A Trip to the Hammer Museum

Desma Event #3:A Trip to the Hammer Museum

According to the worker at the front, not many people, especially students know about what the Hammer Museum has to offer. Many often think it costs money, it’s only art and exhibitions, and anything short of fun. However, I had an amazing experience. Apparently, most exhibitions are closed off for the wonderful renovation, building, and creation of Made in LA. This is fantastic book I actually had the chance to read -- so when I found out that they closed off half of the museum for this, I wasnt that upset. A series of more than one hundred contemporary exhibitions and installations featuring local, national, and international emerging artists.

However, I did get the chance to see the 45 minute long exhibition video The Desert People, 1974 by David Lamelas. This was the first work he produced in LA that calls attention to nature of meaning and truth. At first I was hesitant, but then later learned that David Lamelas began working as a sculptor in Argentina in the late 1960’s. About six years later, he showed his work “Office of Information about the Vietnam War at Three Levels: The Visual Image, Text and Audio, and installation dealing with the daily news reports about the escalating Vietnam War at the Finnish Pavilion of the Venice Biennale.” (Hammer Museum employee)

While watching this film, I realized that the setting was actually familiar to me. It was basically a car traveling through the desert with others traveling with him, a road trip is what we like to call it for a lack of a better term. But as soon as the narration begins, it is interrupted by documentary-style interviews.” Passing in this way from one film genre to another, Lamelas manages to blur the boundary between fact and fiction.” (Luxonline, 2005) I, unfortunately, did not get the chance to take pictures inside considering the theatre was almost full and dark.

Outside of the film, I experienced a place where art and artists test us to see the world though a new lens and think creatively and outside of the box. “The Hammer understands that art not only has the power to transport us through aesthetic experience but can also provide significant insight into some of the most pressing cultural, political, and social questions of our time.”(The Hammer Museum, 2016)A

However, what I found really fascinating was the theater's modern design by Michael Maltzan. The architecture portrays cinema's play of light and movement in real space. The theatre sat 294 surprisingly comfortable seats. When I walked in, I didn’t expect for it to be an actual seating theatre. It was pitch black, but the screen lit up the room. According to the Hammer Museum employee, “Billy Wilder fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s to become a master of Hollywood film language and a shrewd comic observer of the American scene.”

All in all, I  would definitely recommend going to the Hammer Museum. Even if it’s just to study or roam around. They have these incredibly fun, twirly chairs that actually very comfortable to sit in. There’s also a cafe where you can order food and a seating area to enjoy your meal, meet with friends, or study! It’s so peaceful. The sun hits gracefully in certain areas, but for the most part there is natural light that shines through and in almost every direction you see and feel art. It’s honestly an amazing experience.

References

"Alternative Projections." Outsiders Observe Los Angeles ». N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

"Billy Wilder Theater | Michael Maltzan Architecture." Billy Wilder Theater | Michael Maltzan

Architecture. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

"Contemporary Art Daily." Contemporary Art Daily RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

"Home - Hammer Museum." The Hammer Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

"The Desert People - Information, Clips and Stills | Luxonline." The Desert People

Information, Clips and Stills | Luxonline. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

Desma Event #2

Desma Event #2 : A Day at The Broad

One of my favorite event by far was attending The Broad, a new contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. After waiting in line for an hour (which is apparently not long compared to the two-three hour wait many said they’ve waited in the past), it’s safe to say the wait in the beaming sun was worth it. The outside of The Broad is one of the most entailing and fascinating, eye-catching pieces of art amongst it all. This is because it withholds a “veil-and-vault” concept. According to the Broad museum worker, the museum is home to the 2,000 works of art in the Broad collection, which is among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide. Some of the artists I will be discussing throughout this blog are Ellsworth Kelly, Haring, Rauschenberg, Chuck, and Jeff Koons (my favorite).

When I first saw this piece light up “AMERICA”, I immediate thought rock and roll. Hence, the hair flip. I love any piece of art that involves blinking light. I feel like it adds more life to something. A young, wild, and free type feel.

According to The Broad Museum, “Haring developed his trademark style working on the black surfaces used to cover up old advertising logos in the New York subway. Haring became a recognizable figure in New York, attaining somewhat of a celebrity status that drew much attention to his gallery shows, public projects, and merchandising.” (The Broad Museum, 2016) Linda Dalrymple Henderson makes great points throughout her study about art techniques and science in relation to the theory of special and general relativity surfaced into the world of art, in which was influenced by the paradigm shift.

When Ellsworth Kelly arrived in New York in 1954 after six years of working in Europe. Initially Kelly’s approach and work were radically different from the abstract art being practiced in the city. Instead of abstracting from a figure or an image, Kelly was more interested in the experience of abstractions found in everyday life and nature. Abstraction was less something to be achieved then re-created. (The Broad Museum, 2016)

Rauschenberg’s combines are a hybrid between painting and sculpture. The Broad says, “An early manifestation of this mode and a key work in his career is Untitled, 1954. A collage of wood, newspaper, comics, sundry clothes, and old lace, Untitled is saturated with a thick sealing coat of paint. The surface is open to drips and chance combinations, not with an expressive intent as in abstract expressionism but instead with a field of unexpected juxtapositions and perceptual shifts.”(The Broad Museum, 2016) Juxtaposition of mathematics, industrialization, art and science actually becomes more simple and easier to understand as our perspective and society changes and develops. We can think back Bill Nye the Science Guy, an American TV show where he mixes the serious science of everyday things with fast-paced action and humor. Here we can see that science has been built into entertainment where education has altered and developed to teach and entertain this generation. It’s a “cool” way of learning.

Chuck Close is known as much for his detailed representation of the human face as for his subsequent deconstruction of it. “Close uses head-on portraits as his templates, exploring portraiture and his subjects through a variety of drawing and painterly techniques, as well as through printmaking, tapestry, and photography. John, one of Close’s earliest paintings, is described as photorealist. Indeed, Close refers to photographs to create his artworks, employing their inconsistencies of perspective as much as their verisimilitude”, says The Broad Museum.

Close works entirely from sight to achieve the details, sectioning off the reference photographs into grids and transferring each piece by hand onto his monumentally sized canvases. When it comes to the field of nanotechnology, the phrase “seeing is believing” is inapplicable. Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on a molecular or atomic level, a scale that is not visible to the naked eye.  Just as mentioned in lecture, the connection of science and art is through mathematics. We continue to move towards making math and art, art and science. Unlike many, I actually had amazing math and science teachers that initially made me love both subjects. The term de-geniuses by R. Buckminister Fuller comes to mind when he says that every person has an inner genius, but the education system tends to de-genius our perspective.

Jeff Koons is one of my absolute favorite artists. Koons’s artwork is intensely labored, in order to look like no human hand was ever actually involved. His eye is incredible, on a meticulous hunt for deviations from his vision. In 1979 Jeff Koons made Inflatable Flower and Bunny (Tall White, Pink Bunny), the seed for so much of his future work. This piece of work features two vinyl inflatable toys. Jeff Koons is one of my favorites because of different and vibrant his work is. I became a fan of his work when I noticed a family friend had his art in her home. I proceeded to ask her about them because they were so different and she actually informed me of a lot of information that lead to me loving Koons' art work.

References

“Art in the Age of Nanotechnology.” Artabase. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.

<http://www.artabase.net/exhibition/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>.

"Earth’s Most Stunning Natural Fractal Patterns." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital. Web. 11

Apr. 2016.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the

Construction of a New Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.

<http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/publications/02-03/JV_nano/JV_nano_artF5VG.htm>.

Miranda, Carolina A. "Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. ARTNEWS, 6 May

2016. Web.

"The Broad." The Broad. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. “5 bioart pt1" Lecture. YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 3 May. 2016.

Week 9: Space and Art

Week 9: Space and Art

I have been fascinated with space since I started watching science documentaries with my dad at a young age. The universe is a massive, never-ending hole that tends to baffle all of us. The Earth we currently live on is large, beautiful, full of surprises, unknown, and bigger than our minds can imagine. But when we think about the universe as a whole, it’s five zillion times what we fathom about the Earth. It’s even difficult to measure the size of the universe because of how unknown it is and the fact that it cannot be compared to anything else is a head scratcher within itself. To me, space has also been art as I know it has been to many. The fact that we have only explored a tiny portion of our universe tells us that there is so much more out there to be discovered. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to take an astronomy class that was actually held at the planetarium in Santa Barbara. There, we had access to millions of dollars worth of advanced equipment where we learned to use a high tech and newly revolutionized telescope to see into space. Not only was it the most fascinating experience, but the beauty of space through the lens of a telescope had me in awe til this day. Below is a photo of the moon that I took through the telescope on a night of a full moon.

Many theories and beliefs arose over many years that developed an in depth research in which helps to understand the solar system and the universe at large. When we think about the phenomenal features that have developed over time to improve the studies within the space, we often think about Galileo Galleli. He had a telescope invention that played a monumental role in our understanding of the solar system and being able to hypothesize the possibility of other life forms in the universe (Space Pt1).  How did he do it? Galileo pointed his telescope towards the one thing that people thought was perfectly smooth and as polished as a gemstone – the Moon. Imagine his surprise to find it “”uneven, rough, full of cavities and prominences.” His telescope had its flaws, such as a narrow field of view that could only show about one quarter of the lunar disk without repositioning, but a revolution had begun.

http://www.universetoday.com/15763/galileos-telescope/

When we think about all the research that has gone into space, we can draw up how movies played an important role in explaining that to the public, like you and I. Movies like Interstellar, Gravity, Armageddon (one of my favorites), and even Star Wars, have demonstrated a creative and artistic way to distribute information to all of us. They often explore the endless possibilities and creativity that space, art and technology have to offer. While some of these movies are based off of the future of technology, the still hold a lot of valid information that very much fascinates us in a way that blows our made how unknown space really is.

http://www.popsci.com/spotify-huge-surge-armageddon-sountrack-listens-philae-landing

Just as said in the lecture videos, the propaganda, digital art in TVs, newspaper comics and so forth altered the viewers and audience to encourage scientific research - which happened to be the reason why we have advanced in the information of our universe - although there is still so much more to discover (Space; Part III). Art helped to develop a new way of looking into space and exploring all that it has to offer.

References

EamesOffice. "Powers of Ten™ (1977)." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 May 2016

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0>.

Plotner, Tammy. "Galileo's Telescope - Universe Today." Universe Today. N.p., 22 July 2008.

Web. 29 May 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space + Art." Lecture Part 1. Online, Los Angeles. 25 May 2016. Lecture.

2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIqTR332l8>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space + Art." Lecture Part 2. Online, Los Angeles. 25 May 2016. Lecture.

2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLZMDpoP-u0>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space + Art." Lecture Part 3. Online, Los Angeles. 25 May 2016. Lecture.

2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WOqt_C55Mk>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space + Art." Lecture Part 4. Online, Los Angeles. 25 May 2016. Lecture.

Nanotechnology + Art

This week’s lecture is a fascinating one involving the great topic of Nanotechnology and Art. As Professor Vesna talks about in her lecture video, she has been a part of nanotech for a long time. She expresses how nanotechnology goes beyond everything we’ve ever known and is something much greater than us and everything else surrounding us. This includes sciences in the sense the old methodology does not work in nanoscience. Professor Vesna explains it as a collaborative science that is essentially shifting paradigm. Nanotechnology really pushes us over the edge. Dr. Gimzewski says the term was originally coined by Norio Taniguchi and then explains how almost every aspect of science is affected by nanotechnology. One fascinating aspect about nanotechnology is that it has an immense capability to alter the world of science. However, most people do not know anything about how influential and effective nanotechnology is.

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=24274.php

Nanotechnology is explained as “the realm where materials have dimensions of 100 nanometers or less”. NanoArt is a complex artistic-scientific. The fact of the matter is that art makes science so much clearer for us to understand and enhances science and technology. As stated in lecture by Jim Gimzewski and Victoria Vesna, “In both the philosophical and visual sense, ‘seeing is believing’ does not apply to nanotechnology, for there is nothing even remotely visible to create proof of existence” (Gimzewski and Vesna).

http://listverse.com/2014/12/01/10-unconventional-uses-of-nanotechnology/

An example that I found interesting to me is the work of glass blowers during renaissance. Stained Glass windows are a large part of the beauty of churches. I remember I used to go to Catholic church every Sunday and sit in awe of each unique glass window. It’s like they individually told a story full of color and shapes. The integration of metallic nanoparticles within the hot glass completely showcases how immensely beautiful and articulate nanotech art is or can be. “Some example could be cited as the ruby-red colour coming from gold nanoparticles, the purple of Cassius made of a colloid of elemental gold supported on tin dioxide.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2461418/How-medieval-stained-glass-creating-ultimate-SPACE-camera-Nanoparticles-used-church-windows-help-scientists-Mars-true-colours-extreme-UV-light.html

I came across this article titled 10 Unconventional Uses Of Nanotechnology, that showcased all the diversity and complexity of nanotechnology. Isaac talks about a nanotech art by John Hart who is a mechanical engineer from the University of Michigan. He actually created a portrait of Barack Obama in which they coined Nanobama. It’s measurements are “just half a millimeter across and is entirely sculpted from 150 nanotube”. It is known as the world's tiniest Presidential portrait.

http://www.nanobama.com

Works Cited

"Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?" National Geographic. National

Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 23 May 2016.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vespa. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in

the Construction of a New Science." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2016.

     <http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/publications/02-03/JV_nano/JV_nano_artF5VG.htm>.

Hamza Isaac. "10 Unconventional Uses Of Nanotechnology - Listverse." Listverse. N.p., 01

Dec. 2014. Web. 23 May 2016.

K. A. Duncan, C. Johnson, K. McElhinny, S. Ng, K. D. Cadwell, G. M. Z. Petersen, A.

Johnson, D. Horoszewski, K. Gentry, G. Lisensky, W. C. Crone, Art as an avenue to

science literacy: teaching nanotechnology through stained glass, J. Chem. Edu.

2010, 87 (10), 1031-1038.

Lilley, Maiken. “The Art of Nanotech”. NOVA. WGBH, 18 Nov 2010. Web. 22 NOv 2012.

Madrigal, Alexis. "Nanobama: World’s Tiniest Candidate Portrait." Wired.com. Conde Nast

Digital, n.d. Web. 23 May 2016.

“When Nanotechnology Meets Art”. Science and Religion.com. n.p., 20 Apr 2011. Web. 22

Nov 2012.

Neuroscience and Art : Week 7

Neuroscience and Art

This week we learned about neuroscience and art, something that I find completely fascinating. Neuroscience is one of the most complex concepts to many, including myself.  “The interaction between art and science offers an opportunity to make the scientific community and the public aware of the social and ethical implications of the scientific advances in neuroscience” (Anker and Frazzetto). One thing I very much appreciate is the ability for artists to translate what neuroscience is to people like me. They do this in a subtle yet beautiful way where they help us to understand the perplexity of our brain.

http://www.roche.com/de/research_and_development/what_we_are_working_on/neuroscience/neuroscience_symposium.htm

http://www.roche.com/de/research_and_development/what_we_are_working_on/neuroscience/neuroscience_symposium.htm

When we take a more in depth looks at Jeff Lichtman’s Brainbow and Suzanne Anker’s fMRI butterfly we become a little more familiar with a relatable concept. This system is a “transgenic technique provided extraordinary pictures of neuronal circuitry, rivalling artistic representations” (Anker and Frazzetto). To explain in better terms, each neuron in the brain was set apart from other neurons by fluorescent proteins - thus in which show the neurons in different colors in order to locate and keep track of the many neurons to study easier and better. This entire system of art demonstrates how beautiful and fascinating our brain really is. According to The Embodied Mind, one can associate biologically based properties with cognition only through behavior.

As neuroscience penetrates the public sphere, it walks into a dense network of cultural meanings and worldviews and is understood through the prism they provide. Artists provide that prism for the public sphere and for scientists through the systems they use to better explain and advance their studies. Neuroculture is on a climb and comes with it’s perks. If you really think about it, our brains are so complicated and do things that we just can't explain nor can science explain. For instance, explaining how our brain works in autism, or how people have aneurysms, or even how emotions work. When I think about neuroscience, I am beyond fascinated with neurologists deal with and accomplish on a daily basis. According to Christiaan Vermeleun ,” All people have a unique genetic coding that influences a genetic predisposition toward which lobes, hemispheres, and senses will dominate when processing information.”

http://graduate.carleton.ca/programs/neuroscience-phd/

Works Cited

"Neuroscience Symposium." Roche -. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.

O'connor, Cliodhna, Geraint Rees, and Helene Joffe. "Neuroscience in the Public Sphere." Neuron 74.2

(2012): 220-26. Web.

Penny, Simon, Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch. "Embodied Mind: Cognitive

Science and Human Experience." Leonardo28.4 (1995): 337. Web.

Seeley, William P. "Art, Meaning, and Aesthetics: The Case for a Cognitive Neuroscience of Art." Art,

Aesthetics, and the Brain (2015): 19-39. Web.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience." UCLA. 2016. Web.