Event 3 Griffith Observatory

The Griffith Observatory has always been one of my favorite place to go. I consider it as the best place to view the night scene of Los Angeles.  Although i have been there for a lot of times, I have never been to the inside of the museum. 

Because of the event requirement, i first steps in the inside of the Griffith Museum. The museum collects many scientific methods and other ways to use the tool to observe the universe. I never have any knowledge in this area or related areas so it really raise my interest of the astronomical science. 

I also gained many tips for observing the celestial body. For example, the best time to observe the sky is after 1:00 pm at night because most of the store has shut the lights and most workers have been home so the traffic lights largely reduced.

The Observatory features a solar telescope as well as a night-time observing telescope, more than 160 exhibits, a planetarium show. It is a must-see for anyone visiting the Los Angeles area, and has one of the most breathtaking views in the world. 

Event 2 What Comes To Mind: Memory Traces/Engrams by Joyce Cutler-Shaw

The Joyce Cutler-Shaw's show, which is held in CNSI building, is pretty awesome.  That show mainly composed of many artworks related with neuroscience and memory. It was held in a little dark room which does not really gives me a very good feeling. There are few art works in that room but that really impress me after i viewed it.

The theme of neuroscience has always be one of my most interesting area of science and art. As I learned in previous lecture, neuroscience is really an area that has unlimited power that need human beings to explore. But i have not really think about the them of our dream and memory. I know they are mostly related to each other. However, the show really shows me another aspect of them.

The most impressive series of artwork are several pictures of a woman brain. Those pictures are telling the story of that woman's dream and mind. Me and my friends all consider that woman as the author herself. That direct shows how people think and dream in normal lives. 

I fell that this show makes me think more of the relation between people's dream and mind.This could be a good experience for my further study of psychology minor.

Event 1 Typhoon Relief Benefit Show

On November 22nd, I went to the Typhoon Relief Benefit show which located in Covel Commons. It was held by the Pilipinao Community in UCLA to rase some donations for the philippines who suffers from the typhoon. This is not actually an art related event but this is truly the most impressive event i have attended in this quarter.

The Typhoon Haiyan, which is known as Typhoon Yolanda in the philippines, is a very strong cyclone devastated southeast asia in early November. My mother showed me how bad that is and that totally makes me think of the earthquake in Wenchuan, Si Chuan, China. That is the only time that i can literally feel the natural disaster by my own. The date is May 21st and i will never forget that at that time, the extremely huge shake of the building almost make me think that we are in the center of the earthquake. When I realize that we are not even very close to the center of the earthquake, I really start to worry about the people in Si Chuan.

Since i have volunteered in that area in China, I can totally imagine what philippine people are going under right now. The promo that they played during the event makes me feel more about it. I really want to go there and try my best to help them right now. I actually feel bad because donation is the only thing i could do for them.

Week 9 Space+Art

This week's topic is space and art which is also one of my most interesting topics in this class. If we say that human brain is the most unexploited area for micro level, then the universe must be the most unexploited part as for macro level. Every time we think of universe we will only have the idea that it is huge and that is it. Normal people almost know nothing about the space which makes it so mysterious that interested almost everyone.

When we talk about the topics of space and art, the first picture coming to my mind is the photo that astronaut take when they are in the space. It is so beautiful that makes me suddenly realize that our earth is actually different then i see everyday. It is also the first time i find out that earth is composed with 75 percent or more water which totally destroy my mind. 

As for the area of aviation,  there are actually huge differences between different countries. U.S's NASA is famous around the world because of all the achievements they have made. Neil Armstrong is the astronaut impress me the most. His world 'That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' makes me realize that is the first time human kind land the moon.

Space is not only a mysterious part for academic studies, but also play an important role in future resource part. There are several hypothesis that one day we will finally run out of resources on the earth and will need minerals from the space. As for my point of view, I totally consider that develop of space resources is one of the most effective way to help human beings in the future. But the most important thing is that we realize how serious we need to trait sustainable development as one of the basic rules for us to explore our earth. 

Citations:

Vesna, Victoria. "Space + Art pt. 1-6." University of California, Los Angeles. 30 May 2012. Lecture.

Nexus. N.d. Photograph. flashcooWeb. 1 Dec 2013. <http://www.flashcoo.com/cartoon/space_1600/wallpapers/1280x1024/wallcoo.com_Space_Art_w_2.html>.

These sapphires are among the gemstones on display in an exhibition in the Peabody Museum’s new Hall of Minerals, Earth and Space.. N.d. Photograph. Yale NewsWeb. 1 Dec 2013. <http://news.yale.edu/2008/11/14/new-hall-peabody-museum-sparkles-and-shines>.

Inside NASA's Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center. N.d. Photograph. NASAWeb. 1 Dec 2013. <http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/18/nasa-launch-control-center-tour-at-kennedy-space-center/>.

Houston, Tranquility Base Here, Neil Armstrong Stopped By On His Way To Heaven. N.d. Photograph. Political clown paradeWeb. 1 Dec 2013. <http://politicalclownparade.blogspot.com/2012/08/houston-tranquility-base-here-neil.html>.