Week 4: MedTech + Art

  This week's topic is by far the most fascinating to me of all four topics I've encountered in this course. Human bodies are nature's masterpieces, precise yet flawed artworks. Clothes and makeup can temperarily decorate the surface of out bodies, but only medicine can change us permanently from the interior.

  

  Medicine has enabled people, especially women, to become more beautiful by doing plastic surgeries. Among all countries, South Korea is probably the most famous for their plastic surgeries. It is estimated that at least one-fifth of women in Seoul have done the surgery, and it is common for Korean people to discuss this matter during daily conversations. Almost every celebrity in Korea did plastic surgery before their debut. Below is a photo of my favorite K-pop girl group f(x).

  

  Medicine has also provided a solution for people who feel that they are born with the wrong gender. Transgender surgeries change a person's gender by altering his/her sexual characteristics to those of his/her preferred gender. Men in Thailand are known for their inclination to transform to women, also known as "ladyboys". They usually start when they are very young by injecting female hormones. However, many Thai men now do the surgery only to be able to participate in sexual services.

Sources

Jackson, Peter. 'Intersections: Performative Genders, Perverse Desires: A Bio-History Of Thailand's Same-Sex And Transgender Cultures'. Intersections.anu.edu.au. N.p., 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue9/jackson.html>

Marx, Patricia, John Seabrook, and Rebecca Mead. 'The World Capital Of Plastic Surgery'. The New Yorker. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/about-face>

Vesna, Victoria. 'Medicine Pt2'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>

Vesna, Victoria. 'Medicine Pt3'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>

YouTube,. 'Pattaya Walking Street Ladyboy'. N.p., 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oYCehu1Fdo>

Images Used

F(X). 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://i.imgur.com/vc2EgfC.jpg>

Grey's Anatomy. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://netflixlife.com/files/2015/03/Greys-Anatomy.jpeg>

Ladyboys. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/att/site1/20070215/xin_59020415202076465187.jpg>

Week 3: Robotics + Art

  When it comes to industrialization and art, I would definitely say that there is a love-hate relationship between them. In fact, not only art, the whole society is affected by the development of technology in both good and bad ways. In early days, approximately the time of industrial revolution, media works started to portray or satirize the influence of industrialization, more than often the negative influences. In Charlie Chaplin's film Modern Times, the protagonist suffers from modern industrialization after having to screw nuts at high speed and being fed by the feeding machine that he eventually goes nuts. Nonetheless, in the movie Metropolis, a disparity between the rich and the poor due to industrialization is shown and the robot brought huge chaos to the city, implying the detrimental effects of industrialization. 

  Walter Benjamin addressed the effect of mechanization, particularly on artworks, in his article The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. He claims that artworks have aura and aura relies on authenticity. He believes that mechanical reproduction destroyed the aura of arts and therefore the value of arts. I do believe this is true since people don't appreciate the original works as much when they can easily get access to replicas. However, Marshall McLuhan believes that medium is just as important as the message it carries. Mediums like movies and Internet can enable people to see things in very different ways than writings. To sum up, technology has both positive and negative influences on art and the whole society. But I think overall the positive weighs out the negative. 

Sources

Benjamin, Walter, and J. A Underwood. The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction.

       London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

McLuhan, Marshall, and W. Terrence Gordon. Understanding Media. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko

       Press, 2003. Print.

Metropolis. Germany: Fritz Lang, 1927. film.

Modern Times. United States: Charlie Chaplin, 1936. film.

Vesna, Victoria. 'Robotics Pt1'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. 'Robotics Pt2'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Images/Videos Used

Metropolis. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://thefridacinema.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Metropolis-gold.jpg>

Modern Times. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ridleymcintyre.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/chaplin-charlie-modern-times_01.jpg>

YouTube,. 'Charlie Chaplin - Factory Work'. N.p., 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfGs2Y5WJ14>

Week 2: Math + Art

  This week Prof. Vesna talked about the relationship between art and math. Before this week, I thought that art and math are completely different from each other, primarily due to the impression that people who are good at math often do poorly in arts and vice versa. But now I believe that art and math are inseparable. In fact, there was no real art until math is utilized in the process of creating art.

  How to portray three-dimensional space on a two dimensional canvas was a problem for artists in the past. Brunelleschi is seen to be the first person in the west to solve the problem by using correct formulation of linear perspective and discovering the vanishing point. He was able to calculate the scale of things in accordance to distance. Brunelleschi is also famous for his construction of the doom of the Florence Cathedral shown below.

  Leonardo da Vinci is an artist whose work incorporated math very well. He distinguished the artificial perspective and natural perspective. His famous work includes The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa is also a classic example of the use of golden ratio, which is referred to as "the ultimate connection of math and art" by Prof. Vesna.

Sources

da Vinci, L. Mona Lisa. Retrieved from http://www.davincilife.com/mona-lisa.jpg

da Vinci, L. The Last Supper. Retrieved from http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/The-Last-Supper-1498.jpg

Florence Cathedral Dome. Retrieved from http://www.passports.com/sites/default/files/brunelleschi___s_dome_on_the_florence_duomo_(cathedral)1351780530236.png

Nielsen, I., Landa, A., & Shutterstock,. (2014). Mathematical Masterpieces: Making Art From Equations. Retrieved from http://discovermagazine.com/~/media/Images/Issues/2014/April/Math%20art%20gallery/math-cover.jpg?mw=1000&mh=800

Vesna, V. (2012). Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov. YouTube. Retrieved 13 April 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg#t=1377