Brandon Gruender_Desma 9

  After spending week 9 discussing the relationship between art and space the movie “Contact” was played as the watch party film. This film was very interesting and allowed me to understand more of the context of the information we have been learning in the class. Movie Cover Art The movie plot revolves around a scientist who attempts to uncover the message given to them from the aliens (3 encrypted images, the machine). The film encapsulates everything that I had originally shared in my weekly blog; the idea of films using space and the exploration craze shared by all humans. The movie touched on ideas of faith, politics, and science which is something that art and science cover in totality. The religious fanatics try to cover up such a crazy event like contact with extraterrestrials and scientists are killed by the bomb.  Screenshot from the Movie This movie really helped me further understand the idea of space and art, and I found it very fascinating to watch. Space, scienc...

  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...