Week 4 Blog Post: Medicine + Technology + Art

This week’s topic is Medicine + Technology + Art. After reviewing all the materials, I feel that the lecture part 3 interests me most, as the issues and events mentioned in this part are closely related to our daily life.

First, professor Vesna touches on plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is definitely one of the hottest topics in modern society. There are a lot of discussions on its long-term potential threats to the human body and the moral side of the change on human appearance. I grow up in China, and there is an old Chinese saying, “All the body parts, hairs and the skin are given by the parents. Do not dare to make changes or harms to them, as this will be a form of disobedience to the parents.” Personally, I have a quite traditional mindset on this issue, and I feel that anything which may lead to potential threat to the human body is not a good avenue to pursue external beauty. I believe that is not worthy to get a 5-year “perfect” face with a series of recovering / maintenance operations in exchange for long-term health.




"The before and after Michael Jackson"
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/FTX1jQY5wHw/URCBVvGWUGI/AAAAAAAAA48/-9OgZccYa8M/s1600/michael-jackson-plastic-surgery-before-and-after.jpg



Besides, Professor Vesna mentions the application of modern technology in medical experiments. The most noticeable example is the Cyborg projects initiated by Professor Kevin Warwick. As professor Vesna mentions, the silicon chip transponder in Cyborg 1.0 and the electrode array in Cyborg 2.0 are very great electronic inventions for Parkinson’s disease, blindness, arthritis and schizophrenia. Before watching the video clip, I thought that there is not much technological application on medical treatment, and most of the similar technology like robotics is still for exhibition purposes. I personally feel that Professor Warwick’s study is very interesting, and hopefully his further study will help more people in the future.



               "Cyborg 1.0"

http://www.kevinwarwick.com/images/manmachine.jpg

           "cyborg 2.0"

http://www.kevinwarwick.com/images/Losh-t.gif

The relationship among medicine, technology and art has been strengthened throughout the progress of modern technology. Hopefully in the future, the application of technology in medicine and art will provide the human beings something more than the artistic effect. It will be great if the application of modern technology, like Professor Warwick’s Cyborg Project, can help more needy people.

Work cited:


Vesna, Victoria. Unit 4 Lecture Medtech+Art. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>


"《孝经》开宗明义章第一 原文 译文_国学智慧." 《孝经》开宗明义章第一 原文 译文_国学智慧. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sophia.net.cn/gu/folder12/2007118/2274.Html>.


Goudreau, Jenna. "Top 10 Hidden Dangers Of Cosmetic Surgery." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/2011/06/16/top-10-dangers-cosmetic-surgery_slide.html>.

"The HisTory of Michael Jackson's Face." The HisTory of Michael Jackson's Face. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html>.


"Kevin Warwick - Home Page." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.kevinwarwick.com/index.asp>.

Week 3 Blog post: Mechanization and Art

The topic for this week is mechanization and art. In the lecture, Professor Vesna mentions describes Walter Benjamin’s ideas as “he analyzes how mechanical reproduction destroys or put an end to the idea of uniqueness or authenticity or aura as he labeled it, in the work of art. The withering of aura is inevitable. The idea of originality is broken down. The idea of tradition is not as important and the idea of mechanical reproduction in his eyes emancipates the work of art from the dependence of the ritual.” I agree with Walter that mechanical reproduction devalues the idea of uniqueness and originality. I did a google search on “reproduction artwork”, and I got a list of art companies who reproduced artwork. The reproduction technology is so widespread, thus it depreciates the uniqueness. The picture below is a person in a art reproduction company trying to take a digital copy of the work.

http://www.fineprintimaging.com/images/artcopy1.jpg

However, I feel that there are also many great points brought up by the reproduction. A single artwork now can be viewed by people living in different places at the same time. The mechanization plays a huge role in promoting and advertising the art. People who have no prior contact with artworks can get more opportunities to comprehend the complexity and subtlety of art. The below is a list of web address for online museums. The public does not need to commute and can get access to see great art pieces easily from their houses.

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/images/halverson_exh_banner.jpg

This is a photo available in the online museum.

Automobile industry is another example of showing the positive mutual influence of mechanization and art. Other the regular cars, different kinds of concept cars are produced to showcase new styling and new technology. For example, Buick Y-Job, widely regarded as the first concept vehicle in the world, is designed by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl. It has great impact on the subsequent Buick cars and the concept of Buick Blackhawk. The imaginative and futuristic concepts of these cars wow audiences all around the world and give us a glimpse in to the future.

http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Buick/38-Buick-Y-Job-Concept-DV-08_PBC_01.jpg

This is a picture of a Buick Y-Job concept car.

All in all, I agree with Walter Benjamin that mechanization is detrimental to the development of artistic uniqueness and originality, but we cannot neglect the positive effects of mechanization on art.







Work sited:

Vesna, Victoria, Robotics pt1. Web. 18 Oct 2013.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRw9_v6w0ew&feature=player_embedded>

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” . UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Web. 18 Oct 2013
<http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.

"Art Copy Services for Fine Art Reproductions." Digital Art Copy. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://www.fineprintimaging.com/print_services/art_copy/>.

"Exhibitions." Online / American Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/>.

"Concept Cars and Prototype Vehicles - Vehicle Information from Concept to Production."Concept Cars and Automobile Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://files.conceptcarz.com/>.

Week 2 Blog Post: Mathematics and Art

The lectures and the readings for this week focus on elaborating the close relationship between Mathematics and Art. Most people take mathematics and art to be two very different subjects. In fact, there are a lot of intersections between these them. The artists incorporate mathematical concepts into their artistic work. The creative work done by mathematicians can be considered as a special form of art. In this weekly blog post, I will be discussing the interaction between mathematics and art in following two aspects: mathematics and architecture, mathematics and music.

This is a picture of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The architect incorporates the concepts of non-Euclidean geometry into the Deconstrctivist architecture of the building. On its official website, the deeper meaning of the design is described as “resembling silver sails, the curves echo the billows in the auditorium and play off the bowed cornice of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, forging a link between new and old.” The penetration of geometry into architecture is definitely one of the greatest developments of architecture.

Nowadays, mathematics has even “invaded” music production. In the above video clip, it seems that the short piece of music is produced by different kinds of music instruments. In fact, this song is made by mathematical computer software, Matlab.

Furthermore, the above is a student Matlab project, “automatic piano music player”, which produced music from any input music text file. This shows that applying mathematics in music production is not a work of the best mathematician in the world. College students with good mathematical and computing knowledge will be able to get involved in the production of “mathematical music”!




Work Sited:


"ARCHITECTURE." Architecture. Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://www.laphil.com/wdch10/wdch/architecture.html>.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles California. 2003. Photograph. PDPhoto, Los Angeles.

Anainanosh."matlab music wav" Online video clip. Youtube, Feb 27, 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.

Rknox13."Automatic Piano Player - Engineering 6 Final Project" Online video clip. Youtube, Dec 4, 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.

O'Connor, John; Robertson, Edmund F (July 2012). "Mathematics and Architecture". University of St Andrews. Retrieved December 11, 2012.

Blog Entry Week 1

The part III of the lecture touches me most. Gradually, the perpetuation of the stereotype into the education has affected the life of each and every individual student. The change in architecture is a sign of the influence of the corporate world to the schools. There are many other aspects where modern technology has “invaded” the old-schooled education systems. In this blog entry, I would like to discuss about the impact of the use of technology in general for education.I will touch heavily on iPad, as it is a symbolic product of modern technology. 

The shift in architecture reminds me of a piece of news in my high school regarding the adoption of iPad in the classroom environment. The school decided to use iPad instead of the textbook in the classroom.  We can see that some parents and the school administration held opposite opinions on the usefulness of modern technology.

Intuitively, people may think that the technology will make teaching and learning more efficient. 

Here is a video clip showing the various iPad apps which can help the students in schooling.

Every human can think of several benefits of using modern technology for education. However, I find a series of online video clips produced by Matthew Gudenius, an educational technologist illustrating why we should say no to iPad for education. 

The cost of using ipad to replace textbooks is $430,000.
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/ipads-vs-textbooks-main.jpg

Although a few of his viewpoints may not be relevant to what I have been talking about, some others are unique and valid. He mentioned that iPad users do not have access to many websites, and iPads do not have USB or storage card slots. Thus, one of the most advanced technology-based products, iPad, has its limitations for education.

Since there is not strong prevalence in the use of iPad for education, we cannot really gain a clear conclusion about whether iPad is useful or not. In fact, the original idea of using modern technology for education is definitely to enhance teaching and learning. However, just like iPad, the application of science and technology may have its own limitations. Even for this class, we cannot really say if having an online course is better or worse than the real classroom setting. All in all, I feel that technology can be a double-sided sword which may create unnecessary obstacles for both teaching and learning. We have to be careful about the use of technology for education.



Work Sited:

uconlineprogram."TwoCultures pt3" Online video clip. Youtube, Apr 2, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

"IPad 1:1 Programme." Web log post. River Valley High School Official Website. River Valley High School, n.d. Web.

Sim, Bryna. "News | Asiaone News." News | Asiaone News. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120201-325254.html>.

Nikki Egdamin. "iPad Apps for School: Planning, Reading, Notes, PDFs - School Tips" Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, Feb 12, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

Matthew Gudenius."Just Say NO to iPad for Education: Introduction & Overview" Online video clip. Youtube, May 8, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.