Last blog: the Final Fronteir

If you spend a night sleeping under the stars, it is not hard to see the connection between Space and Art. Space is an immensely technical thing, or at least our understanding of it is. We measure it in lightyears, in galaxies, in many many miles. But it is also a beautiful representation of the universe. Nature beyond our planet’s borders that is not easily photographed. Space has long been the subject of an array artists: painters, sculptors, science fiction writers.

One such artist, Robert T. McCall, is perhaps the most well-known “space painter.” McCall painted scenes of the galaxy all of his life, including the poster for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. For more than 35 years, McCall documented NASA’s space program with his paintings. He painted ships and rovers and vehicles of all kinds, but also painted fictions and “conceptual art” for the entertainment industry (McCallStudios). He is a great balance between Snow’s two cultures- equal parts talented in art but fascinated in science.

Another artist, in my opinion, is the Hubble telescope. This innovation has revealed artist photographs that are impossible to capture without the 26-year-old telescope, the first of its kind. Hubble sells its photographs so space fans everywhere can have a little piece of the galaxy. This telescope is another great combination of art and science, without the science no one would know that natural art the universe provides.

Works Cited:

The Artist | McCall Studios. Web. 25 May 2016.

Dunbar, Brian. NASA. NASA, 01 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 May 2016.

"25 Years of the Hubble Telescope in 25 Stunning Photos." PBS. PBS, 21 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 May 2016.

Skyimage Lab. Web. 25 May 2016. 

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Images:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/430734main_mccall_jsc_work_full.jpg.

http://www.mccallstudios.com/the-artist/

http://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Hubble-Mystic-Mountain.jpg

Event Blog EXTRA CREDIT

The Timken Museum of Art has an impressive collection of paintings. Many of these reinforced many of the subjects we studied, including the golden ratio. The museum was a great chance for me to appreciate how different painters deceive viewers with different perspectives.
 

In the painting below, the focal point of the painting should be the war scene in the foreground, but instead, due to the light-dark contrast we are drawn to the clouds on the left side. In addition to the lighting, the artist also uses the Golden Ratio to organize his work. As a result of this number, Phi, we see the art in a logical progression and our eyes are drawn to the right places.


In addition, the painters use linear perspective to realistically depict a scene, and give a 2-D canvas a 3-D look in our brain (sort of like Flatland). This is particularly evident in the piece below.

The man in white appears to be on the same floor as the rest of the men, but he is just a few inches higher in the painting. Artists must coordinate these ratios perfectly in order for the painting to be "believable". Even more interesting than the foreground, is how effectively this art is incorporated the trees and grass in the background. The well-measured linear perspective fools the audience into seeing a lifelike representation rather than an abstract combination of brush strokes- another great example of C.P. Snow's brilliant hope.

Works Cited

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.

Event Blog 4 EXTRA CREDIT

I recently went to the the Ferocious Bronze; The Animal Sculptures of Arthur Putnam. These sculptures all revealed Putnam's fine-tuned mathematic approach to make beautiful sculptures of his favorite animals. For this reason, I think sculpture is my favorite C.P. Snow art form that employs scientific approach- an ultimate Two Cultures amalgam.


Putnam began his career sketching out the skeletal structures of animals and plants, then formed them out of clay, and finally and most famously began sculpting them out of bronze. Sculptors need to think in 3-D, and Putnam was no exception. Without some appreciation for anatomy and geometry, Putnam could never sculpt realistically.
 

I enjoyed reading about the intensely technical process of sculpting, while also appreciating the brilliant artistry of Putnam. It was amazing to see a material so hard become so malleable and lifelike.  One sculpture in particular caught my eye more than most. From a single piece of bronze, Putnam sculpted two lions walking around each other in a circle. The sculpture was unassuming and elegant but I knew how many man hours it must have taken to produce. That is the amazing part about art- if the artist does his job the effort will be hidden behind awe. The exhibit is an excellent example of what can be accomplished if you effectively use both sides of your brain.

Works Cited

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.

Event Blog 3

Last week I visited the San Diego Museum of the Photographic Arts. I did my midterm project on the National Parks, and lucky for me, MOPA was doing an exhibit on just that. The exhibit included work from Ansel Adams, Carleton Watkins, and William Henry Jackson. Strewn throughout were old photographs of some of America's best natural landmarks. To emphasize the connection between America's nature and how landmark it is, the exhibit was called America's Cathedrals, except rather than man building a beautiful structure for God, God built beautiful structures for man.



These photographs are a great charaactrization of C.P. Snow's 'Two Cultures". Ansel Adams sometimes waited for weeks in the same location in the national parks to get the shot he wanted. He needed the art of the shot to be just right before he captured it with his technology. By combining his photographic gift with nature, Adams made quite the name for himself all over the country. He needed to balance light exposure, focus, and make sure his contrast was just right in developing. The same can be said for the waterfall, or tornado, or trees he was photographing.


The beauty of the national parks is that they are protected. I saw pictures of the same cliff faces and water falls that I have seen in person this year, and they look the same. We might be taking pictures differently, or painting paintings differently, but the landscapes (hopefully) will always exist.

Works Cited

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.

Event Blog 2

This week I visited the Brush and Ink exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park (see photo above for proof of attendance). This exhibit contains a collection of hundreds of Chinese ink paintings spanning 500 years. Brush and ink is a fascinating art medium for its bold blacks and whites, use of negative space, and variety of textures and shapes. To me, the art looks foreign and fluid, lacking in concrete form, yet still capturing motion, activity and tangible scenes.

What is so unique about this medium is that it is an ancient art form that has developed and continues to develop today. The exhibit contains a collection of ancient pens and ink bottles alongside contemporary tools for the artists exploring and evolving this ancient form.

So many ancient art forms have been lost overtime, and I wondered while studying these paintings why this tradition has survived for centuries. While brush and ink painting is distinctly artistic, it requires immense focus, training and precision to learn the techniques and motions. The slightest variance in pressure, wetness and speed can chance the color and texture of a brushstroke. There is great importance not only in the inspiration behind the work, but also the tiny technical details, the science behind contrast and ink mixing, what paper holds the ink without curling or tearing. It is the details that come together to create something as unique and seemingly immortal as this art form, and I am certain it would not be alive today if not for the combination of the arts and sciences.

Works Cited

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.