evy_haynes_desma9

  On April 19th, I had the opportunity to attend the “Snake Out of the Egg” event, in which we talked about the HOX Zodiac. We also talked about how there are so many holidays in the month of April, spanning over many religions and cultures.  I was born in 2003, so I am  a goat in the HOX zodiac.  According to the HOX zodiac website, goats are an Earth zodiac. I thought the food tab was really interesting because it said that my zodiac eats “Asparagus, cauliflower, radishes, onions, watercress, tomatoes, prunes, and cherries, salads, lots of crunchy veggies, egg whites (calcium rich foods), hot cereals, rice, wheat,” and drinks “Calpico (a brand of cultured milk), egg white, vodka, rum, brandy,” but I am not really a fan of most of those things. (Hox Zodiac) Under the myths tab it says that the god Pan is associated with this zodiac, and when I further looked into Pan I found that he is associated with forests and meadows (PAN), which aligns with the fact that the e...

  Advancements made in medical technology have enhanced our ability to create art. From the video lectures on the intersection of medical technology and art, I learned about how artists from the Renaissance era would dissect cadavers to understand how the human body functions (Lecture). This enabled them to better represent the body in their artworks.  Artists in the current era also use these methods. Stelarc suspends human bodies using hooks through their skin and moves them around, both translationally and rotationally. An example of this is shown below. (Stelarc) These procedures allow artists to study how the body moves so that they can replicate it in their own works. Other forms of modern medical technological advancements include hormone therapy. Re:publica speaks of how transgender women are able to teach synthesis of hormones at home, allowing more people to be able to live freely and express their gender as they choose. This allows for an increased focus on artistic...

  At a time when religion dominated so much of society, the invention of the printing press was extremely influential. The ability to produce copies of religious texts, including the Bible and Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, on a mass scale aided the dissemination of what were considered at the time to be radical ideas (Jaiprakash).  (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica) (Taylor) Walter Benjamin wrote of how the mass production of art challenged traditional beliefs, and turned art from ritualistic to political (Benjamin). Both of these phenomenons are seen with the rise of Protestantism, which clashed with the beliefs of the governing Catholic Church. As Protestantism became more popular, society began to reject Catholic rule, altering how people worshipped and conducted their day to day lives.  This shift also affected the artwork produced during the era. “Wealthy merchants and civic leaders replaced the Church as main art buyers,” (Bahr). With art being commiss...

This week’s topic was on the relationship between mathematics and art. Perspective is greatly influenced by mathematics. Linear perspective and the vanishing point allowed for realistic portrayal of depth in artwork (Frantz). The Golden Ratio is a mathematical concept that is used throughout historical art and architecture (UC Online). Art is limited by our comprehension. Although higher dimensions theoretically exist, we can only perceive three, preventing us from creating art in higher dimensions (Abbott). (Hill) Ross Hill uses linear perspective and the vanishing point to create this landscape art. The edges of the river are parallel, but appear to converge underneath the bridge in this two dimensional portrayal, giving the artwork a sense of depth that helps give off a three dimensional feel.  (Mauney) The Golden Ratio is used throughout history in both art and architecture. The Pantheon is an example of how the ancient Greeks used the golden ratio in their engineering, co...

C. P. Snow’s perspective is that social issues such as the wealth gap are caused by the separation between literature and the sciences, even to the point where his lectures were originally titled “The Rich and the Poor”, emphasizing the economic divide over the cultural divide (UC Online).   Similarly, Aldous Huxley also recognized the divide between the literate elite and scientists. He pointed out that both cultures have their own precise language and students of one culture must be well enough versed in the other to enable sufficient communication (Barzun). John Brockman disagreed. He claimed that this communication was unnecessary for progress to be made, being that contemporary science transcends that divide. As an aerospace engineering major, my job strongly leans toward scientific culture. In both my academic work and my internships in industry, I use science daily. Meanwhile, I must focus on literature in my general education classes and my singular engineering ethics class...