Week 2 - Math + Art

In looking through this week's materials, it is clear how pervasive mathematics are in all fields both within the art world and outside of it.  Our perception and ideal aesthetic value has foundations in proportions and measurements.  Through the discovery of perspective and dimension it is clear how dependent art and its reception is based on mathematical calculation.  Math is also critical in architecture and design and has been since the earliest societies.

One of the most interesting people we looked at in this week's lecture was M.C. Escher who was originally a mathematician and through his pursuit of math discovered his passion for art.  His designs in three dimensions and dimensional design are captivating to me.  His ability to shift perspective in his work actually uses our own understanding and analysis of space and shape to trick our brains into false interpretation.  I especially enjoy his pieces which are seemingly endless cycles with no beginning or end but forces optical illusions in the viewer.

The other way I can see the importance of math in art is the dependence on logarithms and equations in modern programming and computing.  The world of art in the modern age is centered around the digital age in both production as well as experiencing art.  Without mathematics we would not have any of our modern technology that has created the mediums that are seen today.  We live in an age where artists has access to anything they could want to create either physically or digitally.  Our culture in the digital age experiences so much through technology and would not have this ability without the breakthroughs we have made in the fields of math and science.

We talked in lecture about Le Corbusier as well which further connected math and architecture.  His impact on architecture can also be seen in other prolific geometric architects like Frank Lloyd Wright whom I've always admired.  We can see in his work the melding of the organic with the geometric and further understand how math plays into how we perceive art and design as pleasing.

Works Cited

Freiberger, Marianne. "Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art and Music." Plus Magazine. N.p., 11 Aug. 2006. Web. June 2015. <https://plus.maths.org/content/bridges-mathematical-connections-art-and-music>.

Malkevitch, Joseph. "Feature Column from the AMS." American Mathematical Society. American Mathematical Society, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-art1>.

"Math and Art: The Good, the Bad, and the Pretty." Math and Art: The Good, the Bad, and the Pretty. Mathematical Association of America, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.maa.org/meetings/calendar-events/math-and-art-the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty>.

"The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher." The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher. Platonic Realms, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://platonicrealms.com/minitexts/Mathematical-Art-Of-M-C-Escher/>.

Week 1 - Two Cultures

The idea that the sciences and humanities are separate fields goes against many of histories most remarkable individuals.  The ideal was once the renaissance man, which celebrated those who could be prominent in multiple fields, especially those who could be talented artists as well as excelled in scientific pursuits.  DaVinci and Galileo are universally recognized names but today we see a very different ideal, especially in America.

I am a fourth-year sociology student and a common theme in my field regarding American society is the need for specialization.  It can be seen across various aspects of our culture and is at the center of our capitalistic ideology.  People are raised with the idea that you go to school, pick a career, and settle down and start a family.  This pervasive process has become known as the American dream and it affects the paths of many individuals from an early age.

I found the Ken Robinson video quite interesting because it shows how this need to categorize has brought with it the death of cross-curriculum in education by teaching students to separate various components of their education.  This issue is also perpetuated by standardized testing which takes away the creative side to educators jobs.  Education and discovery should be catalyzed like a spark to a fire rather than forced or dictated.  By using this methodology students feel like they are being taught at rather than learning with.

Being a part of the public school system my entire life I can also say there are some issues with tracking that can demotivate and deter those from pursuing knowledge.  If the best teachers, resources, and environments are being reserved for those who are tracked higher, we are robbing students of the tools they need to find a thirst for knowledge.  

I think the two cultures are a result of an overly bureaucratic education system which isolates subjects into categories as well as forces students down a single path.  Specialization works well in factories but our society isn't supposed to run like that.  We are a large organic, interconnected group which doesn't fit into square holes.

Works Cited

Jemison, Mae. "Mae Jemison: The Arts and Sciences Are Not Separate." 'Presentation Zen' TED Talks, 16 May 2009. Web. June 2015. <http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2009/05/mae-jemison-the-arts-and-sciences-are-not-separate.html>.

McEwan, Ian, and Nima Arkani-Hamed. "What Is the Common Ground between Art and Science? And How Is Beethoven like Darwin?" The Guardian. N.p., 16 Nov. 2013. Web. June 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2F2013%2Fnov%2F17%2Fart-science-ian-mcewan-nima-arkani-hamed>.

"Science vs. Art." TheUniversityBlog. N.p., 14 Mar. 2008. Web. June 2015. <http://theuniversityblog.co.uk/2008/03/14/science-vs-art/>.

Strauss, Valerie. "11 Problems Created by the Standardized Testing Obsession." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2014. Web. June 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/22/11-problems-created-by-the-standardized-testing-obsession/>.

Zalan, Kira. "The Problem With Standardized Tests." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 5 July 2013. Web. June 2015. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/07/05/the-problem-with-standardized-tests-in-education>.

Ex. Credit Event 1 - Hammer - Mary Reid Kelley

In my time at UCLA, I have taken four Classics courses and through them I have learned the importance and impact ancient Greek and Roman myths have in modern art and literature.  In watching Mary Reid Kelley's three part piece, it is clear that she is using this classic tradition in a way that not only comments on modern society but also creates a work which references many others in it's telling.  What was surprising to me was her role in the work, playing all the characters separately, and working in conjunction with her husband Patrick, editing all of the pieces together to create a surprisingly complete and seamless work.










  

In modern art it's incredible to me how much effort can go into making a production appear simplified and elementary.  Kelley's style choices made the characters look almost comic-book like.  She uses bold contouring on characters to accentuate features in a way that could be influenced by Lichtenstein.  There are references throughout this piece, she cites Picasso as a main influence in her overly basic and geometric character and set design.  This however is not where this work intersects with the science world.

Mary and Patrick Kelley together created this style through a series of editing and green screen effects which give the impression of cartoonish, almost intentionally tacky style.  By then putting the work entirely in greyscale they make it a sort of hybrid between new age comic strip brought to life and a classic sitcom with the lighting of a noir piece.  The combination of these things was really highlighted with flawless editing and layering of Mary's role as every character.  This to me is a remarkable feat in melding these things together with technological down playing.

I've seen through lecture and my own research on our various topics how reliant new age art is on the tech revolution.  Modern film making and editing is a product of the microprocessor revolution and the exploration into nanotech as a way of producing sensors, computing power, and the technologies that have come about as a result.  The software available to modern film producers and editors today allows for the most artistic freedom and creativity in history.  The fact that these two have used this technology to combine styles is only possible because of these advancements.  To me it is almost an ode to classical works while maintaining progressive messages and clever dialogue.

Works Cited

Boucher, Brian. "Art In America." Mary Reid Kelley. Art in America Magazine, 13 Nov. 2009. Web. June 2015. <http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/mary-reid-kelley/>.

"Mary Reid Kelley | ART21." Mary Reid Kelley | ART21. ART21, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.art21.org/artists/mary-reid-kelley>.

"Mary Reid Kelley." Mary Reid Kelley. N.p., n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.maryreidkelley.com/>.

REES, ALLYSON. "Mary Reid Kelley Reimagines Mythology from a Woman's POV." Los Angeles Confidentials RSS. Los Angeles Confidential Magazine, Sept. 2014. Web. June 2015. <http://la-confidential-magazine.com/living/articles/mary-reid-kelley-reimagines-mythology-from-a-womans-point-of-view>.

Sherwin, Skye. "The Myth of Mary Reid Kelley." W Magazine. N.p., 15 Sept. 2014. Web. June 2015. <http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/art-and-design/2014/09/mary-reid-kelley-artist/photos/>.

Thomson, Allese. "Mary Reid Kelley Discusses Her Latest Exhibition." Artforum.com. N.p., 14 Aug. 2013. Web. June 2015. <http://artforum.com/words/id=42417>.

Event Blog #3 - Fowler - Singular Spaces

Jo Farb Hernandez's collection of photographs from various artists highlights something we have talked about a lot this quarter.  Art is a naturally occurring practice across mediums, cultures, and resources.  We have looked at those in all fields and societies from those with little access to technology to those whose art comes out of state of the art laboratories.  Hernandez's work highlights the organic nature of the creative process in less developed countries.  

What I really got from this series of photographs is that the creative mind will use whatever resources at its disposal to create.  The act of creation is the same across all collective consciousness, whether it be an artist using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope to write UCLA in individual atoms or a rural, illiterate field worker finding thousands of clam shells and using them to create detailed patterns and designs both outside and inside his house.  When we talk about ArtSci we are really describing how creativity latches onto anything available to an artist and this collection of unique and detached folk art sends this message clearly.  

According to Hernandez regarding her work she says many of the creators of these remote pieces don't even consider themselves artists as many have another trade and simply create for creation's sake which is interesting to think about.  Many of the creators of these spectacular monuments do this for no pay in their free time; they simply have an urge to build and design.  This practical art is mixing the organic form with inorganic structures as well as creating structures with organic materials and the concepts are universal.  

The sign which is pictured below encompasses this idea well.  "Art is a poison that forces you to follow it until death" This sentence rings true for so many we have encountered throughout this class.  We have looked at the most extreme cases of art, such as Orlan's radical transformations, in which artists have a need for expression through creation and stop at nothing to spread their messages.  When a creative brain latches onto an idea, creation follows.  

"Art is a poison that forces you to follow it until death"

This series of pictures brings to public viewing a medium of art that without Hernandez's efforts, would be unappreciated by large numbers of people.  This art however is personal in nature and is created for the sake of creating and to see that on display, however unintended, is rewarding.  

Works Cited

"About Seymour Rosen." SPACES Blog RSS. SPACES, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.spacesarchives.org/about/seymour-rosen/>.

"Department of Art and Art History." Jo Farb Hernandez. San Jose State Univeristy, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.sjsu.edu/art/community/faculty/arthistory/jofarbhernandez/>.

"Fowler OutSpoken Lecture: Jo Farb Hernández on Extraordinary Spanish Art Environments." Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fo, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/events/fowler-outspoken-lecture-jo-farb-hern%C3%A1ndez-extraordinary-spanish-art-environments>.

"Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments." Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fowler Museum, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/singular-spaces-eccentric-extraordinary-spanish-art-environments>.

Event Blog #2 - Hammer - This Is the End

Ed Atkins has a reputation for the abstract and obscure to portray his messages.  When I visited the Hammer Museum in Westwood, I had no idea what to expect.  Before viewing Atkins' Even Pricks, I was not familiar with his style or body of work and I initially found the style almost jarring or disorienting, intentionally so.  

After watching the eight minute loop a few times, a theme started to emerge as well as individual messages and commentary on modern lifestyles.  The use of CGI provides Atkins with limitless possibilities and he really took advantage of that.  As you can see in some of the images I both took and found of the piece, he juxtaposes hyper-realistic animation with physics altering effects to create a warped sense of reality and overlaps this with repetition of key phrases, symbols, and actions to give a sense of uncomfortability in existence. 

Through his use of CGI, I can clearly see a major connection between many of the elements we have discussed over the course of this quarter from advanced computing capabilities to his animations of mercurial liquids which play into our discussions of surface tensions on the nano scale.  We also see biological elements at play though his animations centering around mixing natural scenes with the unnatural, especially in his use of the primate narrating parts of his work in nature.  

The messages that really come across to me personally are those of the ambiguous nature of symbols in our society.  His main symbol used throughout the piece is a thumb constantly shifting up and down and even in one scene (pictured below) at the expense of the arm which is twisted and mangled as a result of the spinning thumb.  This could be a way of looking at how arbitrarily value is socially assigned creating a confusing web of accepted or good verses the negative where the line is constantly shifting. 

 

Overall I found this work to be a look at both the individual psyche in the modern age being torn and over stimulated by media and trends as well as a critical look at modern culture as a whole.  Movies sell based sensationalist trailers and masses flock because they are told what is culturally valued.  

Works Cited

"Ed Atkins." Cabinet Gallery. Cabinet, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cabinet.uk.com%2Findex.php%3Fed-atkins>.

"Ed Atkins." Ed Atkins. Serpentine Galleries, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/ed-atkins-0>.

GARTENFELD, ALEX. "Ed Atkins." Interview Magazine. N.p., Oct. 2012. Web. June 2015. <http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/london-ed-atkins/>.

Gavin, Francesca. "Ed Atkins on Bodily Fluids and Death." Dazed. N.p., 6 Jan. 2014. Web. June 2015. <http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/18084/1/ed-atkins>.

"Hammer Projects: This Is the End." The Hammer Museum. N.p., Jan. 2015. Web. June 2015. <http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2015/hammer-projects-this-is-the-end/>.

Event Blog #1 - Fowler - Making Strange

Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram connected a lot of the elements we have studied so far in this class.  I personally found it to be interesting in how he connected these two exhibits in a sort of dialogue between society, image, and modern technology through Gagawaka and connected this to ideas of mortality in Postmortem.  I found Gagawaka both more intriguing on a personal level as well it terms of this class.  By looking at fashion as sculpture he brings industry into art and comments on how important image is in today's society.  Additionally, through the use of discarded industrial and manufactured items he furthers this commentary by combining many different sectors of production into these works. 

 

Through our class we have looked at the role medicine as well as biotech have played in shaping the art world and these themes are looked at in many of Sundaram's peices.  In Postmortem he looks at the relationships of the inanimate with biological human characteristics which plays into how inanimate objects like mannequins have a sort of life of their own in the design and display of these significant fashion pieces.  

Gagawaka focuses more on the pieces themselves and relates this to other ideas about the medical community and the influence of pharmaceuticals on individuals lives.  We can see this in his recycled clear plastic jumpsuit adorned with various pills and to me this represents the idea that many people are medicated to the point that their personality is not only shaped by but also dependent on these pills. There is a similar message in his Silverfoil Suit yet all the pill casings are empty and simply discarded shells which brings about a different message overall feel to the design.  

Works Cited

"Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram | Fowler Museum at UCLA." Fowler at UCLA. UCLA Fowler, n.d. Web. 06 June 2015. <http://fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/making-strange-gagawaka-postmortem-vivan-sundaram#>.

Phillips, Kristy. "Vivan Sundaram’s Re-take of ‘Amrita’." The Newsletter (n.d.): n. pag. International Institute for Asian Studies, Autumn 2002. Web. June 2015. <http://www.iias.nl/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL29_41.pdf>.

"The Skoda Prize 2012." The Skoda Prize 2012. N.p., n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.theskodaprize.com/2012/jury.php?id=1>.

"Vivan Sundaram." Contemporary Indian Art. Contemporary Indian Art, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.contemporaryindianart.com/vivan_sundaram.htm>.

Week 8 - NanoTech and Art

In looking at this weeks information I came in with little to no prior knowledge about how far scientists had progressed in nanotech or how pervasive it is in our everyday lives.  After looking through the weeks materials I started researching other everyday products that utilize nanotech and I was amazed at how this field went from a place of exploration and discovery 20-30 years ago to a huge part of our modern technical capabilities.  In my own research, it is clear that many of our advancements are built on nanotech and our current lifestyles are only as easy as they are as a result of what nanotech has brought with it.

We are now able to fit billions of microprocessors in chips only centimeters across using nano production and materials.  We also use nanotech in Lithium batteries in devices from cell phones to electric cars moving towards the future of communication and transportation.  With how integrated nanotechnologies are in today's technology, we can see them across art forms.

Nanotech has changed digital imaging and changed the way we take pictures and capture videos through new sensors which produce better quality then ever possible before at a fraction of the size.  Even on the other end of things, many printers and inkjets use nano particles to produce more accurate and faster drying images.

In the future, some believe that similarly to the silicon processor revolution that has been happening for the better part of 20 years and continues to this day, there will be another nanotech driven revolution in the form of solar technology.  It's possible that in the future we could see similar decreases in size and cost with increased capabilities to help solve the current energy questions circulating today.

Works Cited

"The 9 Best Nanotechnology-Powered Products." Discover Magazine. Discover Magizine, 29 June 2010. Web. June 2015. <http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/zen-photo/n/nanotech-products>.

Hofmann, Rita. Nanoparticles: The Basis of Ink-jet Materials. Nano Convention 2007, 2007. Web. June 2015. <http://www.empa.ch/bilder/NanoConvention-07/pdf/Nanoconvention07_Hofmann.pdf>.

"Improving Nanotechnology In Digital Cameras." Technology News. Red Orbit, 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 06 June 2015. <http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1617203/improving_nanotechnology_in_digital_cameras/>.

"The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies." USA. Consumer Products Inventory, 2015. Web. June 2015. <http://www.nanotechproject.org/cpi/browse/countries/usa/>.

Rowlatt, Justin. "Silicon: After the Chip, Another Revolution? - BBC News." BBC News. BBC, 2 Aug. 2014. Web. 06 June 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28600802>.

Week 9 - Art + Space

In looking through this week's materials the most interesting thing to me and the subject that helped me grasp the connection between space and art was the affect of the space race on artistic forms such as writing, film, and television.  We have talked before about how science fiction has actually helped technological advancement but the space era really created a widespread obsession of space and discovery by a large portion of American's.

The obsession is however a product of a relationship between science and culture which is a theme we have seen throughout this quarter and a main idea behind this course.  We looked in lecture at The Jetsons and Lost in Space and this helped me connect the space age and the space race to the cultural focus on space in art forms that continues to this day.  Out of the top 10 grossing top grossing films of all time, five focus on space or include it in their plots.  Space as a topic of art is too far reaching to even document; there are so many books, shows, comics, museums, movies, and other mediums in which space has played a major role.  What is fascinating about this pervasive view of space and culture is how the space race in the 1960's catalyzed this phenomenon and brought national fascination in the sky's above.

I attribute much of the modern space culture with the cold war and tech race that led to putting Neil Armstrong on the moon and solidified the idea that space was in fact a setting for any art form.  Since the birth of film Stanley Kubrick's 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey was the first hugely successful film centered around space after nearly a decade of worldwide news and media attention on the sky.

Since that movie however there has been more than 15 top movies that are part of the top grossing films of their decade.  It is just amazing to me the from 1915 to 1968 that there was little or no inclusion of space in film and since it has exploded into a widely popular topic and a staple in many genres.

Works Cited

"All-Time Top Box-Office Films By Decade and Year." All-Time Top Box-Office Films By Decade and Year. Film Site, n.d. Web. June 2015. <http://www.filmsite.org/boxoffice2.html>.

Dunbar, Brian. "Societal Impact of the Space Age." NASA. NASA, 07 Nov. 2005. Web. June 2015. <http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_09.html>.

Kennedy, Randy. "When the Space Age Blasted Off, Pop Culture Followed." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Sept. 2007. Web. June 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/science/space/25pop.html?_r=1&>.

Schwartz, David. "Space Race Permeated Pop Culture." NPR. NPR, 30 Sept. 2007. Web. June 20. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D14845436>.