The human body is a beautiful thing. Naturally created, its wonders and inner workings are not only beautiful by design, but are so complex, that we are still learning about it to this day. It is no surprise then that our own human bodies and even images of our bodies can be performative works of art. Artist Orlan has dedicated her life to art. But art in a way that she uses her body and what she does to her body as the main performance. She lets her body be a spectacle for others to stare, gawk, and make comments as she undergoes plastic surgery (Orlan). Even medical technological scans such as the MRI, is not strictly medical. Casini argues that MRI images contain the same artistic quality as portraits. They are both images of an individual and tell a story about that individual, although the MRI relies more on the comments and dialogue concerning the image. Our bodies themselves can be performative works of art.
Orlan and her work
This week's material instantly reminded me of a book I read recently, The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. Written in 1896 and also adapted to film, the novel tells the story of a crazed scientist, Dr. Moreau, whose life work is to take animals and perform surgeries to make them human. He believes that the human form is the ultimate form, and that what he does to these animals is improvement not only for genetics but for aesthetics. Medical technology, in this case, vivisection, is a subject of artistic interest, incorporated into modern literature.
Cover Art for The Island of Doctor Moreau
Tensegrity
Now more than 100 years after this novel's publication, medical technology has come a long way, and the art surrounding medical technology has changed as well. Even the Hippocratic Oath, the fundamental document to medicine in the past and today is changing in practice. Our society and our medical practices have changed so much that even the most sacred document to medicine has changed. Ingber's work on tensegrity and its materialization in modern architecture is based on natural structures such as cell cytoskeletons. This field of art is only possible due to our recent knowledge of cell structure. Casini's work on MRI as art is only possible with new modern technology. As our medical technology continues to change, I am excited to see how art will change with it.
Sources:
Orlan-Carnal Art (2001) Documentary. YouTube. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=29&v=no_66MGu0Oo>.
Casini, Silvia. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts. The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Society for Literature and Science. 2011, 19:73-99.
Ingber, Donald E., The Architecture of Life. Scientific American, p 48-57. January 1998.
Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html>.
Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. Waiheke Island: Floating, 2008. Print.
Robots have always held an interesting place in our society. On the one hand, we recognize their value in industrialization and our industrial world today. When they replace human manual labor, they produce objects with great accuracy and require much less than a human worker: food, water, sleep, time off, etc. And while this may seem like a wonderful thing, it begs the question, "will machines replace the usefulness of humanity?" (Humans Need Not Apply).
In this way, robots also hold a threatening position in our society. We depict them in movies sometimes to be terrifying beings, beings that threaten our society and way of life. Take for example the movie "The Rise of the Machines", part of The Terminator series. Here, these robots are depicted as scary entities, they are not friendly nor warm in appearance, and they are something to be battled, to be fought in the movie.
The Rise of the Machines
Another way in which machine and automation are threatening our society, is in the way that it supposedly is threatening our art. Walter Benjamin argues that what makes art, art is its "aura", composed of its authenticity, the effect it had when it was published or created at the specific time and place that it was, and how it has progressed as a piece of art through the ages. He argues that mechanical reproduction of art necessarily ruins its aura (Benjamin).
Douglas Davis recognizes that art is easily reproducible in this day and age but argues that this reproducibility is actually enhancing art, making it more accessible, and increasing the frequency at which people view the piece (Davis).
Robots and automation are becoming an even larger part of our society with each passing day and each technical innovation. We live with machines, they build things for us and are an integral part of our economy. Yet we still fear them. We fear that they will take over our jobs. We fear that they will make our art obsolete. But it doesn't have to be us versus them, man versus the machine. Even if machines take over many of our human jobs, I believe that this will only push artistic creativity. If we don't have to spend our time farming, working in factories, building things, then we can focus our energy as a society on more artistic and creative endeavors. Robots do not have to be a threatening force, and what Professor Kusahara says about the Japanese aiming to make robots friendly and welcoming is a wonderful idea (Robotics Machiko Kusahara). I am excited to see how our society can integrate automata and robots and mechanization into our art.
Sources:
"Humans Need Not Apply." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU>.
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Davis, Douglas. The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis 1991-1995). Leonardo, Vol. 28, no. 5, Third Annual New York Digital Salon. (1995), pp. 381-386.
It is interesting to see how math is integral to almost all of our disciplines of life, and most surprisingly art. It is amazing that almost all forms of art, and especially the concept of perception, are reliant upon mathematics. Math, and the Golden Ratio, are so natural to our world and how we view things that are aesthetically pleasing.
The Golden Ratio used by Da Vinci in The Last Supper
The Golden Ratio is a principle important to math and art, in that it has its foundation in mathematics but has been applied to architecture and art. If math is the study of the interactions between numbers, and we can assume that numbers are naturally occurring entities, then we can conclude that math is a natural thing. Then it makes sense that art and architecture using the Golden Ratio is naturally pleasing to they eye, and that therefore the Golden Ratio would be integral to art.
It is no surprise then that instances of the Golden Ratio are commonly found in nature, since it is a natural thing.
Seed heads of flowers display the Golden Ratio
Math then, is consciously applied to art to make it more pleasing, including painting, architecture and even crocheting!
Hyperbolic crocheting
And then there are also forms of art that are completely dependent upon mathematics. Take for example origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. Origami follows strict mathematical rules for paper folding, that without these rules would result in messy, and unaesthetic pieces.
After reviewing this week's material it is clear that math and art go hand in hand. In fact, there would be no art as we know it without mathematics. Math defines what is natural, and so defines what is aesthetically pleasing to our eyes.
Sources: Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. UC Online Program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg Diana Taimina. Discoverer of Hyperbolic Crochet. http://crochetcoralreef.org/contributors/daina_taimina.php Robert J. Lang. Origami. http://www.langorigami.com/art/art.php
Miesner, Gary. Golden Ratio in Art Composition and Design. May 4th, 2014. http://www.goldennumber.net/art-composition-design/ 15 Uncanny Examples of the Golden Ratio in Nature. http://io9.com/5985588/15-uncanny-examples-of-the-golden-ratio-in-nature
As a microbiology major and a comparative literature minor, I am more than familiar with the separation between the arts and sciences. I am most of all familiar with the long walk I have to take from class to class, to get me between my literature courses, and my science courses, and my research laboratory. The fact that north and south campus here at UCLA are divided in almost every single way is no new fact to me, and it has never sat well with me.
We even pit north campus against south campus!
Charles Percy Snow identified the problem very clearly; that the separation of art and science emerged with industrialization and that our education system, our curricula is to blame. RSA Animate's adaptation of Sir Ken Robinson's talk also hits the nail on the head when he says that we are an education system based upon separation. We separate based on age, based on subject, and we have this "production line mentality" that is epitomized by standardized testing.
When did education become about testing?
Production Line Mentality
By separating our students, we place them into these categories, and then we leave them there, stuck. These students go on to college to believe that he or she must pick a single choice: art or science. Robinson resonated with me when he said that we all had this innate ability for divergent thinking, but then lost them due to the way that our education system forces us into these standardized molds, consisting of art or science, but never both.
I have always loved the sciences but have also loved the arts. I have chosen an education here at UCLA that has both elements of research, physical science as well as the humanities, specifically literature. But what I can't help to notice everyday, is that my major and my minor feel incompatible with one another. People tend to ask, "but why?" when I tell them I study both microbiology and literature. Why? Because I love them both! Why should I have to choose between one or the other?
I agree with Robinson that the separation between art and science is a huge problem in our education system, but I do understand that college is designed to prime us for the job market and I find it difficult to find job opportunities that embrace both art and science.
Sources:
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
.jpg)
