https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eBiQ25a6CVI8y4I1WUi1PLCJfVhK1B3IGAeaN96hHlI/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we had the opportunity to see a variety of very unique, complex, and fascinating art pieces from some Master of Fine Arts students. Our first stop was the Town Hall Exhibition. When I first walked in, I was taken aback by a collection of sensory stimulus including fun patterns from the quilts, some mysterious sound playing from the back, and various different lighting. This exhibit was very exciting as it was different from the types of art exhibits I am used to seeing.

On Friday, May 19th, I attended the webinar called Leonardo da Vinci on Visualizing the Forces of Nature: Gravity. This dialogue was between Claire Farago, Professor Emerita and frequent publisher on various da Vinci writings, and Matthew Landres, professor of modern history and Supernumerary Fellow, specifically focusing on da Vinci.

This week, we had an amazing presentation by astrophysicist, Santiago Torres, about astronomy, cosmos, and the Alien Stardust project. Though I learned so much from all of the speakers in the past, this class inspired me the most.

The interconnectedness between internal processes and physical representations is an interesting one, especially with the rise of complex technologies. Using brain wave oscillations to produce physical art is such a fascinating concept.

This week, we had a guest speaker, Marta DeMenez, an artist who focuses on work intersecting between art and science, come and tell the class about her recent projects.

This week, we talked about a variety of topics, but a theme that stood out was the idea of permanence, specifically during the lecture on plastic. Though plastic pollution is a well-known environmental harm, I haven’t thought about its direct effects on marine life. When Professor Vesna explained that Planktons actually were found to eat plastics as well, I was quite surprised simply because of their microscopic size being less than one inch in length.

Introduction:

This week’s lesson was incredibly fascinating! I enrolled late, so this was quite an exciting introduction to the course. The part that stuck out to me most was learning about howcomplicated mushrooms are. I am an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast, so I actually did previously learn about how tree roots are connected and sort of ‘feed’ one another. What I didn’t know was that mushrooms have these connections, also called mycelium.