Week 8: Nanotech + Art

 The foreword for this chapter was a quotation from Benoit Mandelbrot that read "Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line." In presenting this quotation, Professor Vesna is communicating to us that technology and art may not also be as they seem, they are irregular and cannot be simply categorized and put into boxes. Similar to this ideology, Gimzewski and Vesna write in their The Nanomeme Syndrome:Blurring of Fact and Fiction in the Construction of a New Science piece about nanotechnology which is described as a "new science that is ultimately about a shift in our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity" (Gimzewski and Vesna, 2003). Furthermore, lecture video part 1 discusses the top-down approach to technology. This approach can be applied to nanotechnology in particular as in nanotechnology we see the behavior of nanotech changing to create what we see as new objects/effects. 

 "Schematic representation of ‘top-down’ and 'bottom-up’ approaches for synthesis of nanoscale materials." 

Moreover, nanotech is a field that is contributing to a paradigm shift for the traditional arts and sciences because it is a type of technology that involves manipulating objects that are unseeable to the human eye (Vesna, 2012). For instance, in art in the age of nanotechnology, Boo Chapple is working on a project to make audio speakers out of bone by manipulation the nature of the bone matrix in order to cause bone to vibrate in a way that generates audible sound (Art. Base, 2010). 

                             "Can you Hear the Femur Play?: Bone Audio Speakers at the Nanoscale"

Nanotechnology is not only revolutionary to technology and art, but it also is contributing to the medical tech field. Researchers have been able to develop nanoparticles that carry therapeutic drugs to diseased cells. This technology has been used in chemotherapy to treat cancer patients. 

                                                 "Tumor-Seeking Nanoparticles"

Bringing it all together, when looking at art and technology we see that nanotechnology is revolutionary in its top-down mechanisms of producing solutions and alternatives to our modern day happenings. Nanotechnology is yet to be fully developed and I am looking forward to the future given the use of these advanced technologies. 

Chapple, Boo, and William Wong. “Can You Hear the Femur Play?: Bone Audio Speakers at the Nanoscale.” Leonardo, The MIT Press, 25 July 2008, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/243501/pdf.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. “The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science.” The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science, 2003, http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/publications/publications/02-03/JV_nano/JV_nano_artF5VG.htm.

“John Curtin Gallery - Art in the Age of Nanotechnology.” Art.Base, 2010, https://art.base.co/event/2104-art-in-the-age-of-nanotechnology#3.

“Nanotechnology and Nanoparticles in Drug Delivery.” Nanotechnology Drug Delivery | Nanoparticle Drug Delivery, https://www.understandingnano.com/nanotechnology-drug-delivery.html.

Singh, Beer Pal. Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches for Synthesis of Nanomaterials. https://ccsuniversity.ac.in/bridge-library/pdf/L-3%20Synthesis%20of%20Nanostructured%20Materials%20Prof%20BPS.pdf.

“Tumor-Seeking Nanoparticles.” Nanoparticles Targeting Cancer Cells, https://www.understandingnano.com/nanomedicine-nanoparticles-targeted-chemotherapy.html.

Vesna, Victoria. " Nanotech for Artists Part 1- Dr. Gimzewski." Week 8 Lesson. University of             California, Los Angeles. 20 May, 2022. Lecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?                    v=q7jM6-iqzzE&ab_channel=UCOnline

Vesna, Victoria. “Nanotech Intro.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 Mar. 2012,                          www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ3y6TkXJ6Y.