MedTech + Art

MedTech and art have been intertwined with one another for hundreds of years and over time as technology has advanced, newer ways of using technology to understand and aid the human body have developed. However, there is a fine line between scientific advancement and moral ethics. An example of this was mentioned in one of Professor Vesna’s lectures for this week. The Visible Human Project whose mission is “the creation of complete, anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of the normal male and female human bodies” (U.S. National Library of Medicine). The project teetered on this borderline as the scientist examined the cadaver of an executed prisoner’s body for research. The debate over this was the fact that scientists should not be involved in executions. Later on, the debate became about gender as they were questioned why they chose a male specimen. That lead to them examining a female cadaver which was then seen as morally wrong because she died of a heart attack and her husband wanted her to be part of the project. This lead me to think about all forms of medical practices and research and whether all of those teeter on the borderline as well.

One thing that was familiar in one of the lectures was Gromala’s research and development of biofeedback which helps people train their bodies to improve their health. The goal of biofeedback is “to help users lower their stress levels through meditation and muscle relaxation. Its secondary goal is to enable users who have never meditated to gain real-time feedback that allows them to sense when they are indeed lowering the physiological states that are indicative of meditating” (Gromala). I have personally used this and found it very helpful as an athlete in helping me clear my mind and releasing tension in my body.

http://youtu.be/v_WrGoJMMEY

Kevin Warwick’s work in using nanochip technology to track humans was frightening to me. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies, The Bourne Identity where Bourne was found floating in the ocean with a tracking chip in his arm controlled by the government. I do not like the idea of being able to track the whereabouts of just about anyone, but current technology makes this easily accessible.

References

Gromala, Diane. "Meditation Chamber." Diane Gromala - VR. Simon Fraser University, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.sfu.ca/~dgromala/VR/>.

"Kevin Warwick." Kevin Warwick. University of Reading. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.org/>.

Runck, Bette. "What Is Biofeedback?" Arizona Behavioral Health Associates, P.C. The Biofeedback Certification Institute of America, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://psychotherapy.com/bio.html>.

"The Visible Human Project." NIH - U.S. National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.

Robotics + Art

This week's lectures focus on the relationship between robotics and art. When watching the lectures the first things that came to mind was Star Wars. It is one of the most iconic movie series of the 20th century. The movies are set in space in a science-fiction display of an interaction between humans with machines such as landspeeders, starships and light sabers. Two characters that are essential to the story are R2-D2 and C-3PO; these two are droids (robots) that rescue and aid Padme, Luke and others in their various space adventures. C-3PO in particular is aesthetically built like a human and expresses human qualities such as empathy and anger as well. This is relevant to the section where Professor Vesna mentions cyborgs. The following clip shows the first encounter between R2-D2 and C-3PO with Luke Skywalker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MspVCc0_R3g

Walter Benjamin has influenced people in terms of giving them a cultural belief in “creativity and genius, eternal value and mystery” (218). He believe in traditional aestheticism and being able to take old/new ideas and put them into different contexts. This belief can be applied across many different subjects from robotics to film to art.

Nikola Tesla was a pioneer for the wireless world that we live in today, where information passes across distances without wires. He once gave a demonstration where he held two gas tubes (early light bulbs), one in each hand, and they emitted light. He explained that electricity was passing through the air between the two metal sheets on either side of the stage. “He went on to speculate how one might increase the scale of this effect to transmit wireless power and information over a broad area, perhaps even the entire Earth” (Bellows).

A small-scale example of his idea of a wireless world mixed with robotics is the robot cleaner. It is designed to find dirt and debris, doesn’t require any wires, has sensors that detect obstacles and cliffs (stairs), etc. This is just a small example of wireless technology that was developed to make simple tasks easier for people.

References

"C-3PO (See-Threepio)." StarWars.com. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.starwars.com/databank/c-3po>.

"Star Wars IV Selling the Droids." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MspVCc0_R3g>.

Bellows, Alan. "Tesla's Tower of Power." Tesla's Tower of Power • Damn Interesting. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.damninteresting.com/teslas-tower-of-power/>.

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

Rose Mary. "Wireless Communication and Types." Engineers Garage... Inspiring Creations. EngineersGarage, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/wireless_communication>.

Math + Art and Science

This week’s lesson focuses on the intersection between math, art, and science. The lecture starts off by stating that math is the study of relationships with numbers such as abstractions, measurements, transformations, etc. Math is also a system of symbols with rules of organizing them. Math has given artists and scientists perspective; it began with the idea of one point perspective which helped convey 3D space on 2D canvases. Then, there was the emergence of the vanishing point which is the relation between the length of an object and the plane of a picture on a canvas. Later on, della Francesca gave a description of how painting had 3 parts: drawing, proportion and colouring to which proportion was called perspective, The rest of the lecture focused a lot on perspective and the importance of the understanding of depth.

The Baptism of Christ - della Francesca

The first emergence of the golden ratio, the ultimate connection between math and art, was with the Egyptians and the pyramids. This was later passed on to the Greeks who used it in creating structures such as the Parthenon. It demonstrates the understanding of ratios of lines in proportion to one another: “This ratio governed the vertical and horizontal proportions of the temple as well as many other relationships of the building like the spacing between the columns and their height” (Ancient-Greece),

The Parthenon Structure

I found it interesting when she mentioned Le Corbusier, an architect from France whose modular system influenced contemporary architects with scale and proportion. He talked connected the human body in relation to geometry and spaces that we occupy such as, “support pillars that raise the house above the ground, a roof terrace, an open floor plan, an ornamentation-free facade and horizontal windows in strips for maximum natural light” (Le Corbusier Biography). He was a pioneer in this field that laid the foundation of modern architecture and city structures.

Citations

“The Baptism of Christ.” The National Gallery. London. Web. 11 April 2015.

“The Parthenon.” Ancient-Greeece. Web. 11 April 2015.

“Le Corbusier Biography”. Biography.com. Web. 11 April 2015.

"Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 09 April 2015.

“Piero della Francesca.” Italian Renaissance Art. Web. 11 April 2015.

Two Cultures

Hi! My name is Robin Anderson, and I’m in my last quarter as an undergraduate anthropology student here at UCLA. I’m originally from New Jersey and was recruited to play on women’s tennis team here.

Growing up, I was always asked by my peers as well as many adults whether I was more of an English/history student or a math/science one. I would always tell people that I was more of a math/science student. Even when visiting UCLA, I was informed of the divide between the two cultures of North and South campus (arts/humanities and math/sciences respectively), and as a student, it’s become very noticeable. I know some people who are north campus majors that have never been to south campus at all and vice versa. I’ve noticed that each has its own notions and stereotypes about the other which is similar to what Snow described in his lecture. For example, I had a friend last quarter who is a south campus major say, “at least we’re over here curing cancer.” She said it as if someone in the humanities couldn’t contribute to society. I don’t believe that it’s fair to sort students into these two cultures. Being an anthropology major while having a passion for the sciences has given me a different perspective that speaks to a bridge between the cultures. Anthropology students can learn about the sciences while learning to respect all cultures and backgrounds of people that they encounter. Another example of this mixture of cultures can be seen in my family. 

I grew up in a household where both of my parents were born in Jamaica. While my father is full Jamaican, my mother is actually Chinese. As with most families, I feel like it is hard to keep the traditions from both sides separate, which becomes apparent most holidays. When the traditions do mix, it creates this kind of third culture and a new way of keeping up the traditions. I believe this helps make a more well-rounded person.This can be compared to the third culture described in Professor Vesna’s article when she talks about mixing the arts and the sciences together. I think that I am a great example of this because I am an anthropology major and having to take courses that focus explicitly on science, humanities, or even a combination of the two. 

Citations

"Becoming a New Person from Within." Natural Health and Living. Web. 5 April 2015.
"And the winner of the North vs. South Campus Challenge is... ALL Bruins!" UCLA Fund. Web. 5 April 2015.
"Two Cultures Part 2." YouTube. Web. 3 April 2015.
Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
"Waving Flag of Jamaica and China." CanStockPhoto. Web. 5 April 2015.