Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Event 3

On 23, May I attended Claudia Schnugg’s lecture at CNSI. She gave a lecture about the projects and researches she has been doing and the results, briefly introduced us to her new  book, and introduced us to the idea that nowadays artists will reside a couple of months in the science community to work with scientists to get inspirations. This idea is very inspiring and refreshing for me, and it got me thinking, why aren’t scientists getting inspirations from artists the same way? As an engineering major, I can see how scientists and engineers are busy with their own work and research, and underestimate the value of the time commitment to stay in art community. However, as Claudia Schnugg has mentioned, artists get many information from this experience, I believe scientists will also benefit a lot from living with artists.

During her lecture, when she talked about the importance of specialization and diversity, especially between art and science, I strongly agree with her ideas. It is largely because of this diversity that collaboration between these two fields become very valuable. As we have learned in this course, art and science facilitate each other a lot, one of the reason is that they are so different and yet so internally connected. So in my understanding, this idea of making artists reside in the science community for a while or vice versa is much better than requiring people to manage to learn both. With the opportunities for artists to get to live with scientists within the science community, they will gain access to new knowledge, clash of different approaches, different feeling towards their own work, etc. We can see how this benefits the artists by giving them new inspirations and ideas.

For the scientists side, I feel they are missing great opportunities without collaborating with artists through getting to know them and living with them. Although they are indeed busy, I feel the main problem is still about their underestimation of art. I can see many scientists like doing art themselves, but they still view it as merely entertainment. However, art can provide them much more, such as new perspectives about current project and creative and new ideas. I feel the opportunities are largely limited as well. So maybe in the future we should devote more for the scientists to get the chances to know more about artists. 

After this lecture, the lecturer’s ideas largely inspire me. Through her words, I can feel that art is everywhere in our life. From economics, management, to science and engineering, art never failed to surprise and inspire us in our daily life. From a movie that we watched to an aesthetic choice of a room decoration, art influences us everyday. I have the feeling that not only art and science, but any two subjects will benefit from each other.





"Books, Book Chapters, & Monographs." Claudia Schnugg. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

"THE ARTWORK BEHIND YOU – LET’S TALK ABOUT STATUS." EconomistsTalkArt.org. N.p., 06 Mar. 2017. Web. 23 May 2017.

Oxenreider, Tsh, Angela Says, Catherine Says, Tsh Says, Simon Elstad Says, Anna Hettick Says, Katie Says, Jen Says, Kristen N. Says, Jo@simplybeingmum Says, Lindsey Says, Kara @SimpleKids.net Says, Caroline Starr Rose Says, Andrea Says, Krystal (Simple Life Celebrations) Says, Franziska Says, Rachel @Yonder Wild Says, Sarah Says, Sarah Westphal Says, Trisha Chenez Says, Lisa Says, Sherri Says, Rose-Anne Says, Karri Says, Johnrey Says, Katherine Willis Pershey, Robin Dance, Nicole Bennett, and Brooke. "Art is everywhere - The Art of Simple -." The Art of Simple. N.p., 03 Nov. 2013. Web. 23 May 2017.

Daniel, Patrick. "How the Intersection of Art and Science Made History." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 May 2017.


Schnugg, Claudia. "The organisation as artist’s palette: arts-based interventions." Journal of Business Strategy 35.5 (2014): 31-37. Web.

Friday, May 12, 2017

week 9



From the large popularity of sifi, it is obvious that art has largely benefited from the exploration of space. Even though I’m not a big fan of sifi, I know futurism is a very important component in arts, especially in films and movies. Among the famous movies, star wars and the spaceman are the ones I’ve heard of.

The lecture includes a very interesting video “powers of 10” in it, which I have seen before. This leads to a general idea of what out universe looks like, what is the subject we are studying when talking about space. Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “the Fountains of Paradise” sets a new starting point of the history of exploration of space. Then it follows the very interesting time period in history, the Cold War. I never knew before how important the moment of launching sputnik is before. And what follows is a series of raging competition between United States and Soviet Union. It was hilarious for me to see how they sent animals such as dog and gorilla to space, and respected those moments as holly and significant. Maybe in current time when spaceships are common, it’s hard for us to feel the era when no one has stepped in space. Then after Armstrong landed on the moon for the first time, we had several tragedies such as the Challenger. After the disembodiment of soviet union, the states seem to invest less in space exploration, even though there are scientific studies implying that there are many monetary profits in this space bussiness. 


The lecture talks a lot about the history of the exploration of space, and indeed there are many artworks created using the space exploration as inspirations. The space ladder described in the Fountains of Paradise is even made into a project in NASA. Undoubtedly art and space have mutualism relationship.

Allinaday. "The Story Of The Sputnik Moment." YouTube. YouTube, 24 June 2009. Web. 12 May 2017.

Hartston, William. "Top 10 facts about space dogs." Express.co.uk. N.p., 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 12 May 2017.

"Climbing the Cosmic Distance Ladder (Artist's Concept)." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

Wood, Danielle, and Annalisa Weigel. "Charting the evolution of satellite programs in developing countries – The Space Technology Ladder." Space Policy 28.1 (2012): 15-24. Web.

"Where Art And Space Travel Meet: Why Is The Art World Suddenly So Captivated By The Cosmos?" Creators. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

week 8

Personally I found this chapter about nanotechnology very interesting. The most interesting part for me is about the ancient artworks such as paintings and sculptures that uses nanotechnology as effects. Other parts such as nano-cell-inspired geometry and GMOs also seem very interesting for me.


As a precursor of the field, Richard Feynman pointed out that “The principles of physical do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom.” After the invention of scan tunneling microscope by Gerd and Heini, people truly are able to observe the atoms that are extremely small in quantum level. Then a very rapid development follows, and in the meanwhile, artworks inspired by nanotechnology emerged. The lecturer in the video used two artworks by his graduate students in UCLA, one is using carbon molecules to display “UCLA,” and the other is creating geometric shapes using standing waves in the quantum level scale with the scan tunneling microscope. As we can see, the use of nanotechnology in art is very popular in modern art, and it is not a very new idea. Back in ancient times, there stated to exist artworks such as the British Lycurgus Cup and Italian Pottery of Gerula. Another recent connection of nanotechnology and art is the idea of atoms having different color when reduced to different nano size in quantum scale. Besides these development, as the lecturer mentioned, nanotechnology is largely used in medicine and food, and there are pros and cons to these approached.

In my opinion, the development of nanotechnology benefits us in many aspects. In terms of art, nanotechnology also provides many essential insights for artists to be creative.



"Implications of Self-Assembly for Nanotechnology." Self-Assembly and Nanotechnology (n.d.): 171-81. Web.

Wang, Jiadao. "Lotus Leaf: Lotus Effect." Encyclopedia of Tribology (2013): 2010-016. Web.

"The Scanning Tunneling Microscope and Scanning Tunneling Microscope Revolution." Understanding the Nanotechnology Revolution (2012): 105-16. Web.

HealthyMEtvau. "Shake Diets-The Pros and Cons." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 May 2017.


"Nanowerk Emerging Technology News." Nanowerk Nanotechnology portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

week 7

In my understanding, neuroscience and art are indeed connected, but the connection is mainly in films and novels rather than paintings. Among all the artworks I have came through during this week’s lectures, Roman Y Cajal’s idea and artworks about phrenology is the most interesting to me. Also, the brainbow, Suzanne Anchor’s sea sponge and butterfly projects are all very interesting to me as well. 



Throughout history, people have always been very interested in neuroscience starting from the discovery of neurons, which was shown in the invention and development in phrenology. This subject is still in research nowadays, which I also found interesting. If we can find a mapping of the brain, then we can enhance the parts we want to and abandon the parts we don’t want such as parts that make us criminals. The invention of drugs seems also interesting to me. From Albert Hofmann’s accidental discovery of LSD, to the controversial figure of Timothy Leary, a drug addict that was commented “the most dangerous person.” Also, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud’s discussion about philosophy and mental treatment is also engaging. Those historical figures in the history about the development of neuroscience have been featured in many films and novels, which were mostly successful. So undoubtedly, neuroscience has facilitated art in different ways. 

Personally, I still prefer those peaceful projects such as the butterfly images and phrenology. In the talk on the website, it was shown that our brain can quickly adapt to a new condition such as goggles that reverse the world and set up the map quickly for future reference. This idea is interesting to me, and I strongly agree that neuroscience gives artists many inspirations in many forms.






"Timothy Leary Lsd Quotes." Timothy Leary Lsd Quotes. QuotesGram. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

Goodfriend, Wind. "Freud & Jung in "A Dangerous Method"." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 May 2017.

Vernet, Marine. "How Art and Neuroscience Fell for Each Other." Aesthetics and Neuroscience (2016): 81-89. Web.

Metro.co.uk, Simon Robb for. "This is what LSD does to your brain." Metro. N.p., 28 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 May 2017.


"Neuroscience vs art: Let’s talk across the divide." New Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

week 6






Even though I’m not a big fan of modifying genes for any living creatures, I have to admit that biotech is a very useful technique, and that artists can make use of it to create great art pieces as long as they don’t cross the boundaries of morality and law. Through this week’s readings and lectures, I got a chance to be more familiar with how artists employed biotech in their works, and I am impressed by some of the artworks such as the Embracing Animal project by Kathy High, and the human cells as signals to space project by Joe Davis. 




Throughout the history of art making use of biotech, I feel Adam Zaretsky is the precursor as well as the representative of the theoretical explanation. In his famous quotes, he explained that learning science, especially biotech, is a pursuit of art because “scientific and industrial organisms, created for specific utilization or for the furtherance of comprehension, are also expressions of aesthetic choices.” This is definitely reasonable, as we can see there are more and more emerging biotech related artworks. However, in Ellen K. Levy’s paper, he questioned the public about whether animals or body parts could be considered as a property such that we could modify arbitrarily. In my opinion, we should respect all living creatures equal, so I have a lot of empathy towards Kathy High’s project, since I feel those bio-engineered mice are an unfortunate bi-product of modern technology. 





To sum up, I largely agree that art and biotech is connected. Also the modern society showed a big interest in arts related to biotech, partly because it is controversial. I feel if the artists don’t cross the boundaries, biotech is a good field to enter to develop creative and interesting art projects.

"Kathy High: visual/media artist, independent curator, educator." Kathy High: Projects: Embracing Animal. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2017.

"Biotech Art, UCLA: Joe Davis." Vimeo. N.p., 06 Nov. 2016. Web. 11 May 2017.

Lovejoy, Margot, Victoria Vesna, and Christiane Paul. Context providers: conditions of meaning in media arts. Bristol ; Chicago, IL: Intellect, 2011. Print.

"Biotech and Art." MIT Hacking Arts. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2017.

Yaminay. "A conversation with Kathy High." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 May 2017.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Event 2

Event 2

On April 4th, I went to the event in Young Research library about chemical containment with my friend. The lecture was about researches the speaker made about negative influence of the chemicals, natural and artificial, on people’s health. It was very informative, insightful and pensive, which leads people to think about to what extend is our current society under the harm of artificial chemicals.

Even though through my own experience and existing knowledge about the harm of chemicals, I was still shocked by the results and facts of those social studies constructed by either the speaker or other people that the speaker is referring to. For example, according to the speaker, girls in the states enter their puberty earlier than girls in other countries such as China; other girls from Asian or other parts of the world will have an earlier puberty if they moved to the states at a young age. I couldn’t believe that this is true, and couldn't account for this phenomenon, but the data shows this undoubted reality. Then I started to rethink about those seemingly invisible and negligible chemical containment in our modern society. According to the speaker, the modern invention of plastic, caused a lot of invisible chemical containment. Plastic bags, bottles, containers, kitchen supplies and room decorations… Although plastic makes our life incredibly more convenient, it harms our health by spreading chemical containment. I’m not a chemical or biology major, but based on experience, the wide use of plastics might have something to do with the increase of modern health problems. A second point the author mentioned is the increase in cancer in certain areas where there are many factories. This is a common problem starting from the Industrial Revolution. In large industries, we are making products through chemical or even nuclear processes, and there will inevitably be some harmful bi-products that need to be exhaust. Besides environmental issues, a larger problem is the harm on people’s health, especially the rate of getting cancer. The author also mentioned breast cancer as an example, and the mental suffering when women have to choose between surgery to remove breast and plastic surgery that give them a “new” pair of breast after the previous surgery. This is not just a personal choice, it is a relevant feminist problem. It might be hard for people from the older generation to live without breasts, and as a result they almost always chose the plastic surgery, which brings even more harm to their body. As the speaker mentioned, first, when cancer is detected, it is very likely that it has been already spread to the whole body; second, doing a plastic surgery after suffering from cancer and chemotherapy might be too much for us.


For myself, I felt the urge to be more aware of chemical containments around me. Not that I understand that chemical containment includes far more than just negative impacts from nuclear leak, it’s good to keep it in mind. For example, I’ll try to use paper bags or cloth bags when shopping to avoid plastic bags, and I will avoid living in areas that have many factories. I’ll also try to inform my friends and family about this information, and come up with possible solutions to this problem.




Metcalfe, Richard, and Christopher A. Rochelle. "Chemical containment of waste in the geosphere." Geological Society, London, Special Publications 157.1 (1999): Vii-Xvi. Web.

Geiser, Kenneth. "A Policy Assessment of European Hazardous Waste Treatment Facilities." Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials 2.3 (1985): 363-80. Web.

Beresford, Heather. "M Health: Living in a Period of Change; These Days, Some Girls Are Hitting Puberty before They Hit Their Teens. but Is It Any Easier Than It Was for Their Mothers - and Is Society Ready for Them?" The Mirror (London, England). N.p., 23 May 2002. Web. 10 May 2017.


Norton, Amy. "Childhood Obesity Again Tied to Earlier Puberty in Girls; Study Compared Onset Age of Breast Development in 1997 and Now." Consumer Health News (English). N.p., 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 May 2017.

"MORE GIRLS ARE HITTING PUBERTY BEFORE AGE 10; Experts fear trend puts our kids at risk.(News)." Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland). N.p., 14 June 2010. Web. 10 May 2017.’’


"Chemical Pollution." Ocean Health Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2017.