Sherry (Tzu Hsien)Tang DESMA 9 Blog

       I believe in horoscopes and how these specific star sign alignments showcases a person’s personality and even future. To me, the starry sky and space is a beautiful and fascinating concept. When I first started this module, I was confused as to how the space and art could be considered connected and how the space was demonstrated in these pieces of artwork.  As mentioned during lecture by Professor Vesna, “ nanotechnology is also heavily incorporated in space exploration” (Vesna). Famous movies for instance the “ 2001 Space Odessy” has its setting based in space in the near away future, while main characters try to save Earth and its population. Other movies for instance “ Interstellar” directed by Christopher Nolan, circles its plot around characters that explore space and the concept of time between different planets. These two pieces of art incorporate the concept of space as its background and context. The mysterious dark spaces in space become a wo...

  Before engaging with this week’s content, I only read about nanotechnology through industry reports on the technology sector in Taiwan and how several companies were developing phone sizes smaller due to nanotechnology. I never would have thought that nanotech and art could be discussed together.  As introduced in the reading, “nanotechnology is considered more as a new science than technology” ( Gimzewsk & Vesna). This new science has been introduced to various aspects around our lives, including military, finance and other aspects within our lives. An example mentioned would be the act of “magnification for vision” (Gimzewsk & Vesna). I think nanotechnology can be considered a version of art due to its creativity behind the circuits and wiring that allows this effect to be applicable to human experience. The complicated design and development requires intensive creativity to set up and in my definition I feel that is already an intensive form of aesthetic express...

       As a Psychology major, the fascinating concept of our mind has always been an academic topic that sparked great interest. This week I was able to deep dive into how these psychological concepts on consciousness, dreams and art collide as being presented on art portraits or movies.  Freud's Three levels of Mind     Consciousness is being discussed as having three different levels "consciousness, precociousness and unconsciousness" by Freud (Vesna). We view it as human awareness to both internal and external stimuli. As mentioned during lecture, there always has been great interest in developing technology that would be able to "control and alter our consciousness within the world" (Vesna). Whether it is implanting a stereotype, or changing the ways we perceive our living environment, with the technology of fMRI brain image scanning, we are very close to being able to conduct such actions. This mysterious topic has also been displayed in art as se...

Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea       I came across the exhibition advertisements while walking in Westwood so decided to take a closer look at the exhibition. This exhibition " Only the Young" is a temporary exhibition showcasing visual art pieces generated by artists " who emerged in the decades following the Korean War" (Hammer Museum). As its introduction on the website indicated, the exhibition shines light upon different moments and perspectives of the Korean society during that era, especially the limited things that Korean society were exposed to.  Entrance Pic     These artists expressed societal concerns and excitement towards a new era, where the newly formed Republic of Korea faced its colonial past and emerged into a rapid industrialization present era. As I walked through the exhibition, I noticed the main focus on these pieces were on the technological development of society. The visual demonstrations of television, light bulbs...

Genetically modified / Selective Breeding Animals         This week’s content on biotechnology and art was quite fascinating to read about and ponder on. I personally think the concept of life isn’t considered a valid enough expressive medium, but rather an artistic concept or theme that art pieces can focus upon. Both mentioned in lecture 1 of this week and the article written by Ellen K. Levy “ biotechnology is constantly challenging the status quo of society” (Levy). New genetic modifications of food has allowed humans to taste different delicacies and experience food options that originally weren’t available during that season. Other forms of biotechnology altered animals and even human genome to create medical advances to increase the human life.  Genetically modified food example I do think the usage of biotechnology in selective breeding, or swapping DNA as seen in clones can be considered a form of art, but I disagree displaying it through the med...

 Beauty of Humans demonstrated through Art  Though I have never done any MRI or scanning in my life, I did do health checkups a few years ago regarding my muscles, bones and height growth hormones. It was similar to a fMRI technique where the doctor would analyze both your blood results and look the spaces between specific bone areas to predict if there was more space for you to grow taller. While watching this week’s lecture, it reminded me of that experience where I was completely fascinated by the complexity of human structure and the unlimited possibilities of our body.  Da Vinci's human body sketch Da Vinci's sketch of the human heart As Professor mentioned during lecture, I feel that my personal experience of analyzing my own body image greatly resonated with the beauty of Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketches of the human body and golden ratios. Each section was depicted in great detail from the calves, to the arms to the head. When I got to see these drawings in person, ...