Event 2: Brainstorming

On the Friday, May 5, I attended a Brainstorming Session at California Nanosystems Institute. Before I attended this activity, I did not know what is this activity about. This activity is in a little room with a table. After a read the instruction, I know that brainstorming is a series of work that explore the possibilities of brain to brain communication.

            For almost a century, people already can detect the rhythmic electrical signals on the surface of the head, called EEG (electroencephalogram). Brainwaves is a common name that people called. Brainwaves were observed first by Berger in the late 1920’s. He pointed out that the electrical signals from head can be transmitted like radio, which allow people can share each other’s thoughts. The discovery of the EEG was a great improvement in clinical medicine. Doctors can use EEG to detect the diseases about brain.

            For the Brainstorming activity, professor Victoria Vesna is trying to let people communicate with each other without talking, just brain to brain, which is cool. In order to communicate with each other, two people will wear the brainwave – reading headpieces. The helmet is extremely cute, and it looks like an octopus. The head of octopus is the helmet, and the tails attach to each other to communicate. The helmet can detect the brainwaves and transfer them to different colors and sounds, also, different frequency of brainwaves has different colors. Based on the colors and sound, these two people can communicate with each other without talking. These special helmets were created by Vesna and Cohen.

            I like this Brainstorming activity, and I think this activity is really interesting. It is a good combination of art and science. The detection of brainwave is part of science, and to transfer those colors to language need some imaginations. For me, I am a biology major student, EEG is familiar to me, however, before this activity, I only had the sense that EEG can help people to detect the disease. After this activity, I have a new cognition to EEG, and I also have the idea that EEG can be used to communicate. This is important for people, not only for science and art. If this program can be used universal, it will bring so much convenience for the whole human race, especially for deaf. The can communicate without any obstacles. For now, this program can be only used in two people, not in the group, and professor Vesna also said their goal was that this program can be used in the whole group, not only two people. However, in my opinion, there are some difficulties that to be solved if it is used in the group. The most difficult one is to distinguish who is the person talking to. If within two people, it is very easy to tell, however if within more than three people, it is hard to distinguish. Also, one thing I am consider is that how to determine the motion based on the frequency of brainwaves. For example, if people feel excited, the frequency of brainwave will be higher; however, if people get angry, the frequency of brainwave also will be high.

            Although there are still some difficulties to be solved, I still appreciate this activity, because it gives me a new idea about EEG. I know that EEG can be used in communication, not only in detection of diseases.

Midterm

https://drive.google.com/a/g.ucla.edu/file/d/0BzRWgEbMrY31TXBvSDU5bWtwRGs/view?usp=sharing

Week 4: MedTech + Art

For this week, professor talked the topic of medicine is one form of art. The topic is quite interesting because I am a life science student, and I have taken lots of biology classes. Before this week, I’ve never had the idea that medicine is related to art. In the past biology classes, when I learned MIR, x-ray and other technology skills that can depict the anatomy of the human body, I only consider those things as pure science. I never know there are art inside. With the development of technology in the medicine, people can know more inside about human body, and the new technology can bring a new view of art. When people look inside of the body, people can see a beautiful picture of our body. Here is a picture of nervous system.

https://www.reference.com/health/care-nervous-system-1751507e01b6e598

Besides the technology of looking inside of the human body, we can see art in medicine anywhere. Saunders says: “The practice of clinical medicine with its daily judgments is both science and art. In the practice of clinical medicine, the art is not merely art of the medical humanities but is integrated to medicine as an applied science.” Also, Donald E. Ingber explores the architecture of life, and he found human body is use many architecture to build itself. For example, the vertical tensegrity model. Cytoskeletal microfilament stabilize itself through a balance of compression and tension.

The Architecture of Life

S.C. Panda says: “Medicine is both an art and a science. Both are interdependent and inseparable, just like two side of a coin.” The art of medicine is really important because we have to deal with a human being.

Reference 

"How Do You Take Care of Your Nervous System?" Reference. IAC Publishing, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

              Panda, S.C. "Medicine: Science or Art?" Mens Sana Monographs. Medknow Publications, 2006. Web. 30 Apr. 2017. 
           
           Donald E. Ingber  The Architecture of Life. Scientific American January 1998

  
          Saunders J. The practice of clinical medicine as an art and as a science. Medical Humanities. 2000;26:18–22. Available at:  http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="http://mhbmjjournalscom/cgi/content/ full/26/01/18 (Date of Access: 18 February 2006) [PubMed]

            William Norman S., editor. Bailey And Love's Short Text Book of Surgery, The Rectum. 24th ed. London: Arnold; pp. 1225–1226.

Event 1: WHAT’S NEXT: Eco Materialism and Contemporary Art

             On April 17, I attended Linda Weintraub’s lecture called “WHAT’S NEXT: Eco Materialism and Contemporary Art”. Linda is an American art writer, educator and curator. She has written some books about contemporary art. Also, she addresses environmental consciousness that defines the ways cultures approach art, science and many aspects. Her lecture at UCLA was at Broad Art Center. There were not so many people attended this lecture, and also we were supplied chips drinks. Those made the lecture great, and I felt like it is a small workshop instead of a large lecture.

             During lecture, Linda talked about several artists and their paintings to illustrate eco materialism and contemporary art. One of the artist was Kazimir Malevich and his painting “White on White”. The painting depicted a white square on the ground. Malevich used many characteristics to represent art with no sense of color, depth, or volume. It was very sample. Like he said: “I have ripped through the blue lampshade of color. I have come out into white. Follow me, comrade aviators, sail on into the depths”, he used the sample square shape and white color to represent a feeling of floating, and the slight tilt of square suggests movement.

            Another point that I was interested in was neo materialism and feminism. The artist related to this is Ana Mendieta. Much of Mendieta’s work could strongly represent feminism. In here early performance art, the work was violence against the female body, but later, Mendieta focused on the connection between a physical and the land. As Mendieta said: “My art is grounded on the belief in one universal energy which runs through everything; from insect to man, from mam to specter, from specter to plant, from plant to galaxy”. 

          After Mendieta’s lecture, I have a new understanding about materialism, and I realize that many objects can represent many feelings and can represent many aspect in the nature. Before this lecture, I only know that a good painting is beautiful and good skilled, but now I know that the most important meaning in the painting is the representation the work can represent