Final Upload

Hues of Humanity: Visually displaying human emotion on a global scale!

I hope you enjoy my proposal!

- Ty

Extra Credit Event 2: Annie Glass

For my second extra credit event, I stopped by Annie Morhauser's Annie Glass display in Watsonville, CA.

Annie Morhauser is an award winning artist who creates hand-crafted glass pieces inspired by nature and geometric shapes. She began creating hand crafted glassware over 25 years ago after being inspired by someone demonstrating glass blowing on the beach.

Annie's work has been featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and her most famous collection, the Roman Antique, has inspired glassware used in famous hotels such as the Bellagio, Ritz Carlton, and the Four Seasons.

Roman Antique tray by Annie Morhauser

What makes Annie's glass works so special is a scientific glass-making process that is unique to her. I learned that she utilizes a specific glass bending technique in which a flat piece of glass is heated at an extremely high temperature of 1350 Fahrenheit. Heating the glass at such a high temperature produces glass that is extremely scratch and chip-resistant. However, more importantly, this is done in order to obtain Annie's signature look in which precious metals are permanently fused into the piece in order to create a beautiful metallic finish.

Video of part of the process

Inspired by the Monarch butterfly. An example of the beautiful results of the unique infusion process.

The same process also allows Annie to use molds over which she presses her glass in order to create the unique shapes that you see above. As in this collection, Annie often draws inspiration from nature. Her collections take inspiration from everything from ocean inspired ware, to those crafted after the shape of dew drops or the shape of the water lily.

Dew Drops

A vibrant seashell inspired by the nearby Monterey Bay

Extra Credit Event 1: Lucas Blok

For my first extra credit event I visited the Monterey Now Lucas Blok exhibit.

Lucas Blok is a local artist, based in the Monterey area, and is known for his use of color in his works. He typically uses vibrant and highly saturated colors in an attempt to create a "participatory experience that is unique to each individual."

He also typically uses simple geometric patterns in order to create his works. This inspiration is drawn from a display of Amish quilts (which also use simple geometric patterns and bright colors) which he encountered early on in his career and he appreciated for the emotional impact he experienced when viewing them.

This particular work utilizes geometric shapes in the form of rectangles of different colors. Blok uses these rectangles in order to capture the different aspects of music within a painting, which I found to be an interesting and fitting use of mathematics, since almost all aspects of music, such as rhythm or key, all have a basis in mathematics. His use of subdued as well as brilliant colors, he explains, is an orchestration of "rhythm, energy, mood, and atmosphere, as a musician does with sound." The spaces between the rectangles are meant to represent a rest note, whereas advancing and receding rectangles represent the melody.

Blok creates his works with an airbrush in order to produce a finished product which will not distract the viewer with brushstrokes. I learned that he believes his work to have an impact on the human nervous system, and through this impact he aims to expand the perceptions of the viewer. To do this, he arranges rectangular shapes in a way that aims to create "afterimages and vibratory eye movements."

I would definitely recommend Lucas Blok's Monterey Now exhibit. The extremely minimalistic art style and presentation of the works is refreshing in comparison to many of the art exhibits I have visited and allows one to focus on the vibrant colors presented in the works. I found the idea of presenting music through the use of geometry and color a novel and intriguing idea and one that I would not have thought of on my own. Experiencing Lucas Blok's work definitely expanded my imagination in regards to what is possible when it comes to combining art and science, and I'm sure it will do the same for you!

Event 3: Exploratorium

In front of the fabrication shop inside of the Exploratorium

After entering the Exploratorium, I immediately saw why it was a recommended visiting location for desma 9. The entire museum was filled with visually spectacular examples of art + science. In this blog I will touch on a few of my favorite exhibits from the Exploratorium.

The most philosophically intriguing piece, for me, was the two perspective mirrors.

Both of these pictures were taken in the same way. By angling the mirrors at particular angles, one mirror will show your reflection no matter where you stand, whereas the other will never show your reflection. This was an extremely interesting use of the knowledge of geometry and refraction, as it not only visually demonstrated scientific principles in an interesting way, but was thought provoking as well. 

One could interpret the first mirror which does not show one's reflection as the distorted self-image of someone with very low or almost no sense esteem, whereas the second mirror would represent one with an inflated ego. I think it would be interesting philosophically to see different individual's preferences for each mirror.

The most creative use of mathematics, I found to be "machine with concrete".

The art piece is a series of gears which produces an extremely slow turning drill bit drilling itself into a block of stationary concrete. While this piece may seem mundane on its own, what I found to be interesting about it was that the artist used mathematics to determine the precise drill rate of the drill bit, and from this calculated it would take exactly 102 billion years per 1 degree of drill bit rotation. What an innovative use of mathematics!

Another interesting exhibit was a representation of the different way our brains interpret visual input. It was a variety of screens which each represented the brains interpretation of motion, color, and faces.

The work used interesting artistic representations in order to give people a feel for how each part of the brain works and recognizes objects. Above is the brains representation of myself in color as well as in motion. I found this work to be a fantastic use of neuroscience and art that not only simply explained how the brain functioned, but also left an impressive visual impression.

The Exploratorium was my favorite event that I attended for the class. I cannot recommend the Exploratorium enough. What I presented in this blog was only a small taste of what it has to offer. If you are interested at all in the fields of art or science, the museum will open your eyes to interesting examples of everyday science that you would never have previously appreciated. Just a few examples of what was not presented in this blog includes a display showing how refraction and mirrors function, a display showing how your brain filters out the blood vessels in the back of your eye, and even a miniature tornado generator.

If you have not been to the Exploratorium and are in San Francisco, it is a must-see!

Display showing 3D displays and how they work

The refraction of light and angle of refraction!

Event 2: Return to the Sea

Return to the Sea is a salt work by Motoi Yamamoto. 

Yamamoto is a Japanese artist who works exclusively with salt, often drawing inspiration from nature as well as his past. Yamamoto has created works all across the world, in places such as New York, Tokyo, and Jerusalum. In his works, Yamamoto painstakingly pours grains of salt onto a floor in order to create his art, a process which can often take up to a week.

Yamamoto uses salt as a form of symbolism. Salt is a Japanese symbol for purification and mourning, which is significant because the death of his sister is part of what inspired him to create his works. Also, salt is often used in Japanese culture to ward off evil spirits and to attract benevolent spirits, which symbolizes Yamamoto's attempts to preserve the good memories he has of his sister. 

Yamamoto also incorporates scientific elements of the origin of salt into his works. At the end of each of his works, Yamamoto will invite locals to help him scrape off the salt and return it to the ocean, thereby completing its life cycle. One of his hopes is that eventually he will reuse one of the molecules of sodium that he had previously returned to the ocean in a future work.

This particular salt work was inspired by aerial photographs taken to study monsoons. The scientific origin of the inspiration for this work made me realize the various artistic uses for scientific research that was originally intended for only one purpose. I came to the realization that when one allows the Two Cultures to mix, one can reveal completely new works of art or scientific theories that never would have existed had they remained separate. 

Event 1: Obon Festival

For my first event I attended the 67^th annual Obon Festival in Monterey, CA. The Obon Festival is a 500 year old Japanese Buddhist celebration which honors one's ancestors. Traditionally, it is a holiday where families reunite in order to honor the graves of their ancestors.

“An ancient legend says the folder of 1,000 cranes is assured a wish come true, and it has become a symbol of luck and good health.”

- Obon Festival foreword by Buddhist Reverend Shinseki

The first exhibit I visited was the crane exhibit. At the crane exhibit, I learned about some of the mythology behind the Japanese crane.

In Japanese folklore, the crane is a mythical animal and is said to live for 1,000 years. The crane symbolizes timeless contentment, fidelity, and longevity, and also the wish to carry out the dreams of our ancestors.. In fact, ancient Buddhists believed that the crane carried the souls of the dead to the Pure Land. In time, this belief lead to the practice of folding 1,000 origami cranes in hopes that the folder's wish will be fulfilled.

The crane exhibit ties into the theme of mathematics + art, since origami, the folding of paper to create art, is based entirely on making geometric folds. In fact, the quality of finished piece of origami is entirely based upon the precision of the geometric folds. Just like in mathematics, a small mistake in origami will have a snowball effect and create a misshapen end product.

The next exhibit at the Obon Festival was a koto performance by the local artist Michael Hatori.

The koto is a musical instrument traditionally created using wood for the body, ivory for the bridges, and horse hair for the strings. It is an iconic instrument which many would recognize for its unique sound which creates a distinctly Eastern sound.

Before his performance, Michael Hatori explained to the audience that the piece being played in the video was a musical interpretation of the coming and going of the tides. He further explained that the alternating sounds throughout the song were meant by the composer to mimic the coming and going of the waves in the ocean. For this reason, I thought it was a great example of how the worlds of mathematics, science, and art can come together to create something beautiful, novel, and unique.

The final exhibit was the Taiko drums.

Taiko drumming is an ancient Japanese art that dates back to 500 BCE. It is characterized by large wooden drums covered in animal skin. Historically, they were used in court style music performed in castles as well as to motivate troops.

 

At the Obon festival, the Taiko drums were played by a local group of drummers called Shinsho-Mugen Daiko. The most unique aspect of the Taiko drumming experience, for me, was the visceral feeling of the ground vibrating from the deep booming sound of the drums. On top of that, the Taiko drumming helped me to appreciate the mathematical nature of music. Because Taiko drumming does not have the variety of sounds that many other instruments possess (since it is a drum, after all), the majority of the melody comes purely from rhythm.

I would definitely recommend the Monterey Obon Festival. Whether you are interested in Japanese culture specifically or merely music in general, the Obon festival offers a unique insight into traditional Japanese art and music that the average person would never encounter in their daily life. Most importantly, the Obon Festival makes one appreciate the beauty of mathematics when applied to art.

Nanotechnology, Space, & Art

This week, professor Gimzewski lectured on the topic of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is "the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale", and is manipulated at a scale that is one billionth of a meter.

Greeks & Romans used nanotechnology in their hair dye

Generally, when people think of nanotechnology they think of futuristic technology which will allow for anything from the assembly of any object with the press of a button to an apocalypse in which the entire earth will be absorbed by nanobots. However, I was surprised to learn from professor Gimzewski that nanotechnology and nanoparticles have been used since ancient times. I was blown away by the Roman cup which was able to glow red when lit from the inside, as I had never heard of the interesting properties of gold nanoparticles previously. In fact, the whole concept of integrating nanoparticles into objects in order to drastically change their properties was something was new and very interesting to me.

Deceptively futuristic

I often use antimicrobial sports equipment, and I had no idea that silver nanoparticles were what were giving the material their antimicrobial properties. The same goes for sunscreen, which I had no idea were a form of nanotechnology. Also, applications such as self-cleaning glass and non-destructive cancer treatments using gold particles seem incredibly futuristic, yet I now know they are a scientific possibility in the near future.

Will 3D printers eventually print at the nanoscale?

However, I found the future applications of nanotechnology to be the most exciting. The possibility of a machine that can fabricate any object from the ground up, as Feynman talked about in "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", is incredibly fascinating. When I heard of that idea, I couldn't help but notice the similarity between that idea and current 3D printers that are finally beginning to enter the market today. Also, the idea of nanosensors inside of food products as well as nanoparticles in order to release flavors in food seem to have the ability to revolutionize the food industry. Although professor Gimzewski warns that consuming many nanoparticles may be very harmful, if it is shown that doing so is not harmful, the technology has the ability to revolutionize dieting by allowing people to eat calorie light foods without sacrificing flavor or consistency.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next, professor Vesna lectured on space, and in particular, space exploration.

One of my favorite space videos

Growing up with a father who worked at NASA, I was very familiar with the Space Race, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. As a kid I was always interested in the topic, so the vast majority of the beginning of the lecture was familiar material for me. When I was little I was actually able to go see a mock-up of the International Space Station where my dad worked, and I even had a friend in my class who was related to Gus Grissom, one of the astronauts who died in the tragic fire during preparation for Apollo 1.

I camped out in the Mojave desert to see the launch of SpaceShipOne

One of the things that I learned from this lecture was that I never before appreciated the wide array of futuristic programs available at the time. It is amazing that during the Space Race, there was The Jetsons, Star Trek, Lost in Space, etc, and nowadays it seems that the public is not nearly as interested in space, which is a shame.

Perhaps this will get you interested in space exploration

I also found it interesting how Obama's decisions have lead to the privatization of the space industry. Although I was aware of this development, I had no idea it was a direct result of Obama's policies. Personally, I think that the privatization of space will be a good thing in the long run. Already, the costs of rockets have been brought down by visionaries in industry such as Elon Musk, who is the founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX (quite the busy individual).

A fascinating TED talk by Elon Musk. Like Tony Stark, but real.

How do you think industrialization of space will change space exploration? Do you think it will slow or increase the rate of progress?

- Ty

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dannato, Giovanni. "Nanotechnology in Ancient Times." Forward Base B. N.p., 30 october 2012. Web. 25 Jul. 2013. <http://colonyofcommodus.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/nanotechnology-in-ancient-times/>.

FreshGearTM. N.d. Array. AmazonWeb. 25 Jul 2013. <http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31btuikpswL._SX342_.jpg>.

Blua, Antoine. "A New Industrial Revolution: The Brave New World of 3D Printing." Radio Liberty. N.p., 06 Apr 2013. Web. 25 Jul. 2013. <http://www.rferl.org/content/printing-3d-new-industrial-revolution/24949765.html>.

"Nanotechnology." Wikipedia. N.p., n. d. Web. 25 Jul. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology>.

Pew, Glenn. "SpaceShipOne Launch in Mojave: Gallery Two (Launch Day)." AVweb. N.p., 21 Jun 2004. Web. 25 Jul. 2013. <http://www.avweb.com/news/features/187542-1.html>.

How A Rocket Ride Really Sounds -- Thanks To Star Wars Tech. VideoFromSpace, 2012. Web. 25 Jul 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjXvV0JBE0k>.

Earth HD| Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS. Robert Gawdzik, 2011. Web. 25 Jul 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip2ZGND1I9Q>.

Musk, Elon, perf. Elon Musk: The mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity. TEDtalksDirector, 2013. Web. 25 Jul 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgKWPdJWuBQ>.