kgeiserdesma9@blogspot.com

Week 9

This week’s lesson on space was definitely my favorite one that we have learned about so far this quarter. I really enjoyed all of the lectures because they fully captured the content of this course, which are art and science, and illustrated how space brings the two together, thus developing a third culture. I think space in itself is a culture of its own. It has been studied for hundreds of years and only continues to grow and expand with each new development that arises. In the first lecture, Professor Vesna discussed the history to space exploration and the origin of its roots. Understanding this background is essential to understanding the topic of space as a whole because each new theory has been developed upon the last ones.

The main connection to art that I made during these lectures on space was between science and science-fiction. In Lecture One, Professor Vesna discusses how science fiction has offered ideas that scientists have followed. For example, the idea of a space station was first described in science books in the 1920’s. This was then shortly followed by the creation of an actual space station. It is so interesting to learn how the fields of art and science have come together and helped further the other field along. This is truly an example of a third culture being developed and it is all due to the overall study of space, which has brought these things together.

I also thought it was so interesting to hear how nanotechnology has aided scientists in studying space. The molecules being detected in space are helping add to the discoveries. Learning this made me realize just how interconnected all of these topics are that we have been studying. This is again why I loved this week’s lecture because it brought all of them together to show that a third culture is already beginning to exist between art and science.

Works Cited

"A Brief History of Space Exploration." The Aerospace Corporation. The Aerospace Corporation,

n.d. Web. 27 May 2016.

Dunbar, Brian. "Telescope History." NASA. NASA, 23 Dec. 2003. Web. 27 May 2016.

Hamilton, Calvin J. "Space History Introduction." Space History Introduction. Solar Views, n.d.

Web. 27 May 2016.

"Nanotechnology in Space." Nanotechnology in Space. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2016.

"Nanotechnology in Space." Nanowerk. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2016.

kgeiserdesma9@blogspot.com

Week 8 Blog Post

            Professor Vesna introduces us to this week’s discussion about nanotechnology by describing it as one of the most important and groundbreaking forms of art we have yet to study. Professor Vesna explains that the rise of nanotechnology is “pushing us over the edge into the 21^st century.” Being a collaborative science it is rapidly being connected to the arts as artists and scientists are coming together to further explore this field.

            I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Gimzewki’s lectures as he continued to elaborate on nanotechnology. Gimzewski broke down nanotechnology to the atom and explained how the sizing worked, as nanotechnology uses a scale of 10, illustrating just how tiny these atoms are. From this I came to realize that nanotechnology is all about precision. With every little atom that makes up this entire field being so small, you must be very precise and exact when examining the images. Dr. Gimzewki professed that nanotechnology is already starting to “change the world in social and economic ways.” This field of science is a huge breakthrough that is allowing us to see things in a whole different light.

            After explaining the scaling of the atoms, Dr. Gimzewki discussed the background to nanotechnology. While most of the huge discoveries have been made fairly recently, nanotechnology dates back to Richard Feynman and the lecture he gave at Caltech in 1959. Feynman was the first person who saw a future in this field. His ideas were then built upon by K. Eric Drexler who viewed nanotechnology from an engineer and mechanical point of view. Learning about these two men and their contributions to nanotechnology helped me understand that this topic is constantly being studied and developed by new scientists. Each idea leads to the next and it is beginning to pick up pace as more ideas and contributions are being produced by these scientists who have studied past scientists’ work with nanotechnology.

            In the second lecture we learned about the new form of carbon that was discovered due to nanotechnology. This example proved the positive affects that nanotechnology can produce. Dr. Gimzewki also explained how the invention of the new Scanning Tunneling Microscope helped advance nanotechnology greatly. From here, nanotechnology has been able to connect to the field of art. Due to the fact that this new microscope can produce more accurate images of the atoms, we are now able to see the art that exists behind the science. Artists are able to view these images and use their own creative minds to produce even more works of art.

Works Cited

"About Nanotechnology." About Nanotechnology. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

Curwen, Thomas. "Taking a Step toward a Machine That Can Think." Los Angeles Times. Los

Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 May 2016.

Feder, Barnaby J. "The Art of Nanotech." Bits The Art of Nanotech Comments. The New York

Times, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 May 2016.

"NanoArt 21." NanoArt 21. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

"What Is Nanotechnology?" Nano. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

kgeiserdesma9@blogspot.com

Event #2

            I attended the Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear exhibit at the LACMA Museum where I explored the cultural changes of men’s fashion from 1715 to 2015. This unique exhibit was very well done and had multiple mannequins representing each era by modeling the clothing trends that existed at that particular time. This exhibit took me on a journey throughout time as I closely observed all of the various unique items of clothing. I really enjoyed this exhibit because it gave me a different insight into the cultures of the past. By looking at the different mannequins side by side I was able to observe the changes that occurred from one era to the next. Not only this, but looking at the outfits gave me a perspective of the historic events that occurred at this time in history. For instance, one of the outfits clearly reflected WWII without having anything on it that specifically portrayed this.

            This exhibit is relevant to what we are studying in this course because as a whole it illustrates all of the different cultures that have existed throughout time. It shows how there are many different cultures in this world and that they are constantly changing and evolving. Another very interesting aspect of this exhibit is that by observing all of the various outfits I came to understand that the different cultures are influenced by the events in history and that they in turn influence the people living during that time. Culture shapes individuals and morphs them into society. This is a common theme, which we have been learning throughout all of our weekly lessons—culture plays a huge role in our daily lives. This exhibit is also relevant to this class because fashion is a form of art and it is very unique to each person, place, and activity. Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear specifically relates to the topic of “Two Cultures,” which we discussed in week one. Fashion is a representation of culture that is reflected through every person every minute of the day. It is an easy form of culture to observe and understand and helps diverge the two main forms of culture—art and science— into one because it relates the art of style with the science of production.

Works Cited

Dizikes, Peter. "Our Two Cultures." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2009.

Web. 17 May 2016.

"Dress, Fashion, and Social Change." Dress, Fashion, and Social Change. N.p., 1995. Web. 17

May 2016.

"INTO THE FASHION: Cultural Influences On Trend Forecasting." INTO THE FASHION: Cultural

Influences On Trend Forecasting. N.p., 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 May 2016.

Nash, Tim. "1920s Fashion Was a Time of Great Social Change." The Finer Times: War, Crime

and History Resource. The Finer Times, n.d. Web. 17 May 2016.

"The Changing Culture of Couture | Design | Agenda | Phaidon." Phaidon. Phaidon, n.d. Web.

17 May 2016.