sameerkDESMA9_ECEVENT2

Extra Credit Event 2

The event I'm choosing to talk about this time is the Coyotes in Two Directions exhibition by Sarah Rosalena Bradley. Following this event was the Leonardo Art and Science Evening Rendezvous event, which also featured Bradley who talked about her exhibition. The exhibition contained several pieces of art such as 3D printed coyote paws on metal rods, a machine with 3D printed bald eagle talons, and a sculpture of a 3D printed rattlesnake tail. I immediately found the connection between art and technology here as all of the art presented had gone through a process of being designed in software and created with a 3D printer. Furthermore, the machine with eagle talons took another step further as the machine was programmed to strike different poses every couple of seconds. In her lecture, she mentioned that the reason for picking the theme of her art pieces was to display the defense mechanism of the desert animals. From the art being displayed and the use of technology to create this art, the connection between the two has been made clear.

The topic of defense mechanisms associated with kinetic machines reminded me of the art group called Survival Research Labs under the "Robotics + Art" resources. After viewing their machine list, I came across a robot called "Running Machine," which is a robot that runs at about 5-6 miles per hour with intimidating features ("Mobile Machines"). Similar to Bradley's bald eagle machine, both machines are kinetic objects that possess the purpose of moving and to appear intimidating. The difference between these two is that the "Running Machine" was a robot made for research purposes, while Bradley's robot was made for the purpose of art. 

Another way that the collaboration of art and robotics is shown is when Bradley uses 3D printing to create all of her pieces. The world of 3D printing is accessible and useful for many artists to customize and create pieces with specific material and precision ("Why 3D Printing: How 3D Printing Will Change the World"). There are a variety of materials that are available with 3D printers, such as plastics, ceramics, and metals (Baguley). In Bradley's art pieces, she uses a type of ceramic to create the coyote paws and rattlesnake tail, while using aluminum to 3D print the bald eagle talons. I would definitely recommend this event to my classmates as it gave a very interesting type of art that combined the use of robotics and technology to create art pieces. 

Bradley's machine with 3D printed bald eagle talons

selfie with Sarah Rosalena Bradley

3D printed rattlesnake sculpture

3D printed coyote paws on metal rods

Citations:

Baguley, Richard. “3D Printing Materials: The Pros and Cons of Each Type.” Tom's Guide, Tom's Guide, 29 Dec. 2017, www.tomsguide.com/us/3d-printing-materials,news-24392.html.

“Mobile Machines.” SRL Machines, srl.org/machines.html.

“Why 3D Printing: How 3D Printing Will Change the World.” FABtotum, www.fabtotum.com/why-3d-printing/.

sameerkDesma9_ECEvent1

Extra Credit Event 1

The event I chose to write about is UCLA's Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER). Particularly, the work of Kelly Nipper stood out to me when she mentioned the work she does includes the minds of both engineers and dancers. I was initially skeptical of what engineers and dancers could possibly have in common, but after listening to what work she is involved with, I realized that even art, in the form of dance, is connected to science. Her work involves the scientific study of the moving body in space. This really caught my attention as dance, one of the most common forms of art, uses concepts of geometry, a fundamental type of math, to create movements in a conceptual way. 

The use of geometry in dance is something I've never thought about. I'm no dancer, but I always imagined choreographers just coming up with moves that they feel look good out of thin air. However, after doing a bit of research, I come to realize that choreographers use many mathematical concepts in order to construct a pattern of movements in a given amount of space. In an article called, "The Choreographer's Toolbox," some of the "tools" a choreographer uses to create a dance routine are shapes, space, symmetry/asymmetry, timing, and dynamics ("Making Dance"). Aside from timing, the other tools require the use of mathematical concepts, which clearly show the connection between the lecture "Math and Art." In my engineering classes, I've had to study the dynamics of a ballet dancer as they changed their rotational speeds and accelerations with arm movements. The word "dynamics" is referred to as a common dance term to indicate the change in physical abilities with different motions ("Contemporary Dance Terms. Definitions"). As for symmetry and asymmetry, they are used for both individual dances and group dances for the purpose of placing the attention of the viewer during the performance (Voerman). From these pieces of information, it can be seen how the mathematical concepts and dance are connected as each "tool" proves to have a significant purpose in choreography.

In Nipper's talk, she mentioned that shapes are used to portray meanings with the interaction of the human body in a given space. Her example was given as a dancer was on top of a polygon shape sideways. She said that the message behind this image was that the shape was inside the dancer's body and with each movement the dancer made, the shape would remain affecting the body in different ways. Shapes and space are important in dance as it demonstrates an act, feeling, or idea through the movement of the body (Riley). Furthermore, there is an Atlas of Emotion, which is the graphical representation of five emotions (anger, fear, disgust, sadness, enjoyment) (Armstrong). In a way, these graphs show the emotions that are associated with certain types of shapes, which can be used in dance and movements to implicitly send a message to the viewer. I would recommend this event as it gave a very clear, interesting, and new connection between art and math that I've never considered until hearing the lecture by Kelly Nipper.

Kelley Nipper giving the presentation

Nipper with her work of the dancer on the polygon shape

selfie with Nipper

Citation:

Armstrong, Zan. “The Shapes of Emotions – Hi.Stamen.” Hi.Stamen, Hi.Stamen, 27 July 2016, hi.stamen.com/the-shapes-of-emotions-72c3851143e2.

“Contemporary Dance Terms. Definitions.” Contemporary-Dance.org, www.contemporary-dance.org/dance-terms.html.

“Making Dance.” Scenic Design: A History of Change and Innovation | Imagined Spaces, www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/make/toolbox/elements.asp.

Riley, Susan. “Math and Dance | Dance Geometry.” EducationCloset, 13 Mar. 2017, educationcloset.com/2012/11/15/the-geometry-of-dance/.

Voerman, Peter. “Symmetry & Asymmetry.” Dancing Capital, www.dancingcapital.com/index.php/space-as-an-element-of-dance/80-space-symm-asymm.

sameerkDesma9_event3

Event 3

The event I chose to write about is the Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER). The night had a theme connected to the psychological state that is synesthesia. This state is the neurological condition in which unrelated senses are automatically and involuntarily activated due to the experience of another sense ("Synesthesia"). Appelusa, the artist who experiences synesthesia, has worked on making this condition more popular to the public eye by creating art exhibitions and performances. She shared some examples as to what types of synesthesia she experiences, such as seeing Thursday as a beige color, the week going by in a cyclic pattern while the year goes by in a linear pattern, and seeing colors around people. I was particularly interested in the last example I mentioned and found that some synesthetes visualize "auras" around people and that this ability is no advantage as researchers believe the auras observed are just what the synesthetes expect to see ("Synesthesia Could Explain How Some People See 'Auras'"). I wondered what kind of scientific research has been done on this topic as to why synesthetes experience the world differently and came across the theory made by neuroscientist David Eagleman about how some brains have "cross-activation" between neurons (Costandi). This reminded me of the lecture videos on the topic of "Neuroscience + Art." The idea of Brainbows came to mind as scientists used the art form of fluorescent proteins to distinguish between neighboring neurons. I believe a method of research could be executed through the wiring of neurons tracked using this method of investigation to observe the path the neurons take when processing information. 

Another artist who spoke during the LASER event was Daniel Krasofski, a scent artist, who works with synesthesia related smells. He mentioned that he experiences synesthesia as he associates colors with scents and that ever since he was a child, certain smells would recall past experiences. This notion of certain scents that remind oneself of a past memory is something I've experienced and remember reading about as a common phenomenon. From doing some research, I found that the part of the nose that processes scents are connected to two parts of the brain, the amygdala, and hippocampus, which are where emotions and memories are stored, respectively (Lewis). One example of how Krasofski mentioned about how he used this type of connection was in creating a smell similar to a bloody metal knife as a representation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. However, the most interesting part of his talk was when he discussed the use of electroencephalography tests on patients. This device is used to monitor electrical activity in the brain (“EEG (Electroencephalogram)”). Krasofski said the patients would smell certain scents and the electroencephalography machine would give results of brainwaves for doctors to read the brains reaction to the smells. This type of technology, combined with the art of perfumery, is a clear example of how neuroscience and art are connected.

I would recommend this event to my other classmates as this type of work is directly related to science and art with collaboration between both parties to create amazing discoveries and research about the human brain. I believe the work done by both Appelusa and Krasofski serve as models of the Victoria Vesna's "third culture" in the field of art and neuroscience.

Krasofski talking about the different scents of flowers around the world

Krasofski showing results of brainwaves from electroencephalography scans

Selfie with Daniel Krasofski

Citation:

Costandi, Mo. “Synaesthesia - Crossovers in the Senses.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Nov. 2010, www.theguardian.com/science/2010/nov/19/synaesthesia-cross-overs-senses.

“EEG (Electroencephalogram).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16 May 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/eeg/about/pac-20393875.

Lewis, Jordan Gaines. “Smells Ring Bells: How Smell Triggers Memories and Emotions.”Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 12 Jan. 2015, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-babble/201501/smells-ring-bells-how-smell-triggers-memories-and-emotions.

“Synesthesia Could Explain How Some People See 'Auras'.” PsyBlog, 23 Oct. 2013, www.spring.org.uk/2013/10/synesthesia-could-explain-how-some-people-see-auras.php.

“Synesthesia.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/synesthesia.

SameerKDESMA9

Week 9: Space + Art

The topic of space has always been an area of interest to me. Being an engineering major, I've had several professors reference the concepts being taught in class to the work of NASA scientists in their Apollo projects. These references kept the science and math classes I've taken more intriguing. I knew the contributions of space in the art such as that in the world of cinema, but I have never thought about how art affects space. After going over this week's material, I found that space is also dependent on art.

NASA: Apollo (space projects)

When I first saw the topic was on space and art, my mind immediately flew to movies such as Star Wars, Avengers, Interstellar, and Apollo 13. Portraying space in movies and television exemplifies how space connects with art in cinema. I wondered how the movies depicted what space is like. After doing some research, I found that the actors and directors would collaborate with scientists in order to understand the physics of life in space (Agrawal). This is shown when the filmmakers of the movie "The Space Between Us" worked with NASA's Mars expert, G. Scott Hubbard, to accurately portray the physical effects of the return to Earth of a boy who is born on Mars (Weitering). 

Star Wars: a scene in space

Although humans have only explored a relatively small portion of space, the digital art produced from the technology that scientists use give incredible visuals of planets, stars, moons, etc. NASA sends out orbiters, which are parts of space probes that orbit different bodies in space, into space specifically to take pictures and gather visual data (Wood). I wondered how scientists got pictures of the Milky Way galaxy since it's so vast. However, I came across an article that stated: "every top-down image of the Milky Way you have seen is an artist's rendering" (Veronese). The importance of these visuals is shown as The Mission magazine said, "Space art communicates the value of exploration" (Walls). From this quote, it can be noted that without the visual art of space, people would be less interested in this field. So the dependence that space has on art is seen as motivation to scientists to keep exploring and discovering space.

Milky Way Galaxy

Citations:

Agrawal Aug, Alka, et al. “Making Movies: Scientists as Filmmakers.” Science | AAAS, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 11 Dec. 2017, www.sciencemag.org/careers/2001/08/making-movies-scientists-filmmakers.

Loff, Sarah. “The Apollo Missions.” NASA, NASA, 16 Mar. 2015, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html.

Tracey, Janey. “The Physics of Space Battles: Star Wars Would Be Better Off With Muskets Than Lasers.” Outer Places, 12 Feb. 2015, www.outerplaces.com/science/item/6142-the-physics-of-space-battles-star-wars-would-be-better-off-with-muskets-than-lasers.

Veronese, Keith. “How to Take Pictures of the Milky Way without Leaving the Galaxy.” io9, io9.Gizmodo.com, 16 Dec. 2015, io9.gizmodo.com/5956960/how-to-take-pictures-of-the-milky-way-without-leaving-the-galaxy.

Walls, Andrew James. “How Space Art Will Get Us to Mars – The Mission – Medium.”Medium, Augmenting Humanity, 13 June 2017, medium.com/the-mission/how-space-art-will-get-us-to-mars-5b788395297d.

Weitering, Hanneke. “'The Space Between Us': The Science Behind the Science Fiction.”Space.com, Space.com, 9 Feb. 2017, www.space.com/35647-the-space-between-us-spaceflight-science.html.

Williams, Matt. “10 Interesting Facts About the Milky Way.” Universe Today, Universe Today, 19 Sept. 2017, www.universetoday.com/22285/facts-about-the-milky-way/.

Wood, David. “Technology Used to Explore Space.” Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/technologies-used-to-explore-space.html.