MichelleNguyenDESMA9

     In this week's lecture, nanotechnology, defined as the the scale of science done at an extremely small perspective, was a concept that was recently incorporated into many different aspects such as chemistry, medicine, biology, and even into common items in the consumer market. Dr. Gimzewski's lecture not only helped me understand the integration between nanotechnology and art, but also helped me visualize how nanotechnology evolved within the artistic aspect (Gimzewski) .  Common Nanoparticles (Figure 2) Image of an Atom, Taken by Scanning Tunnel Microscopy (STM)      An example mentioned in lecture that helped me further understand was the scanning tunneling microscope ("Meet...Microscopes"). This microscope uncovered a world that was unknown prior. With this probe tip, more discoveries, such as imaging of atoms, new elements, and experiments were showcased ( Tersoff). How Nanotechnology Can Change Medicine        With nano...

    This week's lecture on the integration between neuroscience and art was one worth noting, as neuroscience has been a topic that the general public's also interested in. Neuroscience can been as a way to many to understand their individuality, while art is a way to interpret and understand the potential unknown (Anker).       One of this week's material that helped me further understand and appreciate the combination of neuroscience and art was the guest lecture with Daniel Jay. Dr. Jay has more than thirty years of experiences within the arts and sciences, and showed examples that were unique to the general public, but were elements common to scientists and artists (Jay). One of the most influential ones in my opinion was Jay's use of elements within the periodic table with the same first letter to create art, as well as elements from various concepts (e.g. iron and magnetic fields art, art made from elements made from gunpowder), and much more....

     As a student who's taken a biotechnology course before, I found this week's lecture on biotechnological art to be fairly interesting, yet different. My previous course highlighted biotechnology as a discipline of science where advanced technological systems one a molecular level (Panofsky). This class, in contrast, then emphasizes the artistic aspect of it, as this is where artists and scientists work together in the lab to produce artwork from various scientific imaging tactics (Vesna).  Extreme Close-Up of Dental Enamel, Patterns Taken Through Electron Microscopy     Although it already feels like art is all around us within the biotechnological world, this week's lecture showed that there is a growing concern among the public with such integration. As technology advances, the growing concerns revolve around ethics: is it really necessary to perform such work on humans and animals (Adam)? Such concerns rose around as early as Symbiotica, one of...

   On April 22, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual session with bioartist Mary Maggic. Maggic was well known for her study on biohacking, specifically within the spectrum of estrogen, and how estrogen is openly available within our surroundings ("About ... Official"). Mary Maggic's Mobile Lab, taken into display as art .     The session starts with our host, Katy High, defining BioArt as an approach from the biotechnological perspective to produce art. Once transferred over to Maggic, Maggic then opens the presentation up with a quote and a question: How does the body queer on a molecular level ? (Maggic). They then mention about estrogen, and how this hormone has been present within many aspects: our water, various weed killer products, birth control, and much more. This environmental estrogen, most commonly seen in the form of BPA, is being taken in in the estrogen receptor and indirectly exposing us to more and more ( Jorgensen). Maggic e...

On Sunday, April 10, I had the opportunity to finally visit the Hammer Museum. During my time there, I was fascinated at all the various concepts of art, including Lifes, one that was hosted on the top floor. Lifes was an exhibit featuring a vast space that's occupied with various structures, each of which had depth to the overall concept projected. Outside View of Hammer Museum Upon entering the vicinity, the first thing I was greeted was the dim lighting followed by the low rumbling of chanting in my ears. After receiving the brochure and looking more into it, I learned that the audio I was listening to was The Tuning Meditation , a piece made from constant vocalization ("Turning Meditation"). The Tuning Meditation was a piece of auditory work that helped bring forth the atmosphere on this place. The next notable site worth mentioning at this event were the nine marble lions. These lions were described to be the boundaries between the public and private, which was suppo...

 When looking closer at medicine, technology, and art, I was genuinely surprised at their commonalities. From the fundamental concepts of structure and balance, to how modern medical technology derived from artistic doings, MedTech was derived from artistic concepts (Vesna, part II).    X-Ray Image of a Rose     Ingber's "Architecture of Life" reading helped me understand more of the concepts of MedTech not only because the text itself, but also because of a guest lecture with Gerald de Jong a few weeks prior. Ingber's text emphasized the similarities between tensegrity in man-made structures and the human body (Ingber). Ingber points out that the one critical structure shared amongst all is that tension is transmitted equally across all the parts. Similarly, Gerald's lecture also mentioned how the tubes and wires all work together to balance out the structures (Jong). Jong's structures then greatly resemble the structures shown in the aforementioned readin...