Grace_Collins DESMA9

Moment of Reflection Installation For Event #1 I attended Refik Anadol, a multimedia installation held in UCLA’s sculpture garden. Upon arriving, a few of my classmates, from my architecture class, and I went to a pre-show reception for the installation and learned a little bit more about the artist and the story behind the installation. Having a keen interest in artificial intelligence, this exhibit served as a way to intertwine with the healing properties of art for the mind. It was a reflection on the pandemic and allowed for a collective hope for the future. Before the ceremony, the Chancellor of UCLA made a comment between art and the human body, specifically the ability for us as humans to be able to connect with ourselves and the people around us in a deeper way using art.  Before the event started, upon checking in, attendees were handed a small blue bag and were instructed not to open until further instructed. During the event we were able to open this bag, and a small whi...

Medicine, Technology, Art: Cannibalism In terms of the body, art, and medicine, there is actually a very interesting medium exhibit on cannibalism in San Diego. The exhibit explains myths and general information on cannibalistic practices. It divides it into three parts, cultural cannibalism, medical cannibalism, and cannibalism as a means of survival. As mentioned in the Casini article, MRI’s have artistic representation comparable to a portrait (Casini 2012, 73). This takes the human body and translates it into a 2d scan photograph. Similarly, this San Diego exhibit takes the human body, but does so in a way that allows for body parts & organs to be exposed, as shown below. As I mentioned, the exhibit shows a few different types of cannibalism. Sometimes this is the case for situations like boat or plane crashes as a means of survival. However, medical cannibalism is also in the exhibit, which offers an interesting take. The Smithsonian Magazine mentions ancient peoples, “ingeste...

Robotics + Art: Mass Production The idea of Mechanization is a particularly interesting one. Arguably, mechanization was the bridge between speed of production and output. As mentioned by Professor Vesna, in the lecture, the Chinese first invented the printing press. A couple hundred years later, Gutenberg utilizes the printing press to then create one with movable metal parts as a replacement for wood (Roemer 2015, 83), as shown in the first photo.  The rapid production of books then translated to other material goods, like art. For example, the famous Andy Warhol soup cans pictured above. Today we see his art reproduced not only as prints, but now onto t-shirts, bags, etc. This allows us to think of the word ‘aura’ as it appears in not only Benjamin’s reading, but also in a journal by Ginia Sweeney. In this she challenges Benjamin’s thoughts. While Benjamin argues meaning is lost as only the original can tell the true story, Sweeney brings up a new idea.  In today’s art ...

  Just as artists like Dürer and other early artists used mathematical theory in relation to art, which was shown in lecture, many artists have used math to experiment with new artistic forms in today’s time. Throughout Dürer’s exploration, he examined human proportions in terms of math, as shown below. Photograph cited below. I do not own the rights to this photo and no not intend to claim as so. However, paper folding has become an increasingly popular examination of this juxtaposition. In fact a professor at MIT, Erik Demaine, investigates math and art using paper folding to create curved crease folds. Photograph cited below. I do not own the rights to this photo and no not intend to claim as so. Famously known in the world of origami and paper folds is work done by Noguchi. He transforms the world of math and art, creating folded lamps, which have been reproduced over and over again today. People like Demaine can look to Noguchi’s world for inspiration on new shapes and forms f...