Week 3 - Robotics and Art

With the advancements in technology, we see a shift of the purpose of machinery and robotics.  As the Internet develops, it allows for a network of artwork and ideas to be spread across the globe.  Everyone has easy access.

Professor Vesna's lecture about the industrialization held the concepts of assembly lines which first led the way to mass production in our society.  Back in the day, the mass production allowed more and more people to have access to cars and other objects at a cheaper cost.  Eventually, these repetitive tasks were assigned to robots and these robots were able to achieve production rates much greater than human labor alone.


Robots are not just used in production assembly lines for cars, they can also be applied to art.  Objects can be duplicated with ease and mass produced.  With the new introduction 3D printing, people are able to make figurines of their own or even download schematics and create an object of art in their own home.


Robotics and technology can also be used in non-physical forms.  As technology grows more advanced, machines become smarter and smarter and thus the ways we can use technology grows as well.  Animated films have become very common.  Computers are necessary to create the special effects that earn films millions every year.


Technology has become smarter and smarter as time goes on.  Almost twenty years ago the first computer chess AI was developed and beat the first chess grandmaster. Now, chess engines continue to improve and have been overtaking human chess champions.

Week 2 - Math and Art

Math can be found everywhere and in everything.  As a person of my major, I am familiar with the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence.  In the video Fibonacci, Fractals and Financial Markets, they show how these fractals and sequences are shown everywhere in the natural world.  While on the outside there seems to be random and chaotic, there is actually a sequence and pattern.

In a way, nature is a form of art.  Everything that nature creates is unique and yet at the same time, as shown in the video are related.  The importance of fractals and spirals is shown in nature to be able to create an optimal growth for plants and living organisms.  Due to this inherit pattern in our lives, artists are also able to use this golden ratio and sequence to create visually appealing art.

In the video, the Golden Ratio, it talks about how there is an apparent design that people like.  Artists like MC Escher,Vi Hart, Da Vinci are able to use math and geometry to compliment their art.  With the mathematical knowledge of the golden ratio, some of them are able to create art of many layers and depth.  Make pieces seemingly fit together without looking disarranged or awkward.

Everything in nature seemingly draws towards math and science with no particular explanation why.  Math seems to be the language of the world we live in.  Art is an expression of math.

Works Cited

Britton, Jill. "Fibonacci Numbers in Nature." Camosun College, 20 June 2011. Web. 3 April 2015. 

Escher, MC. Cycle. Digital image. http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/most-popular/cycle/. 1938. Web.

Fibonacci, Fractals and Financial Markets. Socionomics.net. N.p., 31 May 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. 

"Golden Ratio in Art Composition and Design." Phi 1618 The Golden Number. N.p., 04 May 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <http://www.goldennumber.net/art-composition-design/>. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. 

Week 1 | Two Cultures

Hi! My name is Gary Chang and I am a senior Computer Science student.  I decided on my major back in my early high school years and have wanted to pursue it ever since.  With both of my parents in the Computer Science field as well, it seemed like a natural decision for me.  Even now, most of my friends are in the Computer Science field as well.  It just seems so hard to get away from yet I love it so much and want to pursue a career in it.

To me, the school is not just split into two cultures.  While there is an apparent divide in the North and South campus, this divide is not just a physical one that separates the two.  Due to my history, I rarely interact with other cultures and am in a sense, sheltered.  I have not had much opportunity to pursue a study of the arts and have rather only been within the culture of science and it has, for a while, led me to believe, like C.P Snow in his "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution", that people believe their own culture is superior, which leads to a more ingrained study.

Two conflicting ideas, a divide between which idea is superior

Kevin Kelly, however, believes technology as a form of a "third culture", one that I am quiet familiar with as it is an offspring of science.  From this, I believe, like John Brockman in the Third Culture, that technology is an offspring of science and art, which bridges the culture gap.

Technology designed with an artistic aspect to provide visual appeal and user experience

From this technology bridge, society has benefited from the improved technologies that resulted from the collaboration of science and art in motion films, cell phones, video games, etc.

Technology being used to create art

While personally I prefer the science aspect of technology, I understand that art is necessary for technology to grow and evolve and would like to create a relationship with the other half.

Works Cited

Brockman, John. The Third Culture. N.p.:n.p., 1995. Print.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science 279.5353 (1998): 992-93 Web.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. London:Cambridge UP, 1992. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Two Cultures". Youtube. UC Online. 30 March 2012. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM

Wilson, Stephen. Myths and Confusions in Thinking About Art/Science/Technology. 2000. Web.