Event #4 - What Makes Us Human?

The UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics hosted the “What Makes Us Human?” symposium on Friday, November 15, 2013 from 1:00pm – 5:00pm at the Neurosciences Research Building. The purpose of this event was to share multidisciplinary approaches to elucidate what makes us human, through research in linguistics, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and comparative genomics. Although humans share a similar genetic make-up with other species like apes, humans have distinctive traits. The symposium shows how science and art is combined to distinguish to us what makes us unique.

After the event!

Rob Kurzban, an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania, presented his research on “Strategic Morality”. He discussed moral judgment as a strategic factor that can be either stable traditional principles or state-like computations of strategic interest. Kurzban wanted to show us that the latter is actually more prominent. He did this through three studies: a short time (typist and checker test), dependent on time of day (pre/post lunch survey and social welfare), and over a span of time (drug use, political views, and sexuality). Essentially, what humans believe is right is probably what benefits them the most. Logically, this makes sense. But I am more optimistic about human society. This reminds me of Youtube social experiment videos. For example, DmPranksProductions launched a video called “Losing Wallet (Social Experiment)”. An actor would drop his wallet and he would walk away with hopes that someone around would return it. Although the experiment does not exactly align with the concept of strategic morality due to factors like confrontation and environmental manipulation, it does show that society would generally do the right thing leaning more towards the stable traditional principles.

Losing Wallet (Social Experiment) by DmPranksProduction.

Carol Padden, a Sanford I. Berman Professor of Language and Human Communication and Associate Dean in the Division of Social Sciences at UCSD, presented her 30 plus year research on “Genetics, language, and culture: A comparison of two village sign languages”. I admire her and her dedication to sign languages. In her research, she portrayed to us how language is emerged in small societies. Words are built through “handling”/”imaginary object” or “instrument”/”body part as object”. Different tribes use different methods to create words. It's cool because this relates to my Unit 7 – Neuroscience + Art blog post. In my post, I discussed how language can affect the perspective of the user.

Demonstration of CTSL Signers during Padden's presentation.

If I could go back in time, I would like to advertise this event more. The event should have had a full-house! It was like a compilation of the later half of the course and also gave insight to our human uniqueness.

Q&A Session.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

Cam, Calvin. “Unit 7 – Neuroscience + Art.” Blogspot, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://calvincdesma9.blogspot.com/2013/11/unit-7-neuroscience-art.html>.

DmPranksProduction. “Losing Wallet (Social Experiment).” Youtube, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojqCFt5uwrc>.

Kurzban, R., Dukes, A., and Weeden J. “Sex, drugs and moral goals: reproductive strategies and views about recreational drugs.” RSPB, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/06/12/rspb.2010.0608>.

Manson, Joe and Fessler, Dan. “What Makes Us Human?” UCLA .Institute for Society and Genetics, Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://socgen.ucla.edu/events/what-makes-us-human/>.

Santiago-Batista, Raquel. “Handling versus Instrument: A crosslinguistic study of sign language morphology.” Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://taller.iec.cat/LSC/bibliografia/Santiago_dissertation.pdf>.

Unit 9 - Space + Art

“Space Connectors: The Astronauts of the Connector World.” by  Renee Borage.

“Space: the final frontier. You've made it!”. Professor Vesna starts our last lecture of this class with this fitting yet saddening line. Space is vast as demonstrated in the “Power of Ten” video. It encompasses us and everything out there; there is still much to be discovered! Society has definitely been influenced by space and space exploration nonetheless. The lectures lists many examples like a TV show called Star Trek and a novel called A Fountain of Paradise.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Logo.

One example that caught my eye was the forceful shift in the United States education system. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik and started the Space Race. October 4, 1957 was known as the Sputnik Moment, the day that defined time as what came before and what came after this moment. The U.S., in an attempt to catch up, formed NASA. Schools started to receive more funding in math, science, and foreign languages to help develop students to compete with the Soviets. The U.S. actually had a decent education system, as shown from the U.S. scientists and engineers that helped win the WWII, and there were already plans for better coursework in the future. The Space Race, however, accelerated those plans while educators seized the opportunity for more government money. It’s interesting how one small moment can change a system that I’m currently living in. If a stress in the sciences wasn’t present, I wonder if I would be an engineering student at UCLA.

Western Zodiacs and Astrology.

Chinese Zodiacs and Astrology.

Outside the Space Race, space has already been influencing cultures. A prime example is sun sign astrology. It was invented by R.H. Naylor who claimed he predicted the crash of the R101 airship using the sun and stars, specifically relating the current movements of all the planets to each other. Sun sign astrology includes the Western Zodiacs and their associated elements, quality, polarity, celestial body/planet, and the sun sign period. In Chinese culture, it uses a lunar calendar which is based on the cycles of the lunar phase. From the moon, Chinese astrology and the Chinese Zodiacs are derived. Lastly, in pop culture, Lady Gaga confirmed that she will be the first recording artist to sing in space in early 2015. She was given a Virgin Galactic ticket to perform. In the lecture, we know that SpaceShipOne won the AnsariX Prize. The Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, under the name Virgin Galactic, continued the project to carry passengers to space in a commercial spacecraft fleet. People want to venture out to space and it seems like it's very possible in the near future. Future accomplishments will be literally out of this world.

 “Lady Gaga Confirms: I'm Going to Be the First Recording Artist to Sing in Space.” by Nicole Eggenberger.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

Borage, Renee. “Space Connectors: The Astronauts of the Connector World.” Positronic, 14 Jun. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.connectpositronic.com/blog/space-connectors/>.

“Chinese Zodiac.” The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000. Web. 22. Nov 2013. <http://www.artic.edu/taoism/diag-zodiac.php>.

Eggenberger, Nicole. “Lady Gaga Confirms: I'm Going to Be the First Recording Artist to Sing in Space.” US Magazine, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/lady-gaga-confirms-im-going-to-be-the-first-recording-artist-to-sing-in-space-20131111

“How Star Signs are Determined.” Paranormal Encyclopedia. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.paranormal-encyclopedia.com/a/astrology/signs/diagram.html>.

“NASA.” NASA.gov. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <www.nasa.gov>.

“Space Tickets – A Journey of a Lifetime into Space.” Virgin Galatic. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.virgingalactic.com/overview/space-tickets/>.

Toppo, Greg. “Sputnik heralded space race, focus on learning.” USA Today, 3 Oct. 2007. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-10-03-sputnik-education_n.htm>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Space intro.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzN08A6UBoo>. 

Unit 8 - Nanotechnology + Art

Nanotechnology is a field that impacts both the arts and sciences by introducing new areas beyond everything we know. Because the scale is reduced to nanometers, the laws of physics that would normally apply changes. For example, from normal to nanoscale, opaque is transparent, inert is a catalyst, stable is combustible, solid is liquid, and insulator is conductor. Nanotechnology is not as widely known in the public compared to genetic modification, but nonetheless, it's used in everybody's daily lives from nano-medicine to nano-foods. For this blog, rather than explaining the benefits and consequences of nanotechnology, I want to talk about a few concepts that connect to art.

"Electromagnetic Spectrum - Visible Light Spectrum" by Iain Carstairs.

In the electromagnetic spectrum, there is a visible light spectrum from 400nm to 700nm and that's how we see color. Contrary to what one would expect, a butterfly's wings are not colored by pigment like a leaf. Instead, the Blue Morpho wings have nano-photonics to harvest light to reflect color. There are hundreds of thousands of overlapping scales on top of a structural mesh complete with veins and nerves. Small variables can be seen as the scales move in the wind and reflect light rather than allow it to pass through. Depending on the viewing angle, colors are reflected and co-ordinated with the surrounding areas hence the different shades and patterns. Light is scattered to make the veins and nerves seem invisible. It's amazing how these nanometer scales can produce something beautiful using light as the foundation yet still fundamental to other insects.

“Biophotonics: Strongly angular-dependent reflections of the Blue Morpho butterfly caused by nanostructure.” by Theoretische Physik I.

Self-organization and self-assembly are fascinating topics brought up in the lectures. I had a basic understanding of these topics before, but this week motivated me to do some research. Self-organization is a spontaneous process where some form of coordination arises out of the local interactions between the components of an intially disordered system. An example of this is a bird flock fleeing from a hawk. Although the birds are under attack, they still fly together. Self-assembly is a type of process in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure as a consequence of a specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction. An example of this is regenerating tissues, DNA structures, or the bacterial flagellum. Although not directly art, I can see the beauty of these spontaneous processes – out of chaos, order appears. Within nanotechnology, I'm most excited to see how self-organization and self-assembly will be used to change our world.

“Starlings over Rome.” by Tera-Form.

“Self-Assembling Nanofiber Spheres Act as Cell Carriers in Tissue Repair.” by Shana Leonard.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

“Art in the Age of Nanotechnology.” Artabase. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.artabase.net/exhibition/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology>.

“Biophotonics: Strongly angular-dependent reflections of the Blue Morpho butterfly caused by nanostructure.” Theoretische Physik I. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theorie1.physik.uni-erlangen.de/gerd/teaching/2013-softmat-seminar/2013-softmatter-seminar.html>.

Carstairs, Iain. “When Nanotechnology Meets Art.” ScienceAndReligion. Wordpress, 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://iaincarstairs.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/when-nanotechnology-meets-art/>.

Gimzewski, James K. “Nanotech Jim pt5.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 21 May. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWc8nmHJmY>.

Leonard, Shana. “Self-Assembling Nanofiber Spheres Act as Cell Carriers in Tissue Repair.” Qmed, 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.qmed.com/mpmn/medtechpulse/self-assembling-nanofiber-spheres-act-cell-carriers-tissue-repair>.

“Starlings over Rome.” Tera-Form, 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tera-form.com/?p=116>.

Unit 7 - Neuroscience + Art

“Fascination Happens Deep Within The Brain.” by Team Fascinate.

The topic of neuroscience and the brain is fascinating. As Professor Vesna stated, there are many components to this subject from the mind to the brain to memory. Many figures of the past contributed to neuroscience. For example, Ramon E. Cahall was the founder of the neuron theory and was award the Nobel Prize on the structure of the nervous system. Sigmund Freud had his Freudian theory on psychoanalysis and Carla Gustav Jung had his Jungian theory on the collective unconscious. The four lectures from Vesna and Cohen provided a good history of neuroscience, but I would like to discuss something thought provoking that relates to our perception and art. Is your red the same as my red?

“How Do Humans Perceive Color Defficiency.” by Mihai Andrei.

Color is everywhere and most people don't think much about it; what we see is probably the same for everyone. As stated in the video, “Colour is the eye of the beholder”, as babies develop, they develop color vision. But as they learn the words associated with what is seen, the words actually have impact on how the brain processes them. Potentially language can structure what is seen in the visual world. In their studies with the Himba tribe of Namibia, the tribe have different words for certain categories of color. For example, there are different words for different shades of green and blue fits into one of the words. When trying to distinguish between the shades of green, they were able to pick out the difference instantly while Westerners like myself would have taken a while. But for the shade of green and blue, they had difficulty while Westerners have no problems.

Himba tribe of Namibia Color Test 1 - Shades of Green Easy

Himba tribe of Namibia Color Test 2 - Green + Blue Difficulty

In another video, “Is your red the same as my red?”, describes more in detail about perception and how that is translated in the brain. I can look at a red and you can look at a green, but we can both call it red because that's how we were raised to call it. How will we see how people learn about perception? It's a difficult question. It's also similar to the perception of beauty. Something I believe to be as beautiful can be ugly to someone else. It's very interesting on how the brain processes these information and what contributes to standards. It could possibly be a societal aspect where people are trained to have a certain perception. But there are deviations in this aspect so it's more likely and easier to believe that our brains function differently and define us and our conscious. That is why music and art touches us in different ways, whether it may be the lyrics or the beat or the abstraction.

 

“Is your red the same as my red?” by Vsauce.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

Andrei, Mihai. “How Do Humans Perceive Color Defficiency.” ZMEscience. 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.zmescience.com/medicine/color-defficiency/>.

“Colour is in the eye of the beholder.” PBS. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=30670>.

Frauenfelder, Mark. “How language affects color perception.” boingboing. 12 Aug. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://boingboing.net/2011/08/12/how-language-affects-color-perception.html>.

Landau, Elizabeth. “What the brain draws from art and neuroscience.” CNN. 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/15/health/art-brain-mind/>.

Team Fascinate. “Fascination Happens Deep Within The Brain.” 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.howtofascinate.com/blog/bid/187873/Fascination-Happens-Deep-Within-The-Brain>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience-pt2.mov.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 17 May. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFv4owX3MZo>.

Vsauce. “Is your red the same as my red?” Youtube. 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08>.

Event #3 - Hammer Museum Exhibitions

I'm at the Hammer Museum!

The Hammer Museum is a gem of Westwood which includes the Armand Hammer Collection of Art. Occasionally there are new limited time exhibitions for viewing. From September 29, 2013 to January 12, 2014, there is the James Welling: Monograph exhibition and from September 29, 2013 to January 5, 2014, there is the Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible exhibition.

James Welling: Monograph Exhibition.

James Welling is a professor at the UCLA Department of Art and has created beautiful photographs operating in the hybrid ground between traditional photography, painting, and sculpture. He shifted between certain issues and ideas - some really abstract while some straightforward beauty. I had mainly positive reactions from this exhibition. Welling's photography is amazing in technique. His architectural and artist photos used contrast and shadowing well and his use of parallel lines to direct the viewer's attention was smart. Welling enhanced textbook photography techniques. His Diary of Elizabeth and James Dixon piece intrigued me. It was a motion through the diary of the past and picture of the present. Viewing this piece felt like jumping between those two times. My eyes rolled, however, at the more abstract works; I couldn't see the appeal or the message of them.

Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible Exhibition.

Forrest Bess was an interesting fellow. He had hallucinations and visions and incorporated them into his paintings. He had more than 50 small scale visionary paintings of bio-morphic shapes and abstracted landscapes. He used a palette knife and mixed in sand to the paint. I enjoyed looking at the texture of the paintings, but what got my mind running was the evolution of his paintings. They began as symbols of what he thought was the answer to ancient and universal truth. But as time passed by, one can see that he became fixated on his thesis of eternal life and meaning, starting with the hermaphroditic paintings. Bess believe that to achieve this, people need a balance between male and female functionality. Thus, he performed at least two surgeries on himself. The bottom line was that the evolution of his paintings and his mind were disturbing... but interesting. That's the only word I can think of to describe the feeling.

 Apartments, West Los Angeles, 2003 by James Welling.

Bodies of Little Dead Children by Forrest Bess.

These two exhibitions are great simply because one would be able to view a contrast of different styles. Welling's pieces incorporated math and technology through his uses of lines and Photoshop while Bess's pieces allows us to view some medical technology art through pictures of his surgeries. These exhibitions are direct supplements to this course and the material we are learning.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

“Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible.” Hammer Museum, Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/242>.

“James Welling.” James Welling, Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://jameswelling.net/>.

“James Welling: Monograph.” Hammer Museum, Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/241>.

“Los Angeles.” James Welling, Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://jameswelling.net/projects/36>.

“The Paintings.” Forrest Bess, Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.forrestbess.org/paintings.html>.

Unit 6 - BioTech + Art

This week's topic relates to biotech and art. There are different definitions for biotech art amongst people; some believe it's actually working at the cellular level while others believe it's working with scientific images produced in labs. Regardless, this art form is one of the most controversial.

“Communicating with Aliens through DNA.” by Christina Agapakis.

Joe Davis was the pioneer of bio art and created many works. One project tasked him to basically implant genetically engineered human intelligence (the MicroVenus) into E.Coli bacteria and send them into space. I thought this art project was really interesting because it seemed more scientifically driven. He wanted to try to connect to intelligent life beyond our own. Artists like Davis then began to emerge like Eduardo Kac. Kac has a transgenic art-piece called “Alba” which is an albino bunny with the genes of a jellyfish to allow it to glow. Activists say it's animal abuse while scientists say it's interesting, but silly. Kac argue that his work brings up points out a division between biotech and art, but was it really necessary for him to perform a zygote injection for something like that?

 “Eduardo Kac: Biological Art.” by Digital Arti News.

I have nothing against genetic modification. I actually support genetically modified foods. I had to do hours of research and write an ethics paper on the topic. Most of the foods eaten nowadays are genetically modified too. It's a movement for future efficiency. Even foods that are not genetically modified are modified through specific breeding methods which is similar to genetic modification. Genetic modification of living organisms is a more delicate subject. There are many benefits like longer life, but with potential consequences like mutations. This topic, however, will depend on how society views genetics in the future as technology advances. But these are scientific endeavors to further benefit society and not something scientists are doing because they can. Thus, art shouldn't use genetic modification as a basis because there is no positive contribution to society to enhance the way of life directly.

“Genetically Modified Foods: Pros and Cons.” by Gabe Henderson.

“Top 10 Genetically Modified Foods.” by Freda.

Biotech does have some appealing art though. For example, Kathy High has a Vampire Study Group which involves blood wars and a project called Rat Laughter which observes if rats can emit happiness through sound. Overall, I guess that's the art of biotech art. It's entirely subjective to our own opinions and the moral conflict that stems from our views and debates can lead to collaboration between people to understand one another... or I'm just over-analyzing.

Yours truly,

Calvin Cam

Works Cited

Agapakis, Christina. “Communicating with Aliens through DNA.” Oscillator. Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/oscillator/2012/08/18/dna-code/>.

“Eduardo Kac: Biological Art.” Digital Arti. 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 <http://www.digitalarti.com/blog/digitalarti_mag/eduardo_kac_biological_art>.

Freda. “Top 10 Genetically Modified Foods.” 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 <http://defyingagewithfood.com/top-10-genetically-modified-foods/>.

Henderson, Gabe. “Genetically Modified Foods: Pros and Cons.” 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 <http://gabehenderson.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/genetically-modified-foods-pros-and-cons/>.

Kelty, Chris. “Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?”. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <https://cole.uconline.edu/content>.

Vesna, Victoria. “5 bioart pt1 1280x720.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaThVnA1kyg>. 

Event #2 - Dow Jones: A Solfège Economy

I'm at Gareth Walsh's Dow Jones: A Solfège Economy exhibition!

I turned in my Introduction to Finance and Marketing for Engineers midterm to my TA and frantically rushed to the Art|Sci Gallery in CNSI for an event I have been excited to attend. It was Oct 31, 2013 and Gareth Walsh's Dow Jones: A Solfège Economy exhibition was open for initial viewing. Gareth Walsh is an educator at UCLA since 2007 and creates artwork that questions the boundaries of perceived reality, and focuses on the illusionary properties developed through the manipulation and recombination of its parts.

“Interview: Gareth Walsh.” by n-vis-n.

Walsh's exhibition is a combination of art and sciences as discussed throughout the course, specifically the Math+Art section. I was excited about this event because it relates to the Dow Jones. In my finance class, we talk about the Dow Jones and the stock market all the time so I was interested in seeing how Walsh created art from the data; I could think of a ton of ways!

 Gareth Walsh's Dow Jones: A Solfège Economy exhibition.

Walsh created a real-time singing portrait shown on three tv displays using the data from the Dow Jones. He selected about 12 specific stocks and pulled their data from the Dow Jones website. He had representatives of the stocks speak “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti”. Stocks have values associated to them. This value will determine where the stock will fall on the solfège scale as well as the volume for the syllable. It's interesting because the portrait creates music... from chaos. For those not informed about the stock market, let's just say it's very chaotic if you are actively investing. The 2013 Nobel Prize for Economics was actually given to three researchers who showed through research that there was no way to predict the price of stocks over a few days, but it is possible to foresee over longer periods using calculus.

 “Music Theory: Solfege.” by learnmusicfree.com

Overall, I enjoyed Walsh's exhibition. It was interesting to see his take on the Dow Jones though I was expecting something different. The singing portrait is a cool piece that combines skills in programming, design, and research. I encourage people especially those who follow stocks to see the exhibition because it's a fun way to observe their investments and see that art is everywhere.


Yours truly,
Calvin Cam



Works Cited
“Dow Jones.” DowJones. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.dowjones.com/>.

Fama, E., Hansen L., and Shiller, R. “Trendspotting in asset markets.” Nobelprize, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2013/press.html>.

“Interview: Gareth Walsh.” n-vis-n. UCLA Extension, Jun. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <https://www3.uclaextension.edu/n-vis-n/2013/summer/?utm_source=unex&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14591>.

“Music Theory: Solfege.” learnmusicfree. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.learnmusicfree.com/lesson/fundamentals/solfege.html>.

Walsh, Gareth. “Artist Statement.” GarethWalsh. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://gareth-walsh.com/>.

Event #1 - The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life

 

The Cardiac Dance, The Spiral of Life event poster.

 

Discussing the discovery of the “twisting heart” after the event with Dr. Buckberg.

On October 9, 2013 from 5pm-6pm, I attended Dr. Gerald Buckberg's lecture, “The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life” located in the CNSI auditorium. Dr. Buckberg is a Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, at the UCLA Medical Center. He began his lecture by stating that “you learn from traveling.” He discussed a structure called the Gaudi house and explain how it resembles a human heart. Backberg believed that all our current structures and technological advances “return to nature”. This meant that how society and people evolve can be traced to how nature functions.

“The Gaudi Cheesecake Factory.” by Trey Radcliff.

 

He recalling the time he met Dr. Francisco Torrent-Guasp. Dr. Guasp revolutionized the open heart surgery procedure by suggesting that the heart moves in a twisting motion and can be represented through a Gordian knot. This view was a combination of art and sciences; it changed how people thought about the heart, especially Buckberg. This is a great example about how a way of thinking caused a paradigm shift in medical technology and art. Buckberg joking stated, “Nature is simple; scientists are complicated.” It's true. Take gravity for example. Nature tells us that things fall when dropped. Scientists go into details relating to the graviational pull of the Earth, potential energy, as well as friction. Both are beautiful – the simple and complicated – in their own way.

 

The heart can be seen as a Gordian knot twisted.

 

Buckberg then showed us the meat of the presentation, a video of The Cardiac Dance. The Cardiac Dance was a live performance by the Dance Department of the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. The dance portrays the function of the heart through some cycles. The cycles are the cardiac form generation, the heart attack, the dysfunctional and disharmony, the salvation, and lastly, the resuscitation and rebirth.

 

“Lecture: Dr. Gerald Buckberg: Cardiac Dance.” by UCLA ArtSci.

I thought the dance was beautiful due to the subtle details resembling the heart. For example, their costumes were a red with black streaks. Individually, one would not think much about them. But together, they form the heart. Also although we were shown the movement of the heart during an open heart surgery, it was cool to see how the dancers moved together to demonstrate this. The concept of walking the audience through the life of a heart was brilliant. I would definitely suggest people to view The Cardiac Dance. The dance gives beautiful insight by exploring where science and art meets to explain how the heart functions in health and disease.

To video is available for viewing at: http://vimeo.com/713857


Yours truly,
Calvin Cam



Works Cited
Buckerg, Gerald D. “Gerald David Buckberg, M.D. Curriculum Vitae.” UCLA. UCLA Health. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.surgery.medsch.ucla.edu/CVs/gbuckberg.html>.

Cawood, Richard. “The Cardiac Dance | The Spirals of Life.” Vimeo. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://vimeo.com/7138579>.

“Lecture: Dr. Gerald Buckberg: Cardiac Dance.” UCLA. UCLA ArtSci. Web. 3 Nov 2013. <http://artsci.ucla.edu/?q=events/lecture-dr-gerald-buckberg-cardiac-dance>.

Ratcliff, Trey. “The Gaudi Cheesecake Factory.” Allposters.com. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Gaudi-Cheesecake-Factory-Posters_i8551599_.htm>.

“Viewfinder – Cardiac Dance – The Spirals of Life.” cetConnect. PBS, 8 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cetconnect.org/video/viewfinder-cardiac-dance-%E2%80%93-spirals-life>.

Midterm Project