We finally focused on the art and beauty that goes along with the study of our brains. The brain has such a central function in our body and there is so much mystery surrounding it - there is no surprise it has fascinated and inspired artists for centuries.

It is weird to think that aside from our physical appearance and the genes that makeup our bodies - our personalities and emotions, the things that make each of us unique and individual, all is housed and takes place in our brains.

Vesna started with the history of the study of the brain. I was surprised to hear that the brain has only been seriously studied for about a century. Ramon Ikahal and Franz Joseph Gall were two critical figures in the study of brain anatomy and structure. Later, Santiago Ramon y Cajal made huge advances in the study of neurons and their connections.

I am still always fascinated how large of an history drugs like LSD have in our history. In lecture, Vesna talked about how in looking to see what affected the brains’ function, Albert Hoffman first created the psychedelic LSD. A Dangerous Method, the movie Vesna mentioned in lecture, is a perfect example of the use of scientific knowledge used as details within an artistic display of a film.

Karen Norberg and Margerie Taylor

We looked at some artists including Karen Norberg and Margerie Taylor, that take this fascinating organ - the brain - and make art inspired by it. Their works are based in scientific facts sourced from a variety of publications including MRI imaging and dissection records.

Vesna also focused on the popular technique - Brainbow - which uses fluorescent proteins to distinguish individual neurons from others in the brain. It is a breakthrough technique because it is noninvasive and allows for extraordinary discovery.

In the reading, “Neuroculture” by Giovanni Frazzetto and Suzanne Anker, I liked the line they say - “the interaction between art and science offers an opportunity to make the scientific community and the public aware of the social and ethical implications of the scientific advances in neuroscience.” Suzanne Anker is also known for her project “fMRI butterfly” which we looked at in lecture.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/neuroscience-art-brain/

One artist that I think is fitting for this week’s topic is Rebecca Kamen, a dyslexic artist who turned neurons into butterflies in her piece “Butterflies of the Soul”. The work was inspired by neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal - who Vesna talked about in lecture.

http://aplus.com/a/drawing-self-portraits-on-lsd-trip?no_monetization=true

A while back I saw on Facebook that someone posted a link titled “Artist Took LSD And Spent 9 Hours Drawing Herself To Show The Effect Drugs Have On Brain”. I think this is a good example for this week’s topic as well.

Overall, this week we looked at not only the physical elements of the brain in art but also the unconscious and psychedelic elements that have impacted the world of art.

CITATIONS

Rolfes, Ellen. "Portrait of a dyslexic artist, who transforms neurons into 'butterflies'" PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neurosci + Art." UCLA, Los Angeles. Lecture.

Anker, Suzanne, & Giovanni Frazzetto.  "Neuroculture."  Perspectives.  Volume 10. Nov. 2009.             Macmillan Publishers Limited.  Article.

Bakutyte, Justina. "Artist Took LSD And Spent 9 Hours Drawing Herself To Show The Effect Drugs Have On Brain." A Plus. N.p., 01 Jan. 4016. Web. 17 May 2017.

Event 2

For my second event I attended Eli Joteva’s Mnemoawari installation in the EDA at Broad Art Center. I went to the opening of the event so I saw the initial stages of the pieces. While there I heard Joteva speak briefly on the works and she mentioned the pieces possible transformation over the next three days of the installation being there. I unfortunately went out of town the following day but wish I could have seen the pieces transformations over time.

The installation included four main sections including a variety of mediums but connected by an over arching message. The message was regarding how memory spans over the past, present, and future. I attended the sections in the following order but later found of the meaning was meant to go in the opposite direction that I experienced them in.

The first section was definitely my favorite - it was a large projection on the wall when you entered the gallery. It resembled colors through a lense of glass of some sort to me. It was hard to make out exactly but I thought it was beautiful and set a strong presences and mood for the rest of the gallery experience.
I later found out this stage was supposed to represent the 'future'. The single projected sphere was meant to represent her future dreams.

The second section was the most interesting to me. Joteva hung three natural sculptures from the ceiling each having slightly different combination of elements. The introduction poster indicated that these sculptures included “water, flowers, fungi, seeds, sand, light, aluminum, sound, heat and time”. Each include frozen ice though which dripped the different elements into pans below. This is the section that I image will transform with time and I hope to see photos of the movement - I image they will be quite beautiful. As a DESMA student I rarely deal with physical installations but instead the digital forms, I was amazed she was able to handle such delicate mediums and pull off such a clean display. I particularly enjoyed one of the sculptures which due to a reflection from an above light - projected a beautiful reflection on the wall.

I later found out this stage was meant to represent the 'present' and this is the transforming stage, the spheres physically change over the three days.

The third section I unfortunately couldn't take a photo of because it was Virtual Reality. The headpiece was hanging from the ceiling. I would say my one critique would be that most of the visitors I saw passing through did not notice the goggles so they did not get to experience them. Additionally it was the one section of the gallery that I felt was out of place of the others. However I do think VR is such a fascinating medium that it was nice of her to include it.

The last section was projection on the 3 wall immersive EDA room. I really enjoyed this section as well. I thought it tied into the overall gallery very well. The three spheres were projected on three huge walls. I later found out these represented the "past" because they were perfect examples of the spheres. 

I think this installation was a great example of use of technology and art. I wonder if Joteva was meaning to reference the melting icebergs and global warming issues we are dealing with in our world today. Overall I really enjoyed the gallery and think Joteva did a wonderful job. I thought it was very visually pleasing and after having the stages explained to me they messages were very strong. However, without knowing the message I would have not known the message very clearly.

Below is a picture of me and my friend MK at the event.

Week 6 - BioArt

This weeks lecture and reading focused on the “bio-art”, a term coined by Eduardo Katz, and refers to biotechnology's place as a medium for art.

Vesna discussed physical and genetic manipulation of animals and organisms as forms of art. She started with Joe Davis - often considered the pioneer of bio-art and a person with huge impact on many following artists. A group called Symbotica formed in 2000 as one of the first groups for creating bio-art. Adam Zaretsky, Marta de Menezes, Kathy High, and Orlan all held residencies at Symbiotica and were greatly impacted by Joe Davis.

She identified on a prominent figure in the area - Eduardo Katz - known mostly for his Fluorescent Bunny. The project took zygote microinjection of EGFG and inserted into fertilized rabbit egg cells which caused the bunny, “Alba”, to glow a fluorescent green. This piece of art was iconic in the field of bio-art and questioned many of the controversial questions.

Vesna also discussed the obvious controversy surround projects that involve genetic mutation of animals and organisms. There is obvious backlash against the use of animals as art using genetic mutilation and the ethics behind it. An interesting side note - I found it interesting that Vesna mentioned the use of fluorescence in genes as a method of tagging proteins and allows for tracing drugs throughout the body without using surgery. It is a perspective I had not thought to look at.

This discussion made me think of those articles that came out that mentioned being able to genetically build your own baby. To me this concept still seems very weird that you would even want to pick your baby's genes to be different from your own. I must also mention that this is a very costly procedure so we must be careful that the wealthy are not given the power to bread smarter, more attractive, stronger, super babies which could create an isolated unfair advantage.

Scientists at the University of Oxford used 3D printers to create “living tissues”. Technology advancements like this are not only amazing for the medical field and cell regeneration, but also makes possibilities for less controversial bio-art.

I also really like artists Enrico Becker and Matt Harris’s work which comments on the future of genetically modified foods. They place bar codes on produce and change their colors.

CITATIONS

Vesna, Victoria. "Biotechnology + Art, Part 4." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qSc72u9KhI&list=PL9DBF43664EAC8BC7>

Gallagher, James. "'Designer Babies' Debate Should Start, Scientists Say - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 19 Jan. 2015. Web.

Cooper-White, Macrina. "3D Printed Cell Technique Allows Material To Mimic Human-Like Tissue (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/3d-printed-cells-tissue-human_n_3021600.html>

Enrico becker matt harris look at the future of genetically modified fruits. (2015, October 02). Retrieved May 13, 2017, from http://www.designboom.com/art/enrico-becker-matt-harris-genetically-modified-fruits-10-01-2015/

Midterm

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82250jpvZJNRG01TnF1cUx4aVE/view?usp=sharing

Week 4: Medicine, Technology & Art

This week we covered the intersection of medicine, technology and art. The progression and evolution of the medical industry and specifically advances in technology made large impacts and changes in the field of art. Although not as obvious, art and science have a fairly similar foundational mission - to explore life's mysteries or things we don’t necessarily understand.

In her lecture this week, Professor Vesna discussed specifically the relationship between the human body and art. She started with a personal anecdote that when she was in art school she spent a good deal of time doing anatomical drawings which at the time she felt she was wasting her time but later in her studies she realized the immense benefit it was to have that deep knowledge of the human body. I am a design student now but came from a fine arts background - I agree completely that in the moment the hundreds of drawings of the human body seemed tedious and unnecessary but now my knowledge of proportion is strong because of that.

Professor Vesna started by looking back at the early art and the importance of human dissection and anatomical drawings for artists at the time. She touched specifically on the ancient Egyptians and Greeks process of body mummification. Moving to 1543, she used Andreas Visaleus’ “On the Human Anatomy” as an example of one of the first times an accurate physical body was used to represent treatment of disease. This was revolutionary for its’ time and the field as it centered medicine in concrete science instead of imagination.

With the evolution of technology came the dissemination of knowledge. Artists played a crucial role in the documentation of the scientific discoveries. This is a perfect example of the two fields working off one another to make a huge advancement for society that otherwise wouldn't be possible without the collaboration.

The Visible Human Projects used cross-sections of human body parts to visualize the human body. It was an example of how art helped the field of science take their advancements in science and put them into a system that was readable for the common society. This helped immensely with the spread of knowledge.

I particularly enjoyed Diane Gromala’s TED talk. She was an extremely engaging speaker and I found what she is studying to be very interesting. I didn't know much about chronic pain before this TED talk.

Being a Design Media Arts we are starting to dive into the Virtual Reality space and projects. I really enjoyed that she was bringing science and art into the VR world. I think Virtual Reality is meeting a gap in art where artists and designers want to use technology and art to create physical experiences that you wouldn't be able to experience otherwise. Additionally you can give someone a perspective that isn't their own in a way that they can fully experience it with all senses. Gromala touches on this in her talk when talking about the many more senses we have within our brains beyond the 5 external. I found it fascinating that she talked about VR being a clinically proven pain reliever. I had no idea it had that power.

I also liked the Peter Tyson’s The Hippocratic Oath article. I knew about the oath from TV shows and movie mainly but I never knew how directly it refers to art - “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science.”

CITATIONS

Gromala, Diane. "Transforming Pain: Virtual Reality." Transforming Pain. N.p., n.d. Web. 2017. <http://www.confrontingpain.com/projects/vr/>.

Ingber, Donald E. "The Architecture of Life." Scientific American (1998): 48-57. Print.

Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov." UCLA. Online.

Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body & Medical Technologies, Part 2." N.p., n.d. Web. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

Week 3: Robotics & Art

This week we discussed the topic of Robotics & Art. We focused on industrialization's impact on mass production, “assembly lines” and robotics which make up a majority of our world today. I think these topics are extremely relevant in our lives today and it is interesting to see their strong roots in history.

I found it interesting how large of an impact the printing press had on mass production and dissemination of knowledge and further the progression of the computers and robotics. It was fascinating to see how much stemmed from and was influenced by the work of Michael Faraday - both scientifically and artistically. Examples being the work of Perry Hoberman (“Faraday’s Garden” and “Faraday’s Ghosts”) and Nikola Tesla.

I recently watched the movie The Imitation Game so it is nice to be reflecting back on Alan Turing's impact after learning more in lecture. I knew his invention (The Turing Machine) was vital in solving the Enigma during the war - however I did not necessarily connect it impact on the future of computers and robotics.

I enjoyed the discussion about new forms and the progression of art due to the impacts of industrialization and mechanisms - specifically replication. In Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” he argues that "even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be" - he is highlighting a large discussion that originality is destroyed by replication and criticizes the impacts of the industrial revolution on art. Example being that today an artist can make just as much if not more money from creating replicas of classics over their own original unique works.

I look at it as a kind of tradeoff. We are weighing one side of having great technological advancements that improve our capabilities for art while also saying we might lose some authenticity. One real life example of this is Virtual Reality - the ability to virtually attend almost any monument, event, concert, speech, etc. in the world with leaving the comfort of your bed. On one hand we are able to “experience” things and places we would otherwise never be able to do, while on the other hand you are sacrificing the “real experience” of going there.

Citi, Live Nation and NextVR announced a series of live virtual reality concerts which will transport fans via virtual reality technology into an immersive experience of the concerts.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7525661/citi-live-nation-nextvr-launching-virtual-reality-concert-series

Looking at that from the perspective of robots, we could say that no matter how far they advance in function, they will never be a “real human”. Looking at this from a smaller view however, the implementation of pacemakers and mechanical limbs or ear pieces are examples of machinery mixing with biology. These implementations did not come easily as the public has a hard time accepting “robotics” with human function.

However, we can also argue that our cell phones are extensions of our bodies so, therefore, similar to an implant. We use our cell phones for everything in our daily life these days including our emotional lives such as finding a date.

https://www.cnet.com/news/how-google-is-becoming-an-extension-of-your-mind/

I think we must look at everything with two sides, while technology may be limiting us in some ways, it is also positively impacting our lives in vast ways we have never known before.

CITATIONS:

Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

Robotics + Art | Lecture. Perf. Victoria Vesna. UC Online, 2017. Film.

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics Pt. 1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 2017.<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics Pt. 1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 2017.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRw9_v6w0ew>.

Event 1: Eco-Centric Art & Science: Prophesies and Predictions Symposium

I attended the Eco-Centric Art & Science: Prophesies and Predictions Symposium at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. The symposium consisted of a series of speakers over a few hours. I was able to attend three talks: (1) the end of Charles Taylor - an evolutionary biologist, (2) Sophie Lampater, a curator at Swissnex, and (3) Olivia Osborne, a nano-toxicologist at UCLA.

I found Olivia Osborne’s talk to be the most engaging of the three so I will focus on hers for the majority of my blog post. I think Olivia’s talk was extremely relevant and tied to many of the themes and topics we have discussed in our course so far.

In her introduction for Olivia, Professor Vesna touched on her impression and connection to the bridging of the two fields of art and science. Olivia expanded on this throughout her talk in a few ways. I particularly liked her line when introducing herself: “You can’t just be one thing these days”. She started off by listing her science based achievements (PhD, etc.) but moved on to say that since moving to LA she has realized she is much more than just a scientist and push further to say that we all are much more than just one title. Much of her talk tied back to this multidisciplinary idea. I completely agree with her theory that the blending of fields and multidisciplinary projects are where the future of new and exciting knowledge lies.

I thought it was funny but also very useful when she described herself and her outlook as the phrase on the back of a Prius “Hybrid Synergy Drive” - saying that we need to be a hybrid among fields, we must have synergy at the same time, and we must always have drive to move forward.

One of her slides stood out to me in particular. I took a picture (attached) and as I looked around the auditorium, I saw a lot of other people taking pictures of it too so it must have struck a chord with many. It was the slide in which she highlighted the extreme importance and place for artistic engagement within science. In her talk she mentioned that starting with Research & Development and moving toward Dissemination of Knowledge - essentially the loop could just stop there and not continue. However this is the point when the implementation of Artistic Engagement & Knowledge progresses towards Planting the Seed & Sparking an Interesting in the people that in turn grows into Action and Makes the Mark which in turn funds more Research and Development - and so on the loop continues.

As a designer this really helped me visually the impact that I see everyday through Artistic Engagement. I have always wanted to make an impact with my art and designs and this is precisely the impact that can so easily change the world. Following this model and ideology can bring immense benefits to our society, environment and world.

I also liked that she sort of re-defined environment for us by bringing us back to core definition “the medium that surrounds us”. She went on to talk about some of her projects that follow a similar artistic engagement process including her series Cry Me a River California which highlighted the California drought through unconventional means.

I will also note that Sophie Lamparter talked about a project at the end of her talk that was very interesting to me. It was a project that they have just begun and does not even have a name yet. She mentioned the working title to be “Climate Garden”. It will consist of two green houses side by side - one will represent the environment today and one will represent the environment in 2058. I found this project extremely intriguing because it deals with experience which is often extremely powerful in impacting our minds and understanding of topics. She mentioned the project aims to “change how we think about climate” by making it something we experience rather than just hear or read about. The project will be available in Summer 2017 and I am excited to see how it will progress.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Eco-Centric Art & Science: Prophesies and Predictions Symposium and wished I could have attended more of the talks. Below is a photo of me at the Symposium (please excuse my appearance).