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It is so strange to think about the way our bodies work. For most people, not much consideration is put in to our daily routines and bodily functions. When you think about it though, the human body is incredibly complex, and it seems almost impossible that something so fine tuned could exist. Yet here we are. We have been able to use technology and medicine to our advantage to benefit people with all kinds of different needs. These medical advancements, along with the ever growing understanding of the human body have allowed for artists and scientists alike to develop their own compelling work. A body preserved through plastination as part of the Body Worlds exhibit. The process of plastination, which was created by Gunther von Hagens was one of the topics mentioned in lecture that really caught my eye. This process allows the human body to be on display and preserved. This made it possible for the average person to be able to view the human anatomy first hand. I personally did n

For event one I went to the Torrance Art Museum, which is a local museum near my home. The museum is comprised of two gallery spaces, with exhibits that change every few months. The exhibits on display were Co/Lab III in the main gallery, and Dreams and Fevers in the second gallery. Co/Lab III is a collaborative project that had art of all kinds of mediums, from digital, to painting to sculpture. There was one work that used tape and ribbons to draw a picture on the wall, which likely needed to use a scale conversion to create, which incorporated math. There was also a work that involved multiple screens, all playing a similar video, which was slightly distorted. There were a few pieces that showed light being manipulated, likely through long exposure photography. There were also a few sculptures with material that had reflective properties, so the light would bounce off them in various colors. A lot of these works involved math or science in some aspect, and if I had viewed thi

The topics of this weeks lectures reminded me of a class I took a two years ago. The course revolved around the relationship between Humans and Technology, specifically in the realm of film. Throughout the course we viewed various films, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis, Blade Runner, Ex Machina and even The Terminator. We looked at the way American society views robots and droids, and why. Ex Machina is a film about a scientist and his sentient robot creation. Most of what these films have in common is that the robot is created with a purpose, whether it is to make human life more simple, for companionship, or to achieve a certain goal. However, at some point along the way the robot becomes too self aware, and ends up becoming a threat to human life. These films seem to suggest that we view robots as a threat to humanity, and that if they become too advanced they will harm their creators, and take over the world. This is a common theme in the science fiction genre.

This weeks topic of the interconnectedness of math and art was something I have never learned about before. I had always been aware of some of the ways math can be applied within the practice of art, but I never studied it first hand. I always understood the importance of proportions, and ratios, but I was not aware of who first came up with the concept, or why it was applied in the first place. The golden ratio can be found in many works of art and architecture.  The topics presented in the lecture video were especially interesting. The use of the golden ratio, and the proportions of the human body in art and architecture were both topic that I knew little about. The use of ratios in art is interesting to me, because when I learned about ratios in math I only was taught what the were, but not how to apply it to anything outside of the classroom. The artist that was in this weeks resources that really caught my attention was Theo Jansen. A video of Jansen's Strandbeests m

I have always noticed differences, and separation between the Humanities and Sciences, especially when I began attending college. As explained by C.P. Snow, the Stem students and Humanities rarely crossed paths outside of general ed courses at my school. I am a student at UC Santa Cruz. The school is divided up into ten smaller colleges, each with it's own theme and course list. Toward a Third Culture,  the problem here was a lack of understanding and proper communication, which I attribute to the minimal socialization and integration with people outside of one's own area of study. College Ten at UCSC, which has a social justice theme and houses the social sciences department.   Some themes are related to science, or environmental studies, while others are related to the arts and social justice. Additionally, the different departments are placed in or near these colleges. When I committed to UCSC I was required to choose which college I wanted to live in. There were ma