I put a picture of butterflies because of what was mentioned in Lecture 3 about Diminezas(I dont know how its spelled) and wing modification. I never even thought that one could even try to modify butterflies wings. To me this is incredible, especially since this week I visited the Natural History Museum and I entered the Nature Lab were they have a set of butterflies which you could look closely and really see the details in wings and all the butterflies I looked at were real/not modified. So to think that someone would actually try to do this is crazy and even though it might have beautiful outcomes I think that this is one of those things that goes to far. I say this because after researching what wing color is for, you see that the wing color have a purpose and its usually about, camouflage warning, attraction to mates, deceiving predators and soaking up heat. So by modifying you would essentially get rid of this and make butterflies and predators confused. That is why this is a place in which I believe should have some limitation.
Another section that really influenced me this week was the hybridization of plants and in some sense animals(with the lab rats). I actually know someone who has hybridized two different species of plants and to them this was an achievement. So in some sense I understand what someone like Edward Stichen feels when producing his delphiniums. Also, like Eduardo Kac who makes "Transgenic Art", he put his genes into a plant and created it. I never even thought of this as art so to me this was amazing to see what some artists will do to really create something abstract. Just like Whatley mentioned in The Art of Hybridizing it is "The opportunity to create new things", something unique.
Moreover, it might seem weird but after this lecture I will really try to value rats more. I have always known of them being used in experiments for our benefit but I never really valued them and it makes sense what Kathy High said about them. As she mentions in her website, they are powerful tools that we use and that is why we should embrace them. Even an article by Joseph Castro which mentions that just like us rats are empathetic which makes them our close relatives so we should treat them that way.
In all, I could see why artists feel the need to use technology to help them create abstract art but as mentioned above I do believe that there's boundaries. It's one thing to manipulate a few chemicals in creating something but to try and manipulate human nature that is different and it should be dealt with differently/ with some rules.
Resources
Gambino, Megan. “The Story of How an Artist created a Genetic Hybrid of Hmself and a Petunia”. Smithsonian. Feb 2013. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-how-an-artist-created-a-genetic-hybrid-of-himself-and-a-petunia-25148544/#eO5FxYBM1vXWPI8K.99
Another section that really influenced me this week was the hybridization of plants and in some sense animals(with the lab rats). I actually know someone who has hybridized two different species of plants and to them this was an achievement. So in some sense I understand what someone like Edward Stichen feels when producing his delphiniums. Also, like Eduardo Kac who makes "Transgenic Art", he put his genes into a plant and created it. I never even thought of this as art so to me this was amazing to see what some artists will do to really create something abstract. Just like Whatley mentioned in The Art of Hybridizing it is "The opportunity to create new things", something unique.
Moreover, it might seem weird but after this lecture I will really try to value rats more. I have always known of them being used in experiments for our benefit but I never really valued them and it makes sense what Kathy High said about them. As she mentions in her website, they are powerful tools that we use and that is why we should embrace them. Even an article by Joseph Castro which mentions that just like us rats are empathetic which makes them our close relatives so we should treat them that way.
In all, I could see why artists feel the need to use technology to help them create abstract art but as mentioned above I do believe that there's boundaries. It's one thing to manipulate a few chemicals in creating something but to try and manipulate human nature that is different and it should be dealt with differently/ with some rules.
Resources
Gambino, Megan. “The Story of How an Artist created a Genetic Hybrid of Hmself and a Petunia”. Smithsonian. Feb 2013. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-how-an-artist-created-a-genetic-hybrid-of-himself-and-a-petunia-25148544/#eO5FxYBM1vXWPI8K.99
Whatley, Oscie. “The Art of Hybridizing”. The Daylily
Journal. Americam Hemerocallis. 1990. http://www.daylilies.org/Whatley/WhatleyTheArtOfHybridizing.htm
Kathy High Website - Embracing Animal -http://kathyhigh.com/project-embracing-animal.html
Butterfly Wing Anatomy - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterflies/anatomy/Wings.shtml
Castro, Joseph. “Empathetic Rats Help Each Other Out”. Live
Science. Dec 2008. http://www.livescience.com/17378-rats-show-empathy.html
Hi Alison. I like how you connect with your experience to the Natural History Museum. Also i agree with you that we should treat the experimental animal in a better way. It will be nicer if you can analyze the class material more specifically. Looking forward to see your next blog!
ReplyDeleteJingyi Xie
I agree with you when it comes down to the mice, I also did not think much of all the research they help humans go through. They are honesty the real heroes when it comes to trying new products. Something that I would like to be changed is all the pain that they sometimes go through when a product goes wrong. Also, nice connection to the Natural History Museum, I am not sure which one you went to, but at the San Diego History Museum, they have this really cool bug exhibit, that also shows butterflies. A couple years ago at the Los Angeles History Museums they had an expo, and they brought a plethora of displays with many butterflies, and my favorite too; the monarch. Well I hope to see more of your blogs!
ReplyDeleteHey Alison, I really like how you talked about the butterflies and how science has tried to changed their appearance. I think like you in the fact that they went to far and should just leave some things alone, it is wrong to try and modify something so beautiful. Great work on this.
ReplyDeleteJake Arnitz