Event 2

       Before attending Linda Wintraub’s workshop on April 19 2017, I did not realize how isolated we are from the nature. Wintraub started the workshop with a story: a teacher took her students to a beach for the first time in their lives but they ended up disappointed because the students did not know how to walk on a soft surface like the beach. I was shocked by how. the students had lost the ability to adapt to different surfaces because had only been to man-made places and walked on man-made roads.


       That story got me to think about how long I have been away from the nature. As Wintraub introduced her idea of how materialism is becoming more dominant of people’s mental world and how people are “disabled” to interact with the nature, it reminded me of the article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin. Benjamin argued in his article about how mass production has made artworks to lose their “aura” or their uniqueness. If we think about human beings as unique artworks of the nature and genetics, are the modern facilities depriving us of uniqueness by making the various environments human beings used to reside in more and more similar?

       With those thoughts in mind, I entered the interactive exhibition. I left my bag outside of the exhibition and only brought my senses with me, like Wintraub suggested. There were five areas in the room and each presented about one area of perception and sensation. Each area was composed of several boxes that would introduce different tasks or thought-provoking questions.



Layout of the exhibition

       For example, in the section about touch and texture, there was one box that asked me to explore some feathers with touch and to think about their different functions.



Instructions on the box



Feathers in the box

       The feature at the bottom right was very light and thin, so I thought it would be for decoration or mate attraction. The other two feathers felt denser and thick and therefore they might be water proof and function to keep the bird warm. As I was impressed by how these different feathers might cooperate to provide a bird with protection from frigidity and the capacity to fly, I was also reminded of a fact I learned in high school biology class: some bones of a bird are hollow so that they can support the bird’s body structure while minimizing the bird’s weight.

To enable flying, a bird has such intricate designs in its body and we just cannot imagine how evolution has created so many various species with different skills and body structures for survival. Think about how many centuries passed before civilizations of human beings invented machines that can fly reliably for a long distance. Moreover, while humming birds can fly 383 times its body length each second, a space shuttle can only fly up to 207 times its body length per second during atmospheric re-entry.



A humming bird

       From the comparison between birds and planes, I then thought about unit 3 where professor Vesna introduced robotics and art. Just like how planes cannot compare to birds in terms of flight skills, there are still numerous things that even the latest robots cannot accomplish, such as making a movie. Therefore, it might be questionable how far the Japanese robots designed to care for the elderly can go. In addition, the idea of implanting chips into human bodies like Eduardo Kac (introduced in unit 4) did might actually be an option. Considering from the perspective of biotechnology introduced in unit 6, incorporating mechanic parts into human bodies might be an easy and fast way to make use of our genetics, one of the most valuable gifts from the nature. We might indeed be able to invent an ideal human being by modifying undesirable traits from the level of genetics or by replacing body parts that do not function properly.



Eduardo Kac implanting the chip

       Ethical issues are definitely important to consider for this type of project that almost transform human beings in to machines. In addition, animal bionics seem like a much reasonable and quite effective alternative. Therefore, future explorations by artists and scientists on medical technology, biotechnology, and robotics will hopefully give us clearer directions in terms of the future of robotics and machinery.

       I personally benefitted much from attending the event by Wintraub. Not only did I have the precious opportunity to re-connect with the nature, I was also able to re-consider some topics we have discussed in the course. I would definitely recommend this project to anyone who loves interacting with the nature and those who want inspiration on mass production, machines, and the relationship between the nature and the man-made world.


 
Linda Wintraub and I at the exhibition


Event link: http://dma.ucla.edu/events/calendar/?ID=1029



Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Walter Benjamin. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2017. <https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.

Borland, Sophie. “Side by side, how the humble hummingbird flies faster than a fighter jet.” Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 11 June 2009. Web. 13 May 2017. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1192013/Side-humble-hummingbird-flies-faster-fighter-jet.html>.

Feathers in a box in the exhibition, UCLA Art|Sci Gallery. Personal photograph by author. 2017.

Instructions on a box in the exhibition, UCLA Art|Sci Gallery. Personal photograph by author. 2017.

Layout of Linda Wintraub's exhibition, UCLA Art|Sci Gallery. Personal photograph by author. 2017.

Linda Wintraub and I, UCLA Art|Sci Gallery. Personal photograph by author. 2017.

Rossouw, Jonathan. Golden-tailed sapphires prefer the subtropical or tropical moist lowland, montane and heavily degraded former forests in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. N.d. Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #55. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/01/top-25-wild-bird-photographs-of-the-week-55/>.

The moment of the implant as seen live on television and on the Web. N.d. TIME CAPSULE. By Eduardo Kac. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://ekac.org/arcobeep.html>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Biotech intro NEW.” Uploaded by uconlineprogram, 26 Mar. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvp924_pbgc#action=share.

Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine pt3.” Youtube, Uploaded by uconlineprogram, 22 Apr. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4#action=share.

Vesna, Victoria, and Machiko Kusahara. “Robotics MachikoKusahara 1.” Youtube, Uploaded by uconlineprogram, 14 Apr. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU#action=share.

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