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Showing posts from April, 2018

Week 4 - Medicine & Art

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After reviewing Professor Vesna’s lecture regarding medical technologies and art, I agree that art and medicine cannot be separated. I was most intrigued about the play of art in plastic surgery. I did not realize that plastic surgery originated during the war. A soldier who had facial reconstruction after facial injury.  As BBC states, facial injuries would most likely occur due to shrapnel, causing the blast to rip a face off. It was only due to Harold Gillies that plastic surgery was developed and began facial reconstruction. Although initially, plastic surgery occurred to save lives, it is now considered cosmetic surgery.  Features that could be improved through cosmetic surgery. Coming from South Korea, where plastic surgery is prevalent, I automatically connect plastic surgery to aesthetic purposes. The general population in America associates cosmetic surgery to raising the nose bone or breast implants; however, in Korea, cosmetic surgery ranges from sha

Event 1

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For my first event, I attended the Lawrence Abu Hamden exhibition at the Hammer Museum. Through use of audiovisual, Lawrence demonstrates the Syrian military prison north of Damascus. Most of the prisoners were blindfolded in their cell and Lawrence uses audiovisual to represent their experience.   Lawrence Abu Hamden exhibition setup. Picture of myself outside the exhibition in front of introductory panel. First, when I entered the space, it had a speaker on the side and a wall with jagged edged at the front. Behind the wall were projectors showing lines crisscrossing each other to demonstrate the precepted image of the prisoners through sound.  I found this exhibition very interesting as it closely relates to the math and art we have discussed and learned through Professor Vesna's video lecture. Lawrence uses the speakers and jagged wall to replicate the echoes in the prison. It utilizes diffusion, which causes the echo and disharmonious sound. On the other

Week 3 - Robotics + Art

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Art has inspired engineers in many occasions, especially for robotics. As Professor Machiko Kusahara has said, the TV show, astro boy, affects Japan’s view of robotics. Astro boy goes around and saves many people in crisis. With such thought in mind, many engineers create robots in the shape of a child such as pepper, the humanoid robot. I have met the pepper robot and it is a small statured friendly robot. It speaks happily and makes small jokes on the side.  Pepper, the humanoid robot. Not only humanoid robots, but also robots that accomplish simple tasks are inspired from media. In the movie, Back to the Future, the director and screenwriter envisioned a futuristic world with multiple robots implemented in our lives. One of their famous creations is the shoe that can tie itself. From enthused response of viewers, Nike has made the Nike Mag. Art has many positive influence on robots and provide creativity.   Back to the Future, Nike Mag. However, not media shows
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I first explored arts through math when a created a cube in elementary school. Depending on where I focused my eyes, I would see the cube in a different placement and it had fascinated me. It was surprising to learn later that these geometric shapes could be used to created a 3D sketch of landscape. Cube that could be seen in different layout by focusing on lower left corner or on upper right corner. Additionally, when I learned about the Mona Lisa or the Girl with Pearl Earring paintings, I never understood why they were famous. It was only after understanding about the golden rule, which was mentioned in lecture, that I understood the significance of these paintings. Especially with the Girl with Pearl Earring, due to the golden ratio centered at her eyes, it appears as if her eyes follow you as you move. Such influence in visual allows one to feel as if the 2D painting is 3D and as if the painting is alive. It is also common to see effect of math on landscapes, which allows
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As a mechanical engineering student at UCLA, I spend majority of my time at Boelter hall and Engineering IV. It is true that our school is divided to north and south campus; however, even as a south campus major, I do not venture to other STEM buildings.  Map of UCLA with different subdivision. Yellow represents the north campus and orange represents the south campus. As Sir Ken Robinson state in the RSA Animate video, universities have facilitated the students’ and professors’ movements such that even on UCLA campus which has 419 acres, my movements are limited to 2 buildings. Separation of the majors have eased our life; however, it completely separates the student body. Not only at UCLA, but also throughout my childhood, I was told to focus either on STEM or arts. My mother invested in math and science tutors for me to take from kindergarten to high school, but I only took piano lessons for two years. The paradigm mentioned by Sir Ken Robinson is still prominent in our so