Week 4: MedTech + Art -- Is Art Ever Wrong?

We live in a time where the moral absolutism of medicine is very much challenged. With recent medical advancements rises a crucial question of ethics: Where is the line between helping a patient and depriving them of their humanity? The third vow of the modern Hippocratic Oath states, “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.” This statement resonates with me in that it emphasizes the humanity aspect of being a good doctor. In that, I believe medical advancements, despite being potentially intrusive, should be welcome as long as they don’t take away from the subject’s empathy.

The Hippocratic Oath

Kevin Warwick is a professor who challenges the ethics of medical technology. Warwick implanted a chip in his left arm that connected with his nervous system, allowing him to open doors and even neurally communicate with his wife. Many denounced this project as dehumanizing, Warwick even called himself a cyborg. However, I believe that his work could potentially be a life-changing alternative to medication for the disabled. For those who can’t open doors by themselves, or those that can’t even speak, this chip installation grants humanity and independence.

Professor Kevin Warwick

Other artists take a less intrusive approach to helping alleviate pain. Diana Gromala integrates art and technology by designing virtual realties that could help relieve chronic pain. 

Diana Gromala, using her virtual reality

Virgil Wong created a data visualization of symptoms, combining boldly colored portraits with a color-coded chart of daily symptoms for each patient. 

Virgil Wong, "Data Visualization of Symptoms"

While the solutions don't focus directly on the body, the visual aspect allows for a more interactive and personalized treatment experience. The loss of humanity through using technology should be less of a concern because the intersection of MedTech and art has achieved something traditional medicine or doctoring hasn’t. It has managed to evoke emotion and then make it tangible. 

Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html>.

"Kevin Warwick." Kevin Warwick. University of Reading. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.org/>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.

Gromala, Diana. "Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty." YouTube. YouTube, 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdarMz--Pw>.

Wong, Virgil. "DATA VISUALIZATION OF SYMPTOMS to Improve Patient Doctor Communication." Virgil Wong. Virgil Wong. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://virgilwong.com/art/symptom-data-portraits/>.

Week 3: Robotics + Art

The mass production of cars in 1940’s brought with it a Taylorism emphasis on mechanization (Vesna) and the controversy of technology’s role in the human condition. Some artists lamented this atomization to be the bane of our existence, while others insisted that it was to be a critical part of our future. While I sympathize with their underlying concerns, I am more hopeful for the ways technology and robotics can improve the human condition.

Walter Benjamin

Walter Benjamin critiques videography, asserting that technology reduces art to an object to be mindlessly consumed by the public, a form of distraction rather than something encouraging concentration (Benjamin, 4-5). Benjamin assumes that videography and technology removes the critical attitude towards arts, but fails to see how the nuances can still only be observed by the focused.  In Björk’s music video for All is Full of Love, we watch the construction of two robots, with the final scene consisting of them kissing. However, a focused viewer would observe sentiency in the robots’ eyes, vulnerability in their movements. They would see that the two identical robots are conveying Björk’s underlying message that, all is full of love. Regardless of gender, race, or species, we are all capable and deserving of love. Technology has allowed artists to convey a wider range of emotions with fewer words.

Music Video for "All is Full of Love" by Björk

Professor Machiko states in Robotics that today, while society is still skeptical about robotics and mechanization, there is a blurred line between artist and engineer. While some are weary about technology’s capacity to render humanity useless, many artists and engineers have harnessed it to establish a greater connection with humanity.  Engineer artist Stelarc surgically implanted an ear on his arms, allowing for the body to perform outside of the local context. 

Stelarc's "Ear on Arm"

Hiroshi Ishiguro created a gemenoid of himself, even going so far to get plastic surgery every few years to ensure likeliness. 

Hiroshi Ishiguro's gemenoid

Artist Samson Young utilizes clips of night bombings and recreates these sounds on hand held radios for the audience to experience. 

Samson Young's production of "Nocturne"

What these engineer artists all have in common is their use of technology to push the boundaries of what we can experience. Through their works, we indirectly experience the trauma of people living in war zones, we can see and hear ourselves from a remote perspective. The interaction of technology and art connects humans. It instills a greater understanding of both ourselves and each other.

Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics Pt. 2." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=149&v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk>.

Machiko, Kusahara. "Robotics MachikoKusahara 1." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU>.

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction." (1936) Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18 Apr. 2015. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.

Young, Samson. "Nocturne." Samson Young. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.thismusicisfalse.com/Nocturne>.

Stelarc. "Stelarc // Ear on Arm." Stelarc // Ear on Arm. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://stelarc.org/?catID=20242>.

"Humanoid Robot - Gemonoid HI-1 Android Prototype." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD1CdjlrTBM>.

Week 2: Math + Art

Math is often regarded as the opposite of art—one discipline dealing with strict number manipulation, the other driven solely by creativity. One of two misconceptions here is that pure mathematics also thrives on creativity. In The New Yorker article on solving pure mathematical problems, Alec Wilkinson aptly describes pure math as “as close to art and philosophy as it is to engineering.” The second misconception is that mathematics, pure and applied, is often deeply intertwined with art.

"Pi Landscape" by Daniel Tammet, a savant with number color synesthsia

This week’s lecture video served to emphasize the geometric and mathematical influences and inevitable presence in early art. One early artistic problem was that of perspective, or how to create a three dimensional image on a two dimensional plane. Giotto was the first to discover that the impression of angles could be created with line inclinations, but Brunelleschi was credited with the formulation of linear perspective using a vanishing point.

Vanishing Point, a point where all parallel lines converge

Another piece of evidence for math’s critical role in art is the presence of math in nature. The Golden Ratio, a 1:1.618 fractal, can often be used to characterize flora in nature. Due to it’s slow converging ratio, is the most efficient ratio at which new leaves should grow. This number appears not only in nature, but also in a number of famous art works, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Golden Ratio’s aesthetic significance stems from its intrinsically pleasing nature. This quality combined with its omnipresence serves to illustrate the inevitable role of mathematics in art.

Mona Lisa, with Golden Ratio proportions drawn out

Nathan Selikoff is an artist who uses mathematics and code to create interactive art. When asked about the significance of his work, he prefaces “It’s not about the math… I feel like my work is successful when people see beauty in it, when they have fun with it, and when they are intrigued with it.” Artists and scientists use mathematics to add a different dimension of value to their work, a value that doesn’t necessarily have to involve math at all. Mathematics is valuable to art because it creates perspective, geometrically and emotionally. Although the two may seem distinct today, they have been and always will be interrelated.

"Beautiful Chaos" by Nathan Selikoff, an interactive art piece

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics Pt. 1 Zero Mean Golden Ratio." Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg>. 

Chown, Marcus. "1.618 Is The Magic Number." The Guardian. The Guardian, 15 Jan. 2003. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/jan/16/science.research1>. 

Wilkinson, Alec. "Solving an Unsolvable Math Problem - The New Yorker."The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2015. 

Selikoff, Nathan. "Nathan Selikoff | Fine Artist Playing with Interactivity, Math, Code." Nathan Selikoff. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://nathanselikoff.com/>. 

Frantz, Marc. 'Lesson 3: Vanishing Points And Looking At Art'. 2000. Presentation.

Week 1: Two Cultures

C.P. Snow introduces the two cultures as the literary intellectuals and scientific intellectuals. These two spheres are divided by what Snow characterizes as “a gulf of mutual incomprehension… sometimes hostility and dislike.” 

C.P. Snow

Vesna elaborates, attributing this mutual feeling to stereotypes, which can be observed on campus today. The students of South Campus are often seen as pontificating scientists, while the North Campus students are accused of being unnecessarily rooted in theory and abstract. I am a Math/Economics major, a major that Snow may see as a step towards reimagining education, a move to incorporate the third culture. Even then, the very title of the major suggests a distinct divide between the humanities and the hard sciences, a formulaic construction rather than a fluid synthesis.

UCLA, Math and Sciences Building

I see the two cultures as overlapping, and believe that this will only be more common in the coming years. Elements of both cultures are become more prominent in the work of the other, as observed in a New York Times article where professor Edward Frankel describes mathematician Yitang Zhang’s solution as “a renaissance beauty,” emphasizing the importance of precise aesthetics in mathematics. Furthermore, British neuroscientists have discovered that “the same part of the brain that is activated by art and music was activated in the brains of mathematicians when they looked at math they regarded as beautiful.” 

Mathematician Yitang Zhang

I agree with Snow and Vesna that the presence of “middlemen” would only benefit both cultures. An increased understanding of the other culture would allow for increased collaboration and innovation.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.

Wilkinson, Alec. "Solving an Unsolvable Math Problem - The New Yorker."The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 2." Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=382&v=GUr4xxZ_0gw>.

"Two Cultures: Steven Pinker." Interview. N.p., 18 May 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg>.