Week 4: MedTech + Art

Before this week’s assignment, I never knew that art played such a significant role within medicine. I wouldn’t have believed or even considered that practicing medicine is an art. Thinking back on it now, I can understand how it can be considered art.

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I am a gymnast here at UCLA and in 2014 I was here for a gymnastics camp and ended up injuring my ankle that required surgery. I personally believe that doctors can be considered artists when it comes to preforming surgery, especially when it comes to the more serious and complex surgeries. Before going into surgery we had to decide what type of surgery to perform on my ankle and we decided that I needed a complete ankle reconstruction. Months after the surgery I needed to go back in to get an MRI to make sure that everything had healed properly. When people within society see an image, they automatically think art, but an MRI ultimately falls under the category of science and art.

Before surgery I looked at an original MRI of my hurt ankle and compared it to an example of a plasticized model of a properly functioning ankle. Looking at this model reminded me of the time I went to a BodyWorlds exhibit. Visiting the BodyWorlds exhibit broadened my view on medical practice, as I realized that there are many artistic ways to view medicine, other than the in its historically practical sense.

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Gray’s Anatomy was published in 1858 and is a book demonstrating the evolution of medical illustrations of the human body. This is an older form of medical technology and is either on almost every artists shelf or by their side. The fascination with the body continues today and is becoming very advanced. 

Sources:

“Current Exhibitions.” Exhibitions. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016

Gray, Henry, Peter L. Williams, and Henry Gray. Gray’s Anatomy. Edinburgh: C. Livingstone, 1989. Print. 

"MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging." :Foot and Ankle Common Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016

"The Intersection of Art and Medicine." Colby Magazine. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016

Video lectures 1 and 2 by Professor Vesna
( https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/484297/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=8599397)

Week 2: Math + Art

            `Throughout this week, I have gained great insights through the lectures and readings especially on the feats brought about through the combination of math and art, one being that neither can exist without the other. Linda Dalrymple Henderson’s The Fourth and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art, Revised Edition, exemplifies on this idea through her studies of the dimensions and how artists rely on mathematics such as non-Eauclidean geometry and a 4^th dimension of space in the creation of modern art. In addition to the concept of artists using math to create pieces, Alberti gives his own definition of a painting stating, “A painting is the intersection of a visual pyramid at a given distance, with a fixed center and a defined position of light, represented by art with lines and colors on a given surface,” strongly suggesting that art is created through mathematics. Renee Goularte presents a lesson combining the aspects of both math and art. The beginning of this lesson consists of basic definitions of common terms used in both subjects, such as a point, line, and pattern, already showing how interchangeable these two “separate” subjects are.

            M. C Escher is a famous artist who created especially mathematically challenging artwork. He used mathematical techniques such as division, balance, and perspective in order to make pieces that would actually be mathematically impossible in the real world, but accurate in the artwork due to the way the human eye sees patterns.

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          These are photos of Escher and one of his pieces called “Relativity” showing a staircase not mathematically functional in the real world yet believable to the eye. Art is created through the understanding of mathematics, and then expanded on creatively. 

http://discovermagazine.com/~/media/Images/Issues/2014/April/Math%20art%20gallery/math-cover.jpg?mw=738

        This image shows this idea of how a spiral is created, yet made to be artistic through creative traits such as coloring and shading. Overall, mathematics and science work together and add to each other, contributing to the expansion of one another. 

Sources: 

A

Abbott, Edwin Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1963. Print. 

"Linking Math and Art Through the Elements of Design." Share2learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016

"M.C. Escher." - Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web 10 Apr. 2016. 

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O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson. "Mathematics and Art - Perspective." Mathematics and Art. N.p., Jan. 2003. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. 

"The Mathematics of Art - Math Central." The Mathematics of Art - Math Central. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. 

Week 1: Two Cultures

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I can greatly relate to the existence of two cultures and the difficulties that arise from this idea because I am an undeclared physical science major, yet I also have a very artistic side that I unfortunately cannot fully explore due to the intense separation that prominently exists at UCLA. One of the most obvious obstacles is simply that UCLA's large campus is divided by these two cultures; North campus belonging to the arts and humanities, and South campus focused solely on math and science. This geographical separation leads to the separation of people, which in consequence leads to the withdrawal of collaboration between the two cultures, and this collaboration has been an important aspect of the past success in both the artistic and scientific worlds, as referred to in the reading, "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution by C.P. Snow." I consider myself to be "in between" the cultures due to the fact that  I am interested in both sides, and I have been greatly affected by the disconnection because I have faced difficulty at finding classes that interest me, yet also support my major, as well as the fact that the campus does not geographically support the involvement in both cultures. Stephen Wilson explains that the gap between art and science is reducing because artists have been more and more interested with learning about technology. 

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I see myself as lucky that I have grown up with a father who works as an engineer, and a mother who works in design, therefor exposing me to both cultures from a very young age. Not only was I able to note the aspects of each world, but I was able to notice how my mother and father helped each other with their work even though they are from allegedly "different" cultures. I have benefited from this because it has broadened my own perspective on how this divide of society is actually detrimental, and it encourages me to use skills from both cultures in order to exist in the "third culture" and experience greater success in my own life. 

Sources: 

"Academic EBriefings." A Dangerous Divide. N.p., 24 July 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2016

Bohm, David. "On Creativity." 2nd ed. Vol. 1. London: MIT, 1968. Print. 137-149

Snow, C. P. "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print. 

Wilson, Stephen. "Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology." College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York, 2000. Print

Vesna, Victoria. "Towards a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.