MedTech + Art

There seems to be no connections between art and medicine. However, this week’s lecture helps me realize the various ways that medical technology inspires art.

As Professor Vesna mentioned in her lecture, lots of painters, including Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Leonardo da Vinci, explored human dissection to find out the secrets regarding shapes of the human body, in order to make their works vivid and lively.

I read many stories of Leonardo da Vince when I was in high school. He is not only a typical artist but also a genius scientist during Renaissance. Although he is best known for his paintings, his study of the human anatomy is also of great value. One of his most well known masterpieces is called “Uomo Vitruviano”. Moreover, in the book named Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist, I observed a lot of different anatomic drawings by him. All the anatomic sketches are incredibly detailed which depicts the science underlying his artworks, further illustrating the indispensable connection between science and art. I suppose from Leonardo’s perspective, the study of human anatomy and the creation of art complement each other and he indeed gained inspirations from both of them.

Another example I want to discuss is furniture design. In order for furniture to have utility, artists have to closely study Anthropometry, a study refers to the measurement of the human individual, and Human Engineering when they create and design. They are relevant in designing safe and beautiful furniture. Art makes furniture more aesthetically attractive and unique, while medical technology makes it comfortable and useful.

Citations:

Vesna, Victoria, dir. Human body & Medical technologies. Film. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

da Vinci, Leonardo. Uomo Vitruviano. N.d. Painting. n.p. Web. <http://www.artseri.com/index.php?cPath=59_32>.

da Vinci, Leonardo. The Foetus in the Womb. N.d. Painting. n.p. Web. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2137367/Leonardo-da-Vinci-Anatomist-exhibition-Buckingham-Palace.html>.

Clayton, Martin. Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist. 1st. Royal Collection Trust, Print.

Fehling, Yvonne, and Jennie Peiz. Stuhlhockerbank. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://flavorwire.com/333569/10-contemporary-artists-who-use-furniture-as-a-medium/>.

Technology+ Art

It is obvious how technology changes every aspect of our life. This week’s topic allows me to explore how technology changes art, especially in the modern age.

In the research paper “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, Benjamin examines the impact of modernity on art forms such as film and photography. He claims that the loss of “aura” resulted from the mass reproduction of art. Benjamin draws our attention upon a question of whether the value of the art changes when it is not “original.” In his view, the copy of an artwork, though looks similar to the original work, does not bear the aura of the original work. This continuous reproduction changes the concept of art in our minds because we no longer value the authenticity of an artwork. It also blurs our understanding of the space and time that are associated with art. Art lost its unique connection with the context in which it was created.

Admittedly, I agree with Benjamin’s observation that technology redefines the concept of “art”. However, I don’t agree with him in that the reproduction redefines art in a destructive way. On the contrary, reproduction makes art accessible to most of us. Before “Industrialization”, art was a privilege of the royal class and aristocracy, due to its prohibitive cost. However, the inventions of industrialization enabled the mass production of art and largely reduced the cost of art. As a result, art became more available to the public, as Professor Vesna mentioned in her lecture.

The most compelling example is the invention of lithography in 1796. Alois Senefelder’s invention of lithography provided a cheaper way to print script. As lithography was used in copying artworks in production lines, we are now able to hang the copy of painting on the wall in our home. For me, I got the copy of my favorite painting <Almond Blossom> by Van Gogh in my bedroom and it gives me immense pleasure.

As for the creation of art, we use new forms of medium such as video recording and photography. They are indispensible in our lives and allow us to create art in an extremely easy way. For instance, we take photos with our cellphone and could easily use graphic editing program to edit it.

Citations:

Walter Benjamin. N.d. Photograph.
<http://arcuterie.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction-walter-benjamin/>.

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

Vesna, Victoria, dir. Robotics pt1. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRw9_v6w0ew>.


"Alois Senefelder." n. page. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.radio.cz/en/static/inventors/senefelder>.

van Gogh, Vincent. Almond Blossom. 1890. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=3128&lang=en>.

da cafe. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://photo.hebei.com.cn/system/2012/08/17/012030258.shtml>.

Mathematics + Art

When I started learning mathematics in primary school, I thought it was only a scientific subject about formulas and logic. In recent years, I realized math is also about patterns, symmetry and shape. After I finished the lectures and readings of this week, I found out that math is not only a tool to express art, but is also a form of art itself.

As professor Vesna mentioned in the lecture, a lot of artists created their works based on mathematics theories such as Leon Alberti and Leonardo da Vince. Alberti explored study of polymath to derive the golden ratio. His typical masterpiece  “Palazzo Rucellai” references a perfect mix of art and math. 

Leonardo was both a scientist and artist. He was one of the first explorers during Renaissance to research mathematics and applying it in his paintings. He used his knowledge of linear perspective and golden section in most of his paintings. I believe Leonardo successfully integrated art and math as both an artist and a mathematician. His art pieces were influenced by his mathematical research, and his math research was facilitated by his artistic expressions.

There is a movie I watched called GIRL WITH  A PERAL EARING last year inspired me a lot. The movie is a romantic story about Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch painter in 17^th century, and the girl in Johannes’s most famous painting GIRL WITH A PERAL EARING. I was not that into the romance but very impressed by the oil painting. The girl in the painting is extremely lively because we can see emotion in her eyes. I could feel her emotion and was really touched. 


















Then, I did a lot of research regarding the painter Vermeer. He developed rules for his own painting technique. He gave this image a sense of life through portraying the observation of the light in illuminating the objects in the room. He also used rules of linear perspective to make his painting look three-dimensional.

Mathematics is a critical part of both science and art because it acts as a common language in connecting them. To conclude, math and art intermingle and even inspires each other.

Bibliography 
Mathmatics. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <(n.d.). Mathmatics. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://syosseths.com/z/math.html >.

Jarvis, Daniel , and Irene Naested. Exploring the Math and Art Connection. eBook. <http://books.google.com/books?id=NWzsz8vioZwC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=math+influence+art&source=bl&ots=xfXQzP539r&sig=zkQNo9MRxJ65-37Lsx0OylXhQiE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CGlaUsH1D6iQiQL87IGwAQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwATge#v=onepage&q=math%20influence%20

Vesna, Victoria, prod. Lecture. Film. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg>.

Palazzo Rucellai. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://www.architetturando.net/jpg-arte_repertorio-online/indice%20dei%20luoghi/firenze/palazzi/rucellai/slides/11%20Disegno%20prospettico%20facciata.html>.

Leonardo da Vinci. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://beginningdrawing.wordpress.com/tag/leonardo-da-vinci/>.

Movie. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://rebecca-books.blogspot.com/2011/09/film-review-girl-with-pearl-earring.html>.

Girl with a pearl earring painting. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Girlwithapearlearringpainting.jpg>.

Vermeers. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://brightbytes.com/cosite/vermeers.html>.
"Vermeer's Painting Technique." n. page. Print. <http://www.essentialvermeer.com/technique/technique_overview.html>.

Math Craft. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. <http://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/inspiration/math-craft-monday-community-submissions-plus-tiling-with-coins-0130925/>.

True Art and True Science

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious - the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” ― Albert Einstein

Science and art are complementary and cannot be separate. They symphonize with each other as the way the world function. Everything in this world possesses the quality of both science and art. They uniformly follows the law of nature , yet at the same time displays their unique distinguishing characters.

Moreover, the same pattern can be found in our creations. We create things with aesthetic value because of our instinctive  pursuit of beauty, yet we have to rely on science in order to materialize the creation. Take jewelry design as an example, craftsmen analyze raw gemstones to determine the technique of cutting. Artists design gemstones to combine separate loose stones as one unified piece of fine jewelry.

“Science purified common language to avoid ambiguity. Poetry purified common language to express inexpressible.”

Art reflects our imagination while science helps us realize these seemly whimsical ideas. In my point of view, science is concrete and well defined as those concepts or theorem in textbooks. In contrast, art is abstract and fluid. Take myself as an example. I usually lean towards artistic expression when I get inspired in my daily life. At a point in my life, I started doing charcoal drawing. As Leonardo da Vinci said,“The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.”I enjoyed such a magical way of depicting the world and my emotion. However, the journey ends after I entered school, when I was told for the first time that science is more useful and practical than art. I stopped drawing due to the overwhelming load of schoolwork. This unpleasant farewell with my drawing career presents me with the question of whether art and science are incompatible with each other within the individual. Then I realized that this misleading belief is the flaw of our education system. I still believe a person can have the pursuit in both art and science.

Citation:

van cleef&arpels jewelry [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/?from_unlocalized=1

Twocultures part1 [Television series episode]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM

Twocultures pt2 [Television series episode]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUr4xxZ_0gw