Week 1 Blog

For my third event, I attended the Octopus Brain Storming on May 5 th at 11 am. I found this event very interesting but it was just simulation testings. I thought that if it was actual testings it would have been a lot easier to follow along with how the testings worked. In the picture to the right, I volunteered to go through the simulation test. I was a little disappointed that it was a simulation only because when we got to read more in depth I was really excited to test it out. The original test was meant for two people to hook up to electrodes and try to match similar brain wavelengths by creating a conversation without talking. The wavelengths were then to be shown through colored lights. The goal for the two people was to match up with the sam color tentacles that are touching. Also, music would play to try and fit the mood while the two people would seek to attempt to match brain wavelengths.   This event relates to the lesson of neuroscience a...

The connection between neuroscience and art seems to be very similar to me as medical technology and art. The topic of neuroscience is interesting because to learn about topics such as consciousness, unconsciousness, and how drugs can affect the way neuroscientists and artists have learned about the brain and the way it functions. Professor Vesna introduced the idea of consciousness through her lecture video and how it was founded.  Consciousness is simply the state of being conscious, or basically just meaning that someone is aware that you are alive and functioning. Consciousness was established by significant scientists, such as Franz Joseph Gall, Pierre Paul Broca, and Santiago Ramón y Cajal.  These scientists have a similar, but the different explanations of consciousness.           Unconsciousness was addressed in ProfessorVesnas second lecture video. I found this subject of matter to be most interesting because I've had the int...

Each of the scientists I learned about in the readings and lectures have played a big role in the collaboration of art and neurotechnology. Franz Joseph Gall created phrenology, the study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities. He was the first to make assumptions that the form of the skull can project aspects of your intellect and personality. Although he was wrong about shape contributing to a person’s attributes, it was discovered that certain areas of the brain have different functions. This was proven by Pierre Paul Borca, who did research on speech in the frontal lobe. Gall and Borca both played essential roles in building the foundation of psychology today. An example of an artist who has combined neuroscience and art is Susan Acker, who has worked on a project with sea sponges to help understand how the brain works. The sea sponges’ brains are made up of similar building blocks for nerve development, making the stu...

I attended the event on May 4, 2017, the "Chemical Entanglements: Gender and Exposure. Laura E. Gómez gave a welcome speech then Rachel C. Lee gave a short speech about the program. Florence Williams gave a lecture about the "burden of breasts." When I first walked in I had no idea what to expect or why they were even talking about breasts. Florence focused mostly on the history of breasts, the use of them, and why they are a burden to have.   The first part of Florence's lecture, she focused on her book. She started off with the history of the mammary glands and how sensitive they are. Humans evolved breasts on accident and mammary glands were originally developed for immune support. They are a disembodied organ. The mammary glands take blood and convert it into milk, but it never learned how to exclude what shouldn't be in there. Williams went on to explain she sent a sample of her breast milk to be tested for chemicals. From that sample, she shared that...

I never really understood how biotech could relate to art until this week. Biotechnology is the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc. After listening to professor Vesna's lecture part two and the testings of lab rats and how they cross their genomes, it makes sense. Professor Vesna also mentions in her lecture that they do Blood wars. They take your white blood cells to test in hopes that people who donated will get a better understanding of how the white blood cells are used in our body to protect us. The artist's who work in this area spend a great amount of time and energy in their works. Artists are taking advantage of their ability to use biotechnology in their art and are using rats to test on and cross their genomes and make hybrids, cyborgs, etc to get the results that they want. This crossing does create some good because it ...