Week 4: Medicine + Biotechnology + Neuroscience + Art

I found this week’s topic about “BioArt” to be extremely fascinating, because I had no idea that artists were as deeply involved as many of the scientists themselves in understanding scientific principles for their artistic purposes. Kelty’s Outlaw Biology essay helped me understand the multitude of methods one could participate in science, rather than simply thinking of science as “biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical firms, and research labs” (Kelty, 4).

            As a neuroscience major, I find the possibility of bringing consciousness to artificial intelligence to be fascinating. Ellen Levy’s essay concerning BioArt cites the work of Ken Rinaldo in his work with “autopoiesis” (meaning “bring self life” in Greek). Rinaldo works with robots that are capable of interacting with humans musically and are able to adjust their output based on human feedback. Below is a video briefly explaining his work.

            
Prior to taking this course, I rarely though about neuroscience in terms of art, but after reading Frazetto and Anker’s article, “Neuroculture”, I realize that the two could not be more separate from each other given that it is our brains that have to dictate what we deem as aesthetically pleasing.  The article described this as “neuroaesthetics” which is essentially trying to describe the specific neural circuits that dictate our method of rating what we consider to be artistic. I couldn’t help but think back to week two of the course concerning how math links to art forms such as architecture, and how our brain is able to process images that contain the golden ratio which could possible explain why we find it to be so artistically pleasing.

We recall that the beautiful Mona Lisa is painted according the golden ratio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa_Golden_Ratio.jpg)

            Perhaps the most intriguing topic of the week is that concerning the unconscious, mainly because as Professor Vesna stated, so much of it is unknown.  I feel that Jung summarizes this intrigue perfectly in his selection, stating, “There can be no doubt that from the beginning of the nineteenth century, the psyche has moved more and more into the foreground of man’s interest with a steadily increasing power of attraction” (Jung, 7). If anything, I believe that our subconscious layers certainly provide us an outstanding medium from which to create art.

Artist Brenda Ferrimani draws inspiration from her dreams. This piece is inspired from the dream she had the night after 9/11.
(http://www.brendaferrimanidreamart.com/)

Citations:

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10.11 (2009): 815-821.

Jung, Carl Gustav. The spiritual problem of modern man. 1931.

Kelty, Chris. Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?

Levy, Ellen K. Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications. Rep.

" Nano Drug Crosses Blood-Brain Tumor Barrier, Targets Brain Tumor Cells and Blood Vessels ." The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. N.p., 15 July 2013. Web. 22 July 2013.