http://www.goodreads.com/book
/show/475900.Gray_s_Anatomy

My knowledge of medical technologies and art was never very large. In grade school we would do simple dissections and learn about human and animal anatomy, but I never really understood how that would correlate to art. But after viewing lecture this week and realizing that human dissection is the gateway to realistically drawing and sculpting the human body. The book "Grays Anatomy" was written an intended for medical use, but because of its detail on the human body many artist have copies because of their diagrams of the human body.

My first crossing with medical technology was when I injured my shoulder and had to get an MRI. When I entered the small tube, I didn't realize at the time how that advancement was so useful not only for science but also art. Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines allow for doctors to view the insides of bodies to see if we are injured or sick. This modern and non-invasive way to look inside the body is revolutionary because we have accurate images of the inside of a body when people are still alive.

Photos of me before and after my
plastic surgery experience

Another intersection I had with medical technology and art was during my senior year of high school when I needed reconstructive rhinoplasty surgery. Many people thought I was just trying to change my look, even though I needed to reconstruct my nasal cavities due to an accident. Reconstructing disfigured bodies and faces into a more suitable form is one thing plastic surgery is famous for, in fact it is actually where its name comes from. And as we learned in lecture plastic surgery originated during world war one in efforts to reconstruct the dismembered faces and body parts of those that were injured at battle. since then the use of plastic surgery has changed so much, now people use it to find the perfect version of themselves. But there are also other things it can be used for. 

http://www.findmypast.com/articles
/world-records/full-list-of-united-kingdom-records/
armed-forces-and-conflict/harold-gillles-plastic-
surgery-archives-from-wwi

One example of somebody using plastic surgery is Orlan, who is famous for using plastic surgery to recreate famous works of art. Not for their beauty however, but for their stories that accompany the beauteous subjects. Orlean has taken the endless opportunities that plastic surgery has and used them to recreate some of the greatest pieces of art, this is something that many might not think of, but with some creativity it allows us to relive part of history.


Citations

Carnal Art. Perf. Orlan. 2011. Online.

"Orlan." Wikipedia.org. 5 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlan>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 1." Medicine Technology Art | Lectures. Online, Los Angeles. 22 Apr. 2016. Lecture. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 2." Medicine Technology Art | Lectures. Online, Los Angeles. 22 Apr. 2016. Lecture.
Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 3." Medicine Technology Art | Lectures. Online, Los Angeles. 22 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

As we learned in lecture this week about art and technology and how each are mutually influenced by each other, we can see this relationship everywhere around us. Years ago for example we see Henry Ford create and perfect the assembly line for the production of his model T's, his process made the workers a part of the machine and it was frowned upon because of the safety hazards. Inversely however years later scientists are working towards creating cyborgs and humanoids that are facilitating machines and human interactions. 

One film that demonstrates the growing use of robots in daily life is the science fiction love story, Her. This film shows a man who is lonely and depressed seeking companionship through a talking operating system that has the artificial intelligence to adapt and evolve. This feature allows for the device to adapt and become intimate in a romantic way. This helps the main character rehabilitate himself out of his depression and allows him to re-enter the world. This is a similar trait that Machiko Kusahara mentioned that the Japanese are looking to utilize humanoids for. The ability to help aid people in times of emergencies, depression, and such is ideal because of the burden that is released from humans might not be able to help.

Another movie that uses cyborgs/humanoids to assist humans in daily lives is the animated film Big Hero 6. This film shows a student at a university who developed a robot that has the ability to aid people when they have been injured or hurt. Using a robot  in this way helps society because it has the ability to do more. Utilizing robots to help assist humans needs has been demonstrated in many movies and these two examples are showing us how we could benefit from their capabilities in interesting ways.

Citations

"Big Hero 6 (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

"Her (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Machiko Kusahara. "Professor Machiko Kusahara on Japanese Robotics." Robotics and Art. Online, Los Angeles. 17 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lectures Part 1." Robotics and Art. Online, Los Angeles. 17 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lectures Part 2." Robotics and Art. Online, Los Angeles. 17 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

http://8og.ir/page/3/

Math and art were always two subjects I had seperated, but after taking an in-depth look in lecture, I have realized the correlation math and art have. Without certain math ideas like vanishing points and linear perspective, most art pieces wouldn’t seem very realistic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_
Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)

In this weeks lecture Math+Art, with Victoria Vesna, we are introduced to some of the larger ideas in math that have been a key in creating realistic art. Before Brunelleschi creating the proper formulation of perspective in art in 1413 that was originally created by Greeks and Romans, but lost during the middle ages. Later on another artist, Pierro De La Francesca, wrote a book dividing painting into three parts, drawing, proportion, and coloring. Each part had relative ideas that tied math into art and show how each pieces relatively is important to perspective, but proportion seemed to have the biggest relationship because of its use in geometry to help create realistic perspective. Leonardo Da Vinci also contributed to math and art with his idea of pyramidal lines, which are lines that start from different points and converge together and draw in at a single point, as we can see in The Last Supper where the image will draw your focus back to Jesus in the center.

Another type of art that is shaped through math is fractals; complex infinite designs that are made from geometric shapes that are self-similar and can be viewed at any scale and appear to still look similar to the previous view. This may be considered an art form that uses geometrical shapes, but it also proven with modern technology that fractals appear in nature. Fractals in nature are finite however, but still have multiple levels of pattern. 

After taking more of a look into the relationship of math, art and science I have learned how the three are supported by each other. Math has had a large part in shaping paintings by allowing there to be principles to help develop realistic paintings. Through fractals I found a correlation to science through design patterns that can occur in nature.

Malloy, Ryan. "How Do Fractals Work? : Advanced Math." Youtube.com. Ed. Patrick Russel. 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiGBNNDDgH0>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Math Art Lecture." Lecture. Online, Los Angeles. 8 Apr. 2016. Lecture.

"Filippo Brunelleschi Biography." Biography.com. Ed. Biography.com. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/filippo-brunelleschi-9229632#the-reinvention-of-linear-perspective>.

Wikipedia Contributors. "Patterns in Nature." En.wikipedia.org. Web.

1423robin. "Best Fractals Zoom Ever." Youtube.com. 9 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTiZD7p_oTc>. 

http://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/two-cultures/index.html

The idea of two cultures exist all around us. Most everything around us can be divided into two groups; the rich and the poor, the academics and the nonacademics, the students and the student athletes at school, the north campus students and the south campus students. As the list goes on I have realized how my life can be divided into two groups.

One division I have experienced is in-between my ethnicities; a large part of my heritage goes back to Polynesia even though I have lived in America. With ideas like C.P. Snow’s in mind these two can easily be separated into two, the American side being the scientist or the rich, list-making, intellectual, and linear group. Whereas my Polynesian side could be considered the more artistic, poor, emotional, and creative group. Both cultures accurately represent these characteristics in comparison, but I believe there is a third group emerging, "passing of the torch from one group of thinkers…the emerging third culture."

People like me, people who are both. An idea that emerged in C.P. Snow’s second look on two cultures, was the third culture or group that would emerge to bridge this gap between the two. Some would say that these "contemporary scientists" have already emerged and are working to fill this gap. Even though these two are separated distinctly like Snow’s argument, dividing the two into scientist and artists, I have managed to bring them together to bridge the gap between the two cultures.

http://www.newswithviews.com/Hayes/gianni5.htm

Another real world example of a third culture could be socialism which works to bridge the gap between capitalism and communism. With capitalism relating to the artistic side because people here have creative freedom toward as they please and communism being more like the linear and methodical lifestyles, socialism works to eliminate the gap between these two cultures.

With two cultures living all around us, it is inevitable that a third group would emerge. How this third group fits and works with the current two cultures however will determine the outcome of the two cultures.


Citations:

 Brockman, John. "INTRODUCTION." Edge.org. 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. <https://www.edge.org/conversation/the-emerging>.

 Robinson, Ken. "RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms." Youtube.com. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U>. 

 Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print. 

 Vesna, Victoria. "TwoCultures Part I." Desma 9. Online, Los Angeles. 30 Mar. 2016. Lecture. 

"13b. Comparing Economic Systems." Ushistory.org. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. <http://www.ushistory.org/gov/13b.asp>.