stephensDESMA9

            Medically correct representations of the human body are both important for doctors and artists alike. Over time, medical technology has developed such that it has provided a less invasive route to create accurate anatomical images of the human body. An example of  a picture from Anatomy During the Renaissance, which saw the rebirth of science and art in the Western World, accurate depictions of the body began being produced. The only means of producing them however was by slicing corpses, and the primary media for recording the these depictions was on paper. The most prolific example was Anatomy by Henry Gray in 1858, whose images were highly utilized by medical professionals at the time to understand the body and disease as well as artists of the time for anatomical representation. Another example of particularly invasive procedure for medical images was Joseph Jernigan, a murderer from Texas, who’s body was sliced up in 1993 used for digital upload. The d

             As science progresses forward more and more rapidly, robotics is becoming increasingly ingrained across many aspects of our lives. Therefore, it is unsurprising that robots have developed into another medium for art. This idea is woven into the premise of the television show, Westworld . Westworld  Opening Theme The directors ponder the idea of a amusement park inhabited by cyborgs called “hosts” in a old western setting of cowboys, saloons, and other staples of the era. The hosts define this experience. The physical aesthetic of each host, as with any art, is paid very much attention, with hundreds of artists being involved in crafting realistic, unique, and sometimes beautiful hosts. Like their bodies, the hosts’ minds and memories are also crafted painstakingly to give guests at the park a genuine and thrilling experience. Alan Turing defined the famous Turing Test which defines the criterion for thinking. Like Harrison Ford’s character does in Blade Runner ,

            Mathematics is the language that governs nature. Everything from proportions and patterns, to colors and sound is expressed with math just as humans are defined by DNA. I remember really grasping this concept for the first time and becoming fascinated in elementary school when viewing the Disney short film from the 1950s, Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. The golden rectangle, the concept of pi, and perspective are numerical patterns that govern the visual world. "All nature's works have a mathematical logic, and her patterns are limitless." Throughout history, many artists have employed math as a tool to make their art as realistic and/or appealing as possible. One example is perspective. It is a critical geometric technique that allows for two-dimensional drawings and paintings to appear three-dimensional and life-like. Perhaps most notably, Leonardo DaVinci’s work intricately weaves the golden ratio into many of pieces to evoke what he viewed as “

In his essay, C. P. Snow attributes a large amount of the developed division between the culture of the arts/humanities and that of science to universities and educational institutions. Being we are students at UCLA, we are therefore in the process of being shaped by these forces that Snow believes help to create the divide. While there is a literal geographic divide that the founders of UCLA created between the “left-brained” South Campus and “right-brained” North Campus, many other features of the university seem to exacerbate the rift. As an electrical engineering major, I think of myself as situated fairly far on one extreme of the art-science spectrum. One aspect that plays into the development of the divide is stereotypes and the examples that are presented to us. A powerful force that guides students towards their identity is the faculty. From a personal perspective, in electrical engineering the professors indoctrinate the value of seeking depth rather than breadth.