This week's topic dealt with the close analysis of the way in which we inevitably fuse art and space. I thought that the combination of these two is something that we don't automatically think about because the galaxies, planets, and milky ways are just not something we see everyday as it is not something accessible. However, space itself is something that can be artistic just because of the way that it has been designed.
Zoltan Levay is an artist that shows the way in which space images can be distorted enough to create a more artistic image. He shares the raw image below:
He then begins to adjust the pixels and their brightness. The effect of doing this are the images below:
The final product becomes the final image below:
I thought that this was a very interesting individual to become aware of because the final image is one that I have seen many times, but never could have imagined of the process is took to achieve it. This is the beauty of bringing two concepts such as art and space together.
This
week’s topic of the immersion of Neuroscience and Art is one of the most
important combinations. To me this combination is one of the most important one
because to me the brain is an art form of its own. This idea is both literal
and metaphoric. Professor Vesna spoke about Roman Cajal and Franz Gall as being two key
people in showing how the brain functions.
When we think about this function and art we see that this is able to occur in
different. The brain controls the creative and artistic abilities of one and
therefore it allows for the creation of artistic features of life. This is also
a metaphoric idea because it is amazing to understand the way the brain
function, it is almost an amazing piece of art done so meticulously by a
skillful artist. When we see images as does from below, we can see that this
can also be analyzed in an abstract manner:
The image above was done
through different views of neuroscience and art. We know that the brain had to
allow the ability of painting the piece of art, but the brain and all of its
functions inspired the person himself to paint the piece of art.
This week we touched upon a
very controversial topic, which is that of Biotechnology. When discussing this
issue with the third culture of art, we can see a different point of view that
perhaps we haven’t been allowed to do so in the past. BioArt is a concept that
was introduced by Joe Davis through works such as “space art”. To me, I see as
a way of allowing someone to see the other side of the ugly side of
biotechnology. For example, when someone argues against it by speaking of how
it affects nature, we see images like those below:
Or we hear about scientific
occurrences such as Eduardo Kac’s GFP Bunny:
As the case with Kac’s fluorescent
bunny, we are led to think that experimenting this way is wrong, as it is unnecessary
to play with natural biology this way. I agree with this, however, upon
thinking about the infusion of art to biotechnology, we can see a different
idea of this combination. Keira Havens is a scientist and CEO of Revolution
Bioengineering she has combined the two by making flowers that change color
throughout the day. Keira’s love for beauty and bioengineering have inspired
who to utilize what she can learn from nature and biology, and use that
knowledge to create something beautiful, her form of art. In the video below in
her TEDxTalk, she explain that it is important to embrace what can be learned
by studying nature and create external forms of it with which one can be
abstained from interfering with nature, yet still utilizing it in a way to
improve how it is appreciated.
Ultimately, Keira’s goal is to break some stereotypes and
inspire people to learn how beautiful biotechnology can be if utilized with the
right process and principle. The video below shows the way that a flower can
change color easily by integrating beer into it and alternating its path:
On her website you are also able to make your own flower by
modifying some chemical compounds yourself. She also provides a teacher's manual on how to educate children into what is scientifically occurring.
Such a way of using this technology in an un-harmful way can
truly benefit the flower avid lover and the individual who truly envisions art. I think that when we think about biotechnology in the form of bio art, it facilitates understanding that "line" we are always afraid of crossing. The line that constitutes the need to change or alter nature and reality. I agree that it is necessary to change an animal's DNA or structure or even abuse animal rights by using them in labs such as is done in the makeup industry, however, when the sole purpose of this usage is to create something artistically beautiful without causing any harm, I think it can be a very enriching opportunity.
