event one blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

From the 1st gallery showing of "Cosmological Events," I learned a great deal about our relationship and positionality within space and how we can represent our connection through art. 

One of the main themes I took away from the artworks in the gallery was the sense of triviality and futility of life. In the grand scheme of the universe, we, as human beings, are but specs of space dust formed millions and millions of years ago. Galaxy Orchestra by Output and Our Celestial Bodies by Daniela Brill Estrada both remind the audience of their composition and origin from the cosmos in conjunction with our microscopic position within the vast emptiness.

Our Celestial Bodies by Daniella Estrada. Photo retrieved from https://cosmoselements.art/Artists.

Galaxy Orchestra by Output. Screenshot taken by author on 21 April 2023.

One distinctive trait between cosmological art and other art forms, such as the linear perspective art in Week 2's content, is how much of the human mind and metaphors we must rely on to produce a representation. Because the universe is so vast and the details within are unperceivable to the naked eye, our illustrations of space our dependent on our conceptions of it - not of our physical perceptions of it. We must imagine that which we cannot see. 

This intense use of imagination is seen in cosmological art and abstract art capturing dimensionality. Just as the author of "Flatlands: A Romance of Many Dimensions" wrote about our limitations when it comes to perceiving other dimensions (Abbot). Our perception of space is limited by the technology available to us - thus we can only attempt to recreate space and dimensionality through artworks and the imaginary - unlike the way we can recreate reality through rational perspective (Vesna 00:19:41 - 00:19:52).

For non-astrophotography artworks, like Morning Star by Anna Hoetjes and Biogram Blueprints by Eli Joteva, it is clear that we treat the universe as a mysterious, undiscovered expanse. These works showcase how we use our material world and experiences to illustrate the unknown, as Hoetjes' work draws striking similarities to the jellyfish in the deepest parts of the earth's ocean, and Joteva's work uses terrestrial plants and technology to illustrate the complexity of space and creation.

Morning Star by Anna Hoetjes. Screenshot taken by author on 21 April 2023.

Biogram Blueprints by Eli Joteva. Retrieved from https://cosmoselements.art/Artists.

Overall, the 1st presentation of Cosmological Events was very insightful on the relationship between cosmos and art and helped me develop a greater appreciation for the space I occupy in the universe.

Screenshot of registration/attendance, taken by author.

Works Cited

Abbot, Edwin. "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions." 1884.  

Estrada, Daniella. Our Celestial Bodies. Cosmos Elements. https://cosmoselements.art/Artists.

Accessed 24 April 2021.

Hoetjes, Anna. Morning Star. Cosmological Elements #1 Online Gallery Showing. Retrieved on 21

April 2021.

Joteva, Eli. Biogram Blueprints. Cosmos Elements. https://cosmoselements.art/Artists. Accessed 24

April 2021.

Output. Galaxy Orchestra. Cosmological Elements #1 Online Gallery Showing. Retrieved on 21 April

2021.

Vesna, Victoria."Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov" YouTube, YouTube, 9 April 

2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch 

v=mMmq5B1LKDg&t=923s&ab_channel=UCOnlineMathematicspt1-

ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov

week four blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

 

Regarding this week's content on medicine and art, I have had no real experience with medical technologies like MRI or CT scans - for a long period of my life I didn't even have medical insurance so there was no access nor need. However, the works of Eduardo Kac and Ken Warwick were most helpful in helping me understand the relationship between art and medicine.

Photo of Kevin Warwick holding his RFID chip implant (left) and photo of Eduardo Kac (right). Left retrieved from NY Times | Chip Technology Implant. Right retrieved from Kac | Biographical Note.

Kac and Warwick both implanted microchips within their bodies but utilized them for different purposes. Kac used the microchip, alongside other uses, as a time capsule, within it containing family mementos (Kac), while Warwick's chip had material utility to it, as it was linked to access doors and switch lights within his lab, and even later for sending morse code messages to his partner (Vesna 00:06:30 - 00:06:40). On the one hand, Kac utilizes new medical technologies to capture and store his past as photographs, and on the other, Warwick uses similar medical tools to enhance the capabilities of the human body. 

The implications for these microchips in the future are interesting, and perhaps scary. Many science fiction authors and storytellers have displayed how cybernetic implants could alter the way humans interact with each other and the environment around each other. The Cyberpunk universe is a good example of this, as many individuals have the capacity to enhance their human attributes like strength, speed, intelligence, and even knowledge of dancing. Of course, these are fictional works, but the rapid acceleration of medical technologies in the contemporary age could usher in additional avenues for human strife.

Today, one could recognize how the normalization of cosmetic medical operations like plastic surgery can cause further stresses on groups of people by increasing competition. The artist Orlan, who used her face as a canvas to reproduce the most beautiful and revered features of women in history (Vesna 00:07:00 - 00:08:00) demonstrates how we can alter the standard of human art and beauty through medical technologies. Although Orlan's intention wasn't to just capture to the admired features of these women, the notion of improving one's facial features is still conveyed through her work. Thus, from plastic surgery to microchips/implants, medical technology in relation to art is pushing human competition for resources like education, work, and even interpersonal affection/love, which could spell disaster for future generations.

Photo of Orlan before her broadcasted operation. Photograph by Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock.

Works Cited

Kac, Eduardo. Time Capsule. 1997. Beep/Data Logic, Reus. https://www.ekac.org/timcap.html.

Accessed 24 April 2023.

King-Holmes, James/Science Photo Library. 2019. Kevin Warwick holding a chip implant. Getty

Images. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/opinion/chip-technology-implant.html. Accessed 24

April 2023.

Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock. 2016. Photo of Orlan before the cosmetic surgery.

Shutterstock. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/15/orlan-i-walked-a-long-way-for

women. Accessed 24 April 2023.

Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body & Medical Technologies part 3". DESMA9 Bruinlearn Course

Website. https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view

module_item_id=5946331. Accessed 24 April 2023.

Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body & Medical Technologies part 4". DESMA9 Bruinlearn Course

Website. https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view

module_item_id=5946331 Accessed 24 April 2023.

week three blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

Portrait of Walter Benjamin. Photo by Ullstein Bild / Getty.

Walter Benjamin's essay on the mechanization of art analyzes how the innovations or techniques of film and photography - of industrialization - affects society's perspective and appreciation for art. Broadly, he mentions how the mass mechanization of art will decay our perspectives on original/authentic art and how mechanized art forms function to replace any contemplation or reflection on the artwork. He was wrong on the former point, as Douglas Davis writes in his follow-up essay on the digitization of art, "We still bid wildly at auctions and employ armies of scholars to find the "original," the "authentic" masterpiece" (384). This will continue to be true for as long as time persists, and Benjamin was wrong to assume that the reproduction of artwork, in any form, would diminish the social reverence we have for authenticity.

Benjamin's point on the contemplation of art feels reminiscent of today's mass digitization and dissemination of content (what could be considered "art"), in that television and social media have effectively sedated our ability to critically think. The 24-hour news cycle and apps like TikTok are good examples of this phenomenon. Furthermore, Davis references another art theorist's (Frederick Jameson) comparison between video and traditional art, who claims that video is incapable of fostering communication (381).  These ideas are heavily interwoven with each other, but fall short of the reality of how society and people consume art. 

Letterboxd is a popular social networking platform for those that wish to discuss film and share their opinions. Image retrieved from Letterboxd | About brand.

Early 20th century camera. Retrieved from Collectors Weekly.

Film and photography, and by extension any mode for the production of art, can all foster insightful communication between people. Benjamin's evidence for the replacement of thought, that the mere change between frames prevents and disrupts contemplation (section XIV), severely underestimates the human mind's capability to produce complex thought instantaneously, and also ignores that contemplation can occur post-viewing.

The notion that film does not foster communication is purely a conservative reaction to the democratization of art, and it desperately tries to cling onto the idea that the value of art is derived from the traditional exclusivity of it. At the end of the day, art has intrinsic value because there was a person to create it, no matter the medium. Thus, contemporarily, the most significant discussion regarding society and art is how we analyze, discuss, and perceive artworks produced by artificial intelligence, and whether it impacts our current perceptions of human-made art.

A video from "OpenAI" showcasing "Dall-E 2", their AI system that can produce image from text. Retrieved from DALL·E 2 Explained - YouTube.

Works Cited 

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, 1936." 1935.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: An Evolving Thesis: 1991

1995." Leonardo 28.5 (1995): 381-386.

jmanwarren. Photograph of an early-twentieth century camera. 2020. Collectors Weekly. 

Collectorsweekly.com, https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/287327-vintage-early-20th-

century-camera?in=activity

Letterboxd. Horizontal layout of Letterboxd logo. 2011.

Letterboxd.com, https://letterboxd.com/about/brand/. Accessed 20 April 2023.

OpenAI. "Dall-E 2 Explained" OpenAI, 6 April 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch

v=qTgPSKKjfVg&ab_channel=OpenAI

Ulstein Bild/Getty. Portrait photograph of Walter Benjamin in adulthood. The New Yorker.

Photograph. Newyorker.com, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/walter-benjamins

unfinished-magnum-opus-revisited-through-contemporary-art. Accessed 20 April 2023. 

week two blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

From the lectures and readings, I learned that mathematics and the arts are closely related and overlap in their spatial understanding of reality. While there are many concepts that are shared by both fields, the most representative example is the usage of geometry and shapes in both linear perspective art and abstract art.

Pablo Picasso's cubist painting, Guernica. Retrieved from Pablo Picasso - The 1930s | Britannica

Diagram overlaying Brunelleschi's experiment with linear perspective. Retrieved from Gaining Perspective | Nelson-Atkins

All visual art includes shapes, lines, and other geometric figures intrinsically, however art that works towards reproducing a single-point perspective of reality is "completely mathematical" (Alberti) as it stems from a visual pyramid with a single vanishing point. From this avenue of art-making, the artists incorporate mathematical concepts and produces a harmonious blend between the two fields. Moreover - despite the abstract art movements' intention to challenge the traditional, perspective-based representation of reality in art, these avenues still incorporated geometric shapes and lines that produced a dialogue and connection between art and mathematics, just from a different perspective (Vesna 00:28:00-00:28:17). 

Tony Robbin's acrylic painting visualizing higher-dimensional space, 1979-7. Retrieved from Tony Robbin A Retrospective: 1977-2018

Furthermore, Henderson's paper, "The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion" shows how the change in the modern art movement from perspective to abstract was also aligned with the development of non-Euclidean geometry - which had introduced hyperbolic shapes and the fourth dimension. Although the mathematicians and artists did not have the same goals and desires stemming from the knowledge of non-Euclidean geometry and the fourth dimension, it fundamentally changed how they both approached the future of their studies.

Henderson quotes Tony Robbins, "'Artists who are interested in four dimensional space… are motivated by a desire to complete our subjective experience by inventing new aesthetic and conceptual capabilities. We are not in the least surprised, however, to find physicists and mathematicians working simultaneously on a metaphor for space…'" (209). Through this quote, Henderson reinforces the conclusion that artists and mathematicians are alike in that their fields are closely intertwined and shows that the development/progression in one field can also heavily impact the course of the other.

While more can be said about the integration of mathematical concepts like the golden ratio and fractals, I think the most important takeaway from this week's content is that the barrier between mathematics and art is artificially imposed, and that the concepts and development within both fields are highly interconnected.

Works Cited

Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting: Revised Edition. Vol. 175. Yale University Press, 1966.

Diagram demonstrating Filippo Brunelleschi's Perspective Technique from a Lost Painting of the

Battistero di San Giovanni. Drawing from an Unknown Artist. Kunsthistorisches Institut in 

Florenz, Max-Planck-Insitut, www.nelson-atkins.org/gates/gaining-perspective.html

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. The fourth dimension and non-Euclidean geometry in modern art. 

Mit Press, 2018. 

Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid. 

www.britannica.com/biography/Pablo-Picasso/The-1930s.

Robbins, Tony. 1979-7. 1979. Tony Robbin A Retrospective: 1977 2018. 

www.retrospective.tonyrobbin.net/

Vesna, Victoria."Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov" YouTube, YouTube, 9 April 

2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch 

v=mMmq5B1LKDg&t=923s&ab_channel=UCOnlineMathematicspt1-

ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov

 

week one blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

Photo of the Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs. Retrieved from https://philanthropy.ucla.edu/places/ 

The division between the studies of science and arts/humanities is well demonstrated in the architecture and naming scheme of buildings. For example, the north campus building above was named after two alumni and philanthropists, meanwhile:

Photo of the Math Sciences building. Retrieved from https://ww3.math.ucla.edu/math-town-hall-for-undergraduates-tuesday-october-20th/

the south campus building shown above was named after the concepts taught within it: separating the conceptual ideas and teachings from those that originally discovered them, while the north campus building gives credit to individuals that played significant roles in the development of the teachings or the development of the buildings (through donations and philanthropy). And, from an architectural basis, many buildings in UCLA's south campus have art to represent the teachings of the subjects; like the sigma in the Math Sciences building. However, it can be argued that, in buildings like the Luskin School of Public Affairs or Bunche Hall (pictured below), the design of the buildings demonstrate the different philosophies within humanities and art styles.

Photo of Bunche Hall. Retrieved from https://ww3.math.ucla.edu/math-town-hall-for-undergraduates-tuesday-october-20th/

In C.P Snow's book, he pioneered and established the concept of separation between humanities (the literally intellectuals) and sciences (physical scientists) mentioned above. He argues that one of the main reasons for the divide between the two cultures is the lack of communication and understanding between them. Seeing the other culture as "opposition" only serves to cause further division between them.

His last point is that the solution to ameliorating the divide between the two cultures is to develop a third culture that simultaneously utilizes and values the characteristics and teachings of both science and humanities.

Following the ideas presented in this paper, Victoria Vesna further develops the notion of the third culture in her paper. She returns back to the idea of interdisciplinary spaces that Snow touched on as a partial, underutilized treatment. She says that these spaces offer good opportunities for communication and understanding between the two cultures, hopefully resulting in the third culture byproduct.

At its core, the ideas presented by Snow and Vesna accurately describe the unity between applied social sciences, such as my personal major of Public Affairs, wherein hard data must be used to make subjective policy decisions. In this way, an open mind is instrumental to proper cooperation between the two cultures - which should lead to better societal outcomes.