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Event 5 | Fowler Museum (Extra Credit)

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Recently, I visited the African-Print exhibit at UCLA’s Fowler Museum. Its displays focused on the evolution of African textiles, patterns, and dress making. As I traveled chronologically through the history of African textiles, I noticed how important technology was in influencing African-print production and pattern design. One of my favorite displays from the exhibit: Coat and Skirt by Gilles Toure T o begin with, the onset of industrialization and increased demand  forced Vlisco to design a  machine that would churn out wax prints using resin. The resin was printed onto the cloth in the desired design, then later chemically removed so that only fitted pigments remained in the fabric. This chemical removal of resin left cracks and irregular bubbles in the design. These flaws were seen in West Africa as the perfect imperfection, heavily influencing what future African patterns would focus on - individuality. This method of creating art through chemical reactions was not addre
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Event 4 | Hammer Museum (Extra Credit)

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This weekend, I went to UCLA’s Hammer Museum to attend Jeanine Oleson’s Conduct Matters exhibit. In my opinion, both Oleson’s exhibit and the Hammer Museum itself heavily tied science and art together while expressing a message about society.  The first artwork I saw upon entering the Hammer Museum - Hanging ribbons with various messages  The theme of integrating the Third Culture was found in Conduct Matters – the main exhibit I came for. In the center of the room was a giant woven fabric with a Burberry-like print, based on the “grid” found in 3D imaging software used to orient virtual objects – a visual item symbolizing the artist’s perspective. This reference to 3D imaging software reminded me of virtual reality, where users can self-orient computer simulations. Furthermore, the linear design reminded me of Robert Lang’s mathematical origami from Week 2 which also utilized geometry, inspiring my future final DESMA essay.  Woven textile with geometric design, simila
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Week 9 | Space + Art

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This week, we learned about Space + Art, a topic completely different from last week’s Nanotech. Unlike Nanotech, space explores both art and science at a near incomprehensible scale of large magnitude (AAAS - Powers of Ten). Nowadays, space is still relatively unexplored and obscure. However, I believe that the union between space and art can help astrophysicists and scientists unveil space’s mysteries.  Relative size of the universe (Creighton)  I first began learning just how unknown the universe truly is thanks to Sci-fi movies (ex: Interstellar) and artists’ prints found in various science magazines such as Scientific American/National Geographic (Bonestell).  Movies like these focused on how the laws of physics and perspective vary by planet; most prominently, gravity.  Movie poster of Interstellar, a film about multi-dimension space (IMDB) This concept of dynamic gravity has influenced various artists. Dancing on the Ceiling: Art and Zero Gravity , for examp
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Event 3 | Chemical Entanglements

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This quarter, I attended UCLA’s Chemical Entanglements symposium, specifically Dr. Shahir Masri’s presentation concerning Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance disease (TILT).  TILT is a major growing disease, and taking action now may be able to help stop its advancement. Primarily, we must first understand what TILT exactly is and how its symptoms detrimentally affect humans.  In his presentation, Dr. Masri discussed how the rise in various chemicals as society industrializes is causing a rise in chemical intolerance.  Stage II of Tilt - Triggering an intolerance Picture of me about to enter the event These chemicals can range from building materials such as 4-phenylcyclohexane in carpets to even everyday fragrances.  This insensitivity leads to headaches, memory issues, mood changes, and much more.   A visual representation of Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance (Tiltresearch.org) This event was a lot harder to connect to what I have learned in lecture directly
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Week 8 | Nanotech + Art

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This week in lecture I learned about Nano-tech + Art. This form of art differs from the past eight weeks' in that nano-tech seems to go against the common phrase, "seeing is believing" (Gimzewski and Vesna). Through the emergence of nano-tech exhibitions such as the John Curtin Gallery (specifically, the Phillips eye exhibition), it’s clear to say that nano-tech's impact on human society through medicine and art is certainly immense (Curtin). Sunflower Nano-art, taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope (Ho)  I found this week's lecture exciting because, as I said in my last blog post, I currently work in a synthetic biology lab working with things I cannot see like DNA. DNA, it turns out, has been the basis of many nanotech art projects! Paul Rothemund, for example, has been folding DNA along with the help of synthetic biologists and molecular programmers. This DNA “origami” creates beautiful structures that also help us learn more about DNA’s pattern b
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Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art

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    While studying Art History back in high school, I often noticed that some of the most talented and creative artists suffered either from a brain disorder or some drug addiction such as LSD (Vesna). Artist Katherine Sherwood, for example, was 44 when her brain suffered a hemorrhage in its left hemisphere.  Previously, Sherwood’s art was fairly linear, controlled, and used dull colors. After the paralysis of her dominant hand however, her art style changed and it became more free-form, natural, and vibrant (Sohn). Sherwood's art before hemorrhage (Neuroskeptic) Sherwood's art after hemorrhage (Neuroskeptic)     Partial damage to the parietal lobe, the area of the brain that controls spatial recognition, influenced this sudden change in style (Gardner 324). Another example portraying the essential relationship between brain function and art is Georgia O’Keeffe, known for her paintings during a migraine attack. Normally, O’Keeffe drew sensual and vibrant pai
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Event 2 | LACMA

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Over the weekend, I attended LACMA and the exhibit The Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts . Although this is unrelated to the exhibit, I found it interesting that the first artwork I encountered at LACMA wasn’t even in the building… but rather in the parking lot elevator.  Heartbeat Elevator As the elevator ascended into LACMA’s main floor, I was completely surrounded by heartbeats rather than the usual elevator music in an elevator painted completely red, both inside and outside. This installation employed real life heartbeats collected through FitBit over the course of a year. Thus, it brought back memories from DESMA’s Medicine + Art unit. Sorry his eyes are closed :(  This exhibit connected to what I learned in both Art History AP (back in high school) and from DESMA 9. I enjoyed having both a cultural perspective (from HS) and a technical/science based view from DESMA as I walked through the exhibit. My favorite piece of work was the Chi Wara Society
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