Clara Wren

 Clara Wren - Week 8 - Nanotech + Art I have never heard of what nanotech was.  This was a great opportunity for me to learn not only what nanotech is, but how it works in the world, and how it can become part of the art family.  The lectures taught me a lot on what nanotechnology is and how it is evolving in today’s society in regards to what it is doing. Nanotech is not only a science, but it is starting to change the world in regards to becoming part of the social and economic values.  Nanotechnology refers to the dimensions of things and how they are measured within nanometers.  It is often used with atoms and molecules.  Atoms and Molecules  “Basic Difference between an Atom and a Molecule.” YourDictionary , examples.yourdictionary.com/basic-difference-between-an-atom-and-a-molecule.html. Accessed 26 May 2023.  It was recently discovered that nature uses nanotechnology.  It is also a type of energy, like food, agriculture, electronics, a...

 Clara Wren - Week 7 - Neuroscience + Art When thinking and talking about neuroscience, there is so much that it is made up of and so many questions that come from it? Professor Victoria Vesna brings up several interesting questions.  “Is mind control inevitable?” “What is consciousness?” “What does it mean to be in this moment now?” “How am I processing everything I am doing right now and coming up with the sound and functions I do?” Artists are so fascinated in the world of neuroscience because of how unique and amazing it is. With the invention of the microscope and electricity, it was possible to look deeper into the brain.  Franz Joseph Gall was the first to come up with the idea of cerebral functions to various areas of the brain.  He came up with the idea of phrenology, which is the attempt to look at the individual intellect and personality from an examination of the skull's shape.  He came up with several different visuals, from photos, to models, to dr...

 Clara Wren - Week 6 - BioTech + Art I learned that Biotechnology and art is one of the most controversial topics because there are so many pros and cons to it.  As technology and science continues to evolve, the palette of the artist continues to grow with it.  This technology is not only continuing into our bodies, but also our environment.  Artists are now working in laboratories directly with biologists, nanotechnologists, geneticists, and neuroscientists.  There are two different ways that people view bio art.  There are people that only consider it bio art if they are in there working with the tissue and cells itself.  However, there are others that think just observing and scientific imaging is enough to be considered bio art.  One of the main controversies when it comes to this is working with animals and their natural structures.  Artist and Scientist Symbiotica are a group of researchers working on art projects.  It is a place ...

  Clara Wren - Event 2 - Cosmological Elements: Space & Art #2 I attended the second zoom meeting of the three series of the Cosmological Elements, Space and Art, on April 28, 2023, at 10:00a.m.  This event had a numerous number of guests that explained their inventions, productions, and artworks.  I found this event to be very fascinating and interesting.  There were several ideas I had never heard of or thought of before.  It was a very educational and eye-opening experience to see all of these different products people have come up with just based on their own research and findings. Although there were several speakers, I found Ranjit Bhatnagar’s work and Sebastian Alexander Neitsch work to be the most intriguing to me.  These are the two pieces of art that I am going to primarily focus on. Starting with Ranjit Bhatnagar, he was able to make a textile piece of work that has to do with space.  As he mentioned, the Voyager spacecraft was sent into...

Clara Wren - Event 1 - Cosmological Elements: Space & Art #1  I attended the first zoom meeting of the three series of the Cosmological Elements, Space and Art, on April 21, 2023, at 10:00a.m.  This event had several different speakers that explained their very own research and findings in their specific area that they looked into.  I found this event quite interesting with all of the different varieties of ideas that were all tied back to space and the art that comes with it.  Some of the pieces of work were just extraordinary, so creative, and beautiful really.   To begin, Professor Victoria Vesna explained her “star dust.”  This was a global exercise of online meditation.  It had real exercises and audio, along with a great structure.  It was filtered in different media and apps, and became quite popular.  She created a connection between technology behavior and science.    Star Dust Parkinson, Carol. “ [Alien] Star...

 Clara Wren - Week 4 - MedTech + Art To my knowledge, I know medical technology to be inventions and machines that are used in the medical field.  Whether this is an x-ray machine, MRI, or CT scan, these are technological machines used to photograph the body.  The images show inside the body, to the bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc., and are used to find injuries or illnesses.  Past machinery such as those, I am unsure of any other medical technology.  I also am not aware of any way that medical technology ties into art. MRI Machine “MRI.” SimonMed Website , 30 Sept. 2022, https://www.simonmed.com/services/mri/.  X-Ray Machine “Radiography Equipment.” Siemens Healthineers USA , https://www.siemens-healthineers.com/en-us/radiography. As mentioned in the introduction video by Professor Victoria Vesna, she explains how science and technology has influenced medicine.  Again, with my examples mentioned above, I completely agree with this and understa...

 Clara Wren - Week 3 - Robotics + Art When referring to robotics, we have come to the conclusion that everything that comes down to manufacturing in industrialization has some form of robotics involved in it.  As mentioned in the introduction video by Professor Victoria Vesna, she mentions that “artists are the first ones that envisioned a lot of robotics in relation to science.”  When looking into when robotics, art, and industrialization really came together and became popular, we can look at the printing press.  The printing press was the beginning of the assembly line production.  Gutenberg was a man that created his own inventions.  He made the first hand mold, which helped with moving mass amounts of metal.  This was a key component in the printing press.  Printing Press Lula, Muneera. “Changing the World- the Printing Press.” Manchester Historian , 12 June 2016, https://manchesterhistorian.com/2016/changing-the-world-the-printing-press/....