elisesDESMA9

Elise_Schroeder_Desma9_Final.pdf

elisesDESMA9

Robert Gero’s exhibit called “Infinity Structures: Paradoxical Spaces,” incorporates math, philosophy, and art.  The exhibit was constructed with Styrofoam, and the structure was configured throughout the entire room with different pieces coming out of the ground and others going into the ceiling.  The purpose of this project was to build a seemingly impossible structure, where its internal dimensions exceeded its external dimensions.  The interior of the structure, which was made up of the Styrofoam beams, expanded infinitely within the constraints of the physical walls.

Robert Gero’s work is an empirical construction, in that it is a project that must be experienced rather than thought about logistically, in order to grasp the infinite structure.  Mathematically, Gero’s structure represents the concept of achieving infinity and philosophically, it represents the paradox of achieving the infinite structure.

His work is extremely creative and once again, exemplifies how art has no bounds when creativity is involved.  I find his exhibit unique because it not only demonstrates how art and mathematics are intertwined, but it also suggests the philosophical reasoning behind the concept.  The simplicity of the presentation itself, and the structure occupying the entire room, left space for the audience to use their own imagination in attempting to grasp the concept of infinity.

elisesDESMA9

Kathy High’s exhibition called “Waste Matters: You Are My Future,” was an exhibit that explored immune systems and showed research on how immune systems maintain themselves and how bacteria plays a role in our bodies. 

Kathy High’s inspiration for this project came from her own personal experience of having Crohn’s disease.  Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.   Her work in this exhibit is very important to her because it speaks to the condition that she has and as a result, it is something that she is passionate about.

Within the presentation room, there were displays of waste, as well as artwork that portrayed creative pieces incorporating the body and her self-portraits.  Kathy’s work opened my eyes up to the endless possibilities that creativity offers.  I found her exhibit incredibly unique and out of the ordinary.  I love that she is able to use her disease as inspiration for her work because it reveals her determined and positive attitude toward her condition.

Some of the specific biological research that Kathy did as part of this exhibit was looking into gut biomes as well as fecal microbial transplants to explore how the bacteria functions in our body.  Overall, her work informed her audience on how immune systems and bacteria affect our bodies.

“Waste Matters: You Are My Future” was an exhibit that made me think outside of the box.  It was a wonderful example of how such a deep biological, scientific study can be presented in an artistic form.

elisesDESMA9

For my first event, I visited the Hammer Museum.  As I was walking through the museum one particular exhibit caught my eye.  It was Charles Gaines’ Gridwork.  This exhibit consisted of a collection of beautiful, vibrant trees that Charles Gaines had created through the integration of mathematics and art.

Each piece of art contained a painted tree on graph paper, overlaid with a piece of Plexiglas with another gridded painted tree.  One thing that struck me was that from afar, the paintings look like normal, colorful trees, however, if you examine the tree closely, you will see that each small square has a number in it.  Charles Gaines designed his work so that the tree was gridded and drawn out mathematically and symmetrically. 

As discussed in week two’s lecture on math and art, Charles Gaines’ display in the Hammer Museum serves as a wonderful example of how mathematics and art are intertwined.  I believe that the way he intentionally portrays the mathematical design behind his artwork is the one detail that makes his work so unique.  His collection of grid work is not only visually stunning, but also special because of its integration with graph paper.

I would highly recommend visiting this exhibit because of its incredible creativity.  Charles Gaines’ grid work would be beneficial to see because it opens up your eyes to a kind of artwork that is uncommon and extraordinary.  It is proof that mathematics and art are in fact related and used together to create masterpieces.

elisesDESMA9

Artists love to use their imaginations and in a certain sense, space requires imagination, which is why art and space go together so well.  Space is so vast that it leaves us with endless room to use our imagination.  The idea of space and of the unknown possibilities of space intrigue artists today to create works of art that encompass those ideas.

Xu Zhen is an artist who created a project called In Just a Blink of an Eye.  In this project, performers are harnessed in and set in positions that are normally only seen for a fraction of a second when someone is mid way through falling to the ground.  However, the performers are stuck in these positions, illustrating what it is like to defy both gravity and time.  This illusion is captivating because it is as if the performer is frozen in a moment in time that is normally impossible to be frozen in.  The fact that the performer defies gravity in this project is an incredible site to see for the viewer and it illustrates the possibilities that space has to offer.

Another compelling art project done by Richard Garriott actually created art in space.  He went into space and created a box where inside of it he taped pieces of paper on each of the sides.  From there, he took paint and let the droplets float around inside of the box until they hit a piece of paper.  His goal was to compare this project to that of Jackson Pollock’s work where he splattered paint onto a canvas.  Richard Garriott discovered that when he “splattered” the paint in space, the droplets actually stuck to the paper and dried forming spheres rather than drying flat onto the paper like they did on earth (Art in Space)  His project allows us to see a physical change and direct effect of space on art.

.The limitlessness of space creates limitless possibilities for artists and their imaginations’.

"Art in Space." Art in Space — OurSpace. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://www.our-space.org/materials/states-of-matter/art-in-space>.

Delgado, Kasia. "The List: Art in Space." Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, 2015. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0a8d608a-222a-11e4-9d4a-00144feabdc0.html#slide0>.

Forde, Kathleen. "Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity." Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity Curated by Kathleen Forde : EMPAC Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center : Troy, NY USA. Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2010. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu/>.

"PERFORMA07." PERFORMA07. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://07.performa-arts.org/artists.php?id=22&detail=true>.

"Zu Xhen : In Just a Blink of the Eye." Dancing on the Ceiling. Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2010. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://zerogravity.empac.rpi.edu/zhen/>.

elisesDESMA9

Nanotechnology has opened up an entire new dimension of art and has created so many more possibilities for artists.  It has allowed us to explore deeper into scientific areas that we would not be able to reach without nanotechnology.

Paul Thomas and Kevin Waxworthy’s project Nanoessence is a perfect example of that.  “Nanoessence is an interactive audio-visual installation where the viewer will interface with the visual and sonic presentation through his or her own breath” (visiblespace).  It uses a single HaCat skin cell to compare life and death through an atomic force microscope down to the nano level.  This technology provides us with the opportunity to explore this topic and physically experience the comparison between life and death to the best of our ability. 

An article that I read online talked about how nanotechnology is not something that can be seen because it deals with molecules and atoms that are too small to be seen with the human eye.  The article went on to say, well what better way to bring an abstract, miniscule thing to life than through art?  Art is the connection between nanotechnology in its abstract, miniscule form and its visually attainable form.  Art allows us to see a representation of what nanotechnology is actually doing.  In the project Nanoessence, the artistic display of the breath and how it interacts with life and death is displayed through nanotechnology.

"Art in the Age of Nanotechnology." Art.base. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <https://art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>.

Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech Jim Pt1." YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jM6-iqzzE>.

Lovgren, Stefan. "Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier to Understand?"National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 23 Dec. 2003. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1223_031223_nanotechnology.html>.

"Nanoessence." Visiblespace. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://visiblespace.com/blog/?page_id=122>.

"What Is Nanotechnology?" What Is Nanotechnology? N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition>.

elisesDESMA9

Because we know so little about dreams, artists have a huge amount of room to use their imagination and get creative (Professor Vesna).  Some people use dreams as a way of escaping reality and others simply use dreams to explore their imagination (Real Meaning of Dreams). 

Heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud’s ideas of the unconscious, the Surrealist movement inspired artists to incorporate dreams and the unconscious in their work.  One of the most famous artists whose work depicted a dream like scene was Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory.  “One can see through his artwork Dali’s fascination with the fleeting state of mind between sleep and consciousness, dream and reality, sanity and insanity” (Real Meaning of Dreams).

Through his painting it is easy to tell that dreams open up artists’ imaginations and allow them to expand their creativity and create artwork that is technically unrealistic.

Another art form that incorporates dreams and the unconscious is in the film industry.  One recent, popular film called Inception by Christopher Nolan was based off of the idea of a thief who infiltrates the subconscious of people to learn their secrets. 

I think the reason why the unconscious and dreams are such popular themes among movies and artists is because we are fascinated by the endless possibilities that the idea of dreams and the unconscious give us.  There is so much room for creativity and imagination within those ideas that the directions in which they can be used are limitless.  Not only do dreams captivate people and intrigue audiences, but they allow artists ways to create unique masterpieces.

"Dream Art and Creativity." Dream Art and Creativity. N.p., 2007. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.realmeaningofdreams.com/dream-art.html>.

"2 / Dreams and Visions." Art Through Time: A Global View. Annenburg Foundation, 2015. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://learner.org/courses/globalart/theme/2/index.html>.

Gregoire, Carolyn. "8 Famous Ideas That Came From Dreams (Literally)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/16/famous-ideas-from-dreams_n_4276838.html>.

"Inception." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Art and Neuroscience Part 2." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 18 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFv4owX3MZo>.