Kabir's Blog

Diagnosing the Relationship: Medicine and Art This week’s topic was the interplay of the fields of medicine and art. Medicine cannot be discussed without the role technology has had in its progression and based on last week’s discussions we must include technology in art’s role too. The human body is the point of intersection of these three topics, and throughout history, and even today, we have strived to learn as much about it as we can however possible. As mentioned in professor Vesna’s lectures, as far back as In ancient Egypt and Greece, study of anatomy was conducted through dissection as it was the only way of actually observing the inner body. Over time, owing to developments in understanding of technology, and the applications of electricity, sound, and radiations, we have new tools like X-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs to observe the body in a non-invasive manner. I really enjoyed reading Casini’s take on the MRI as a portrait because it is a view into how artistic culture reacted...

 For good or bad, mechanization has changed art forever The topic of mechanization and robots in this week's lectures fascinated me for many reasons! It dealt with art's interaction with this revolution and observed it behave similarly to other aspects of life - initial insecurity followed by realization of the collaborative benefits.    With the second industrial revolution, the initial insecurity was of potential unemployment, followed by the realization of the opportunities for growth and more jobs. Similarly, the printing press, initially in China in 1040, and notably onwards from Guttenberg’s printing press made sections of the art world insecure about the ability to copy and circulate the art. Did it undervalue the original? Has the purpose been defeated?      More recently with the blending of biology and machines, we have robots invading all aspects of life now. Funnily enough, the idea of a humanoid robot originated in the artistic temple of expres...

Math and Art: The Perfect Marriage  I have always appreciated how art and mathematics have been intertwined, but until doing this week’s readings I did not really understand how besides geometric visuals. The realization of perspectives and ratios opened so many avenues for new art to be created, just by its use and various interpretations of new dimensions and mediums. In the same breath, I enjoyed Linda Henderson’s article on how art and science have evolved hand in hand.     One of the most popular pieces of art, the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci utilized the concept of the golden ratio which we discussed in lecture to create appealing facial and body proportions, and Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, A Rainy Day  actively used linear perspectives. The golden ratio has an aesthetic appeal and has prominent use in art and architecture dating back to the Greek ages. While both artists did show some revolutionary application of mathematics, their intention was no...

WEEK 1 | TWO CULTURES I came to UCLA from India in 2018 as a prospective Economics major, excited to join a population of college students that shared a campus and community that enjoyed a diversity of perspectives and curricula.   My eagerness to enter this environment was driven majorly by my experience in the Indian public school system, that because of a high population and severe lack of funds, was structured to produce graduates that had basic job-applicable skills like coding and accounting. To get into a college in India, one must get a high percentile in that university’s entrance examinations. It is that simple and that cutthroat.   After the 10 th  grade, students choose between science and commerce for their last two years, essentially deciding whether they want to learn code or accounts. Since the job market in metropolitan India is dominated by engineering, this choice is heavily influenced by stereotypes of security with engineering and accounts, and a pola...