ashaagarwal_DESMA9

Space encapsulates the world beyond our world, the expansive universe engulfing our tiny dot of a planet, the cushion to the pale blue dot that is the Earth we call home. In the words of Carl Sagan discussion the image below, “Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was” (Sagan). To say this creates perspective is an understatement and all from a grainy picture that would never have made it into the final photo album (Szoldra). Every scientific finding, every piece of art, and every important person to have ever lived and loved is part of the tiniest fraction of the universe we live in. I think we can all agree: space is beautiful. “NASA - Earth - Pale Blue Dot.” Posters & Wall Prints by Posterlounge, https://www.posterlounge.com/p/720148.html. Now what is incredible is that humans have found a way to make such vastness and complexity available to the ...

I recently attended the event titled “We’re All Living in the Estroworld” by Mary Maggic. This event explored the ideas of hormones, the body, and art, and the intersection between them. Mary Maggic explained that the use of biohacking was a main component of her exhibit, meaning the ability to manipulate and change the biological basis in your body: hormones (Samuel). Screenshot of the registration email for this event Maggic began by talking about the heteronormative culture we are currently living in and the research they had done on open source estrogen. A main component of this is the fact that our relationship with hormones has now been overrun by pharmaceutical companies and their highly feminine marketing of estrogen (Maggic, “Open Source Estrogen”). In their exhibit, Magic’s goal was to not only hack the molecules themselves, but dissect the meaning and representations behind them that contribute to our perception of femininity, hormones, and our bodies. What was so interestin...

Diamonds are arguably one of the most beautiful and precious items on earth, at least according to the jewelry business. Diamonds express love and loyalty, commitment and caring, and possess a remarkable power to make people swoon. They are famously called a “girl’s best friend” for a reason, demonstrated by Marilyn Monroe’s portrayal of Lorelei Lee (Hills). Robson, David. “How to Make a Diamond from Scratch - with Peanut Butter - BBC Future.” BBC News , https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141106-the-man-who-makes-diamonds. What is greater still is the fact that diamonds are essentially just compressed carbon, one of the most abundant atoms on the planet (Bizenman). Carbon, 6 electrons and an atomic mass of 12, holds the secret to the glory of diamonds. The geometric shapes that carbon atoms create through carbon-carbon bonding underlie the incredible strength, durability, and beauty of this precious gem (Gimzewski). The carbon lattice that makes up a diamond, shown below, is a prime ...

Some of my favorite topics from this unit were the connections between memory, dreams, and art. What I find so interesting in the discussion of both is how much we have yet to uncover regarding the brain mechanisms that allow for familiar faces to appear in our sleep or birthday party memories from childhood to fill our heads (Vesna). As Gravitz says, “Memories make us who we are” (Gravitz). The mind is a curious and mysterious place to be, and an artist's ability to capture such vulnerability and uniqueness can be profound. Akin, Matt. “DreamScape.” Fine Art America, 12 Dec. 2018, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/dreamscape-matt-akin.html. A combination of both memory and dreaming I find particularly salient: daydreaming. As Dr. Fiore-Bloom writes, “daydreaming allows us to wiggle out of worry and slip into the infinite,” a skill extremely valuable to artists (Fiore-Bloom). Pulling this idea even further, the practice of daydreaming itself is an art that can be mastered by some...

I recently attended the event that was the third and last in its series, From Forces to Forms 3. This installation was presented by the Pratt Manhattan Gallery and was centered around healing nature (“Pratt Manhattan Gallery”). Each exhibit presented at this virtual event explored the healing power of nature and the interconnectedness of the natural and material world. Screenshot of the confirmation email Ursula Endlicher was the first to speak about her Input Field Forms and HTML Plant Tags. She discussed the process of turning code into nature and linking the virtual and the real together (Endlicher). In this exhibit, the material and digital worlds were feeding off of one another and feeding the visitors as a result, leading to edible HTML as shown below. This was drawn further to raise awareness and educate visitors on the effects weather and climate change play on plant growth. Screenshot of Ursula Endlicher’s HTML Plant Tags Maria Gonzalez, a professor at the San Francisco Art In...

Genetics and DNA are the foundation for our individuality and uniqueness as human beings. It provides our bodies with the blueprint for how we will grow as humans and the ways in which each protein, cell, and neuron will play a part and function in our bodies (Shaw). Essentially, it is extremely powerful. Each DNA strand is carefully cultivated with nucleotides that encode our genetic makeup, a process as beautiful and intricate as shown below. Lant, Karla. “First-of-Its-Kind DNA Video Raises Big Question about Molecule of Heredity.” NBC News, 20 June 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/first-its-kind-dna-video-raises-big-question-about-molecule-ncna774821. There has been a lot of art surrounding DNA and the exquisite nature of our bodily biology. From the perfect helix formed by DNA strands to the ways in which a single nucleotide shift can completely change the structure of a protein, art can be found and created in our knowledge of biology and genetics. Organisms can be genet...