Brandon Gruender_Desma 9

  For Event #4 I attended the meditation session provided by Prof. Vesna along with a couple of her colleagues. The event was very interesting and was definitely a good experience near the times of finals as it helped me breathe and relieve stress. Event Confirmation In the beginning of the presentation we got to learn a little bit about each presenter and then we were moved into a separate room to watch the video. It started with an overview of the ocean and then we dove down into the depths with the creatures that bestowed below. The main creature that we focused on was the plankton. We focused on it’s production of oxygen and how we breathe along with the air flowing around. It helped me calm down and realize my privilege in my ability to breathe.  Plankton It was pointed out to us viewers that there is an oxygen shortage in South Asia because of COVID, and it made me appreciate each breath I took even more. We were told to breathe for those affected by this shortage, and i...

  For my 3rd event, I attended the midterm presentations. Hearing the very interesting ideas from my classmates and being able to expand my idea of the relationship between science and art was fascinating. These ideas helped me understand the perspective of the student who presented, as we each were able to make our own unique project. The two most creative projects that stood out for me were the artistic solar panels by Mary Gallo and the memory bank by Katharina Stahl.  “Art and Science” Solar panels have been around for a while now, and they have recently been evolving and improving to become the future of energy. As we know, fossil fuels are running out and clean energy sources like solar energy are what we will be using once they deplete. Mary proposed a way to make these dull-looking solar panels into a canvas for artistic expression. There were multiple ways in which she claimed this could be done. For one, the panels could be produced with a piece of art on top and dis...

  Space is one of the most intriguing destinations for humans, and our urge to explore has been evident since the beginning of our time. It’s intricacies and unknown details intertwine with art in many ways. From the planets to the solar systems to the galaxies, the universe holds a wide array of artistic depictions in its colors and shapes. This art has been put on display by humans through drawings, movies, etc.   The Milky Way Many famous movies and television shows have a central theme to them that make the cinema so popular: space. Some of the many great movies include Apollo 13, The Martian, etc. This form of art has inspired many people (both young and old) to learn more about space and ways in which they could do their own form of exploring. Some of these movies use real science and observations from space to create the most realistic experience possible for viewers. NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman describes just how correct these movies are. “ This movie is the closest...

  Nanotechnology is a relatively new concept, discovered in 1981 by Professor Norio Taniguchi (Nano.gov, 1). This technology consists of the ability to control individual atoms or molecules. To get a grasp of just how small a nanometer actually is, a piece of newspaper is 100,000 nanometers thick. Nanotechnology relates to art in a variety of ways, but mostly through conservation and preservation.  Example of nanotech Micelles, or oil-in-water nanodroplets, can be used to remove grease and dirt from wall and easel paintings. In the past hydrocarbon solvents have been used to clean these paintings, but they are worse for the environment and less efficient. This procedure can be credited to the size of micelles, as the smaller particles create more surface area for cleaning than do larger ones (Sunipapramanik, 3). When applied to the paintings, the grime is caught in the droplets and removed from the art. Another form of conservation of art using nanotechnology comes from ha...

  Neuroscience and art have long been intertwined even though we don’t readily recognize them together. As we interpret art our brains function in a way to relate the images we see to our past experiences and to what we want to see. Interpretation of art is what makes our own preferences unique. data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAoGBxQUExYUExMYFhYZGx0aGxoaGh8hIRwkGBwhIx8gHCEgIisiICAoHx0hIzQkKCwuMTExHyE3PDcvOyswMS4BCwsLDw4PHRERHTAoISgwMDAyMDAwM Each of us have our own background and unique personalities that allow us to relate artists in our own way. Everything from gender to politics shapes the way in which our brain interprets this stimulus. “ We invest the perceived reality with values and understandings that refer essentially to our lives and bodies, but we often forget that this reality is as it appears to these perceived values and that it is not a truth in itself.” (Anapur 3) Because of this phenomenon we each have our preferences in art consumerism, e...

     For my second event I attended the watch party for the movie “Fantastic Voyage”. Though we originally had some difficulties with the watch party platform, we were able to switch over to zoom and watch the movie separately. This movie was very interesting and I found that it connected to my major (Biology) a lot as it took the shrunken down main characters through the human body to solve a medical mystery of a patient. I found out some interesting facts about the movie from Alvaro, including the fact that this movie used to be shown to medical school students as a fun demonstration of anatomy.  https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrqB28ORzZnF7nM9D6eBwdTUT7W xlE9Pqcaw&usqp=CAU In this movie, a group of scientists and soldiers are miniaturized to the size of a microbe for an hour and sent into the body of a scientist who is suffering from a blood clot in his brain. Through their mission they travel through the arteries and pass through the hea...