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Event 4

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The event I attended was LASER: De-colonizing AI. I was particularly interested in Mashinka Hokapian's presentation. Hakopian is a writer, artist, and researcher. She is an Associate Director of Research for the Future of Democracy program at the Berggruen Institute. She is currently working on a book project that considers the role of ancestral intelligence and diasporic worldmaking in emerging technologies.  Hakapian started off the presentation by asking the questions: Why is it that genetic art announces itself as the future, when it is rooted in the past? How do longstanding structures of power and western systems of aesthetic value haunt algorithmically-enabled art that purports to be emphatically new? She explained that AI is algorithmically trained to create artwork. It takes images from 80,000 of the greatest artworks, the majority being Renaissance paintings. This means AI systems are programmed on thousands of paintings made by Western European and American artists over ...
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Event 3

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The event I attended for this blog was THINKING ATOMS. It was a  conversation between physicist Franz J. Gießibl and nanoscientist James K. Gimzewski.  New discoveries in the science world will always be met with skepticism and stubbornness, especially when that new discovery goes completely against a commonly shared belief system. The atom and the invention of the microscope was no exception. Gießibl and   Gimzewski  spoke about how at the time, the microscope was not really accepted by the public.  Gimzeswki said he was laughed at and  told it was nonsense. But he said, "like any other black swan event it became accepted."  Nanoscientist James K. Gimzewski from THINKING ATOMS Gimzewski understood why others called it nonsense. All of a sudden they had the ability to see all these atoms that were previously nonexistent. Even he started to question if the atoms were really there.  Gimzewski  started looking into it deeper and s...
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Space + Art

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When I saw that the topic of this week's lectures was space and art, my first thought was that artists got their inspiration from space. Meaning, the artists stayed on earth and created artwork from looking at the stars and the planets. I was intrigued to learn that the some of the astronauts being launched into space would bring the artwork with them on their space expeditions.  I now know that these are just two versions of astronautical art and there are several more broad categories.  Cosmic Dancer Arthur R. Woods in an astroartist. He introduced many art-in-space projects including two that were realized in outer space. One of them was called the Cosmic Dancer, a geometric art piece created by welding aluminum tubes together. It had dimensions of 35 x 35 x 40 centimeters and weighed exactly one kilogram. It was the first three dimensional artwork specifically designed and realized for space habitat. The objective of the artwork was to explore how sculpture behaves in a we...
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Nanotechnology + Art

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nanotechnology is  the manipulation of matter on a near-atomic scale to produce new structures, materials and devices. The technology promises scientific advancement in many sectors such as medicine, consumer products, energy, materials and manufacturing. It refers to engineered structures, devices, and systems.  Nanotechnology In the TED Talk "Paul Rothemund details DNA folding," scientist Paul Rothemund talks about the field of DNA nanotechnology, specifically the process of folding DNA into complex structures. Rothemund explains that DNA can also be utilized as a construction material at the nanoscale. To show this, Rothemund introduces DNA origami, a method he developed that involves folding a long singular strand of DNA into specific shapes using shorter "staple" strands. This technique creates a variety of nanostructures, such as squares, triangles, and even more complex designs. Short, synthetic DNA...
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Event 2

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For this second assignment I attended the 2023 UCLA DMA MFA TOWN HALL Final Exhibition at the New Wight Gallery. The event defined hosting a TOWN HALL as a "gathering of thoughts, feelings, and uncertainties that each of us holds dear behind our screen presence" and "where we could exchange our divergent voices about our collective personal struggles." The artwork I was particularly interested in displayed exactly that.  "una máquina que sólo puede girar" created by Ariel Uzal Ariel Uzal called his artwork "una máquina que sólo puede girar" which translates into "a machine that can only turn." I found the title of his artwork somewhat ironic because his artwork did not actually rotate in any sense. The movement of his kinetic art creating a tilting motion. As you can see from the photos, he used scrap lumber, construction hardware, steel, and a lamp to create his machine. It was generated by an electric motor. What you cannot see from t...
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Neuroscience + Art

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Neuroscience Neuroscience is defined as  a science that studies the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. This area of research is multidisciplinary, combining knowledge from various fields such as physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, psychology, physics, computer science, chemistry, medicine, statistics, and mathematical modeling. The objective is to understand the properties and functions of physical components of the brain that enable it to process information and regulate bodily functions. Key areas of investigation include the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness, which have been described as a significant challenge in the biological sciences. Carl Jung In "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man" by Carl Jung, he explores the spiritual crisis facing modern humanity. Jung argues that modern society has lost touch with its spiritual roots and is suffering f...
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Biotech + Art

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As art continues to expand into our bodies and our environment, artists have worked in laboratories to work directly with biologists, nanotechnologists, geneticists, and neuroscientists to go into the cellular tissue level. There is a gray area when defining the term BioArt. Some artists feel that you have to be working with the tissue to define it as BioArt, while other artists feel just collaborating with scientists and using scientific imaging would be BioArt. Regardless, it is a controversial topic, especially when it comes to the ethical concerns of artists tinkering with the genetic structures of natural systems (Vesna).  MicroCT Image of a Juvenile Squirrel Monkey Suzanne Anker is a visual artist and theorist. C onsidered a pioneer, s he has been working on BioArt for over twenty-five years . She has investigated the ways in which nature is manipulated in the 21st century. She delves into genetics, climate change, species extinction and toxic degradation. Some thin...
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