EVENT 1 All Day Synopsium: Eco-centric Art & Science: Prophesies and Predictions


To begin, before taking this class, I never thought I would become so interested in the arts and sciences. I always envisioned myself doing something in Law and never took into consideration that perhaps there is more to life than my interests in history and the government. I think this experience not only opened my eyes to something new but also opened doors for future endeavors. I never realized how good it is to put yourself into new situations. Before this class, I don’t think I would have ever ventured to the California NanoSystems Institute. Now I find myself eager to go back and see future presentations.

I was fortunate enough that my practice ended earlier than usual as I found myself in the presence of Professor Taylor and all he had to offer. First off, what a concept! Professor Taylor showed us the viewpoint of birds through his virtual reality experience. As he started to talk about this topic, I didn’t see the true value and what this experience would have to offer.

Virtual Experience through the view of a bird!
That feeling didn’t last too long as he talked about his intentions and goals behind his topic, that is when it hit home for me! What a motivated human being! He believes that although we cannot fully understand how birds feel about the environment, we may be able to get some insight into the perplexity over our changing environment through this bird’s eye view (virtual experience).

Through this reality, global warming and the problems of our environment are now able to be seen firsthand as well as how it affects our birds and wildlife. This project cannot be seen as purely scientific or artistic but rather a meshing of both as it is “bridging and synthesizing many worlds,” (Vesna 2001). Therefore, this scientific concept is also perceived as an artistic creation. Professor Taylor is not only a scientist but an artist!

Further, “the work of artists working with technology demands interaction with scholars from a wide variety of disciplines such as computer science, social studies, philosophy, and cultural studies.” (Vesna 2001)

This will make people emotionally attached rather than stay unattached and indifferent towards this important issue!!
This can be seen in all the people helping Professor Taylor make this a reality. He believes people will become more attuned with the harm created by ourselves and the environment through his virtual reality. That is a concept I agree with! Artists share their ideas and designs while the scientists make them a reality! This will hopefully foster change and show the need to address global warming and the problems of our environment. I like addressing the issue of the environment and global warming. Perhaps, I will delve further into this issue through my midterm project! See!! This experience is already dictating my future endeavors! Curse you Desma9! 😉

Picture with Professor Taylor

Source:
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2: Math + Art

Image
        I think it would be foolish to limit ourselves and not see the opportunities math has in art or art has in math. Nothing is thought of as being strictly “artistic” or “scientific” or “mathematical” anymore.       This can be seen with the beloved pastime Origami. It may have started off as being simply viewed as a cultural appreciation. However, looking deeper, the math behind all the folds and making the shapes shows how multi-dimensional origami truly is. When explored, this existence of math and art expresses and creates something beautiful. The presence of math and art can be seen all over nature. As soon as someone looks out his or her window or when he or she walks out the front door. It is all around us and makes us what we are. Nature shows the coexistence of the  arts/sciences/math in the waves of our oceans to the trees of  our forests and all the way to the highest peaks of our mountains.        Further, Marc Frantz, shows the unity of math and art
Read more

Week Eight: NanoTech & Art

Image
         As society becomes more and more advanced, there has been a stronger desire to understand the material world. This aspiration to comprehend the material world has led artists and scientists from all around the world together in hopes of making discoveries. Bone Speaker          NanoTech and Art incorporates so many different branches of their respective cultures which allow these scientists and artists to make rather remarkable inventions and objects. For example, looking at the John Curtin Gallery, I came across Artist Boo Chapple. He is building bone speakers at the nano-scale. Building these speakers at the nano-scale out of bones allows him as an artist to investigate the way our senses work. He is trying to see the best and most efficient way to hear on the speakers so the human experience is sublime.          Further, another look from the John Curtin Gallery, Paul Thomas & Kevin Raxworthym, through their invention “Nano-essence” have created an interacti
Read more

Week Six: BioTechnology & Art

Image
          To understand ideas on a deeper level, scientists and artists combine in many projects. Whether it be animal experimentation or something as simple as food recipes, this combination can be seen in all of the projects involving Biotechnology and Art. Looking at the week 6 reading, I learned about the importance of both biotechnology and art when looking at their joint works involving animals, food, our body, and more. It showed me how our society relies on technology and experiments more and more every day. This can be seen, as Professor Vesna noted, with all the GMOs in our food. This application of art and biotechnology, GMOs, diversifies our species and truly is changing the world, (Week 6 Biotech Intro Video).  I found Gary Wenk’s article This is Your Brain on Food very interesting. He talked about all the chemicals in food and how they can alter how your neurons function and how you think/feel. I also found it interesting the scenario he explained about a spaceman g
Read more