ArtXpose 4: Emma Culhane
Title of event:pressing for social change:prints as social commentary
date and time: November 15 at 1:00pm
Location of event: ELC SAMEK gallery
type of event : exhibition
ArtXpose #3: Emma Culhane
Title of Event: Kress Collection
Date and Time: November 15 at 1:00pm
Location of event: ELC SAMEK gallery
Type of event: exhibition
Animal Intelligence Writing Assignment- Emma Culhane
Writing Assignment
Summary of Research
As I was initially doing some broad research on animals’ intelligence, I learned that animals and humans have similar ways of solving complex problems (Inside the minds of animals). For instance, elephants mourn the deaths of other elephants and chimpanzees engage in deception schemes (Inside the animal mind). The aspect of the waggle dance that bees do caught my attention, so I decided to research bees’ intelligence in further depth. I learned that the waggle dance is a sophisticated type of communication that uses the sun’s perpendicular path to the horizon to communicate direction to other bees (exploring the animal mind). They take the sun’s path and wag their rear end at a specific angle to the sun’s path and this gives signals of direction (exploring the animal mind). Additionally, it has been shown that bees can pass on knowledge to other bees. For example, if one bee discovers a more efficient way to retrieve nectar, all the bees seem to adapt to that same strategy (exploring the animal mind). Bees’ brains contain 1 million neurons to our 80 million neurons in our brains; However, they seem to integrate spatial information similar to how our midbrain processes information (exploring the animal mind).
Thesis Statement
Like other animals, bees have similar ways of solving complex problems when compared to humans. They have 1 million neurons in their brain compared to humans’ 80 million neurons; however, they seem to integrate spatial information like how our midbrain processes information as well as communicate knowledge to other bees. What’s most fascinating though is their complex communication style called the waggle dance that uses the sun’s perpendicular path to the horizon to communicate distance and direction to other bees.
ArtXpose#2- Emma Culhane
Title of Event: fragments of (un)sterile soil
Date & Time of Event: Thursday, September 9 at 6:00pm
Location of Event: Holmes 103
Type of event: Exhibition by Ashley Freeby
ArtXpose#1- Emma Culhane
Title of Event: fragments of (un)sterile soil
Date & Time of Event: Thursday, September 9 at 5:00pm
Location of Event: Holmes 116
Type of event: Lecture given by Ashley Freeby
20 Collages- Emma Culhane
Sculpture Project of Self Portrait
Key Experience: The process of getting into college was unexpectedly difficult for me. As a straight-A student involved in sports, honors clubs, and over 300 hours of volunteer services, I thought getting into college wouldn’t be too difficult. It turns out that I was just an average student in a world of exceptional, brilliant, and overachieving college applicants. It was through this process of ups and downs that I learned important lessons about humility and perseverance. However, it’s not this process I want to highlight. It was the night that I found out I got into Bucknell and received the scholarship that I needed to be able to attend this school. I remember it like it was yesterday. All day I sat in anticipation. Minutes before the letter came out, my heart was pounding. I had been waitlisted at 2 of my top schools, rejected from my reach school and I was tired of the feeling of failure. When I received the email with my acceptance letter, I fully expected to feel like a failure once again. However, the first two sentences not only told me I was accepted but also told me that I had received one of the highest scholarships that Bucknell offers. I was overjoyed and thrilled, to say the least. I remember jumping up off my couch out of excitement. The entire experience really proved to me that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Keywords:
Humility
Perseverance
Joy
Thrill
Excitement
Jumping
Screaming
Anticipation
Pride
Relief
A Safe Place- Emma Culhane
A Safe Place
By: Beth Cavener
Immediate response
At first glance, I thought that this piece was depicting some sort of animal cruelty as it initially looked like a fox was being stuffed into a suitcase. However, I then looked closer at the fox and its body language and recognized some signs in the fox’s body position that indicated that it was actually content and at peace sitting in the suitcase. One thing that jumped out at me was the fox’s head resting on the suitcase’s edge. One thing my dogs love to do is rest their heads on my legs. This shows they want to be near me. Similarly, the fox is resting his head on the suitcase which indicates his fondness for the suitcase. These initial thoughts were confirmed when I read the title of the piece which is “A Safe Place” thus indicating the fox feels at home in this tiny space.
Objective Description
In this sculpture, there is a fox that is laying in a brown, small suitcase. The foxes body takes up the entire suitcase. The fox’s head is resting on the corner of the suitcase. He has a blank expression on his face. The fox almost looks like he is gazing off into the distance. His tail droops off the side of the suitcase as well. His whole body is relaxed, and he does not indicate any signs of alertness or stress. The fox’s orange color contrasts with the dark brown color of the suitcase which draws attention to the fox and away from the suitcase.
Technical Decisions
In this section, I am going to focus on the composition of the sculpture. The artist could have created a lot of movement in this sculpture as animals are lively creates who exhibit captivating movements that would create an interesting sculpture. However, the artist chose to capture a fox at rest. Because of this, the sculpture exudes feelings of calmness and peace. If the artist were to have created a sculpture of a fox with lots of movement, then, as the viewers, we would assume the fox was unhappy, stressed, and anxious in the suitcase thus making the suitcase the opposite of a safe place. However, the artist chose to create a very harmonic piece of work that showcased the fox’s feeling of security in the suitcase.
The Work in the World
The reason I felt I really understood this sculpture was because the fox’s body language is so similar to that of my two dogs. I touched on this a bit in my immediate response, but the thing that drew me to this piece out of all of Beth Cavener’s other works was the familiarity of the piece. My dogs love to rest their heads on me and my other family members. Whenever we sit next to them, they always position themselves so that their paw or their head is touching us. I think this is how they show affection. Beth Cavener was able to capture this fondness and warmness in her sculpture by placing the fox’s head on the edge of the suitcase with his tail loosely hanging over the edge. These little details show how at home the fox feels in his box.
The Story it Tells
In this Sculpture, the fox has made a home in some worn-out suitcase. I think the fox was walking through a neighborhood when he found a thrown-out suitcase. Foxes tend to like manmade things better than natural habitats which is why they tend to make frequent appearances in neighborhoods or at schools. It’s reasonable to assume someone threw out their suitcase and the fox made a home out of it. The saying “one man’s trash is another’s treasure” comes to mind when viewing this sculpture. He seems at peace in his new home which delights the viewer.
Radiolarians: The Connection Between the Natural and Romantic World- Emma Culhane
In the 19th century, the ocean was a mystery to scientists. In Haeckel’s lifetime, huge advances in underwater technology helped progress knowledge in the scientific field. Through watching the film, I learned that there are over 5,000 types of Radiolarians and Haeckel helped discover about 4,000 of these over the course of his lifetime. Haeckel was a medical student who was drawn to the mystery of the ocean, particularly cells and microorganisms. It wasn’t until later that he discovered a passion for painting landscapes. Through this discovery, Haeckel was conflicted between the “charming, wild and romantic” world of art and the “serious, cold, and rational” natural world. This conflict is something that particularly interested me as I too feel conflicted between my creative side and scientific side. As a student on the pre-med track, classes such as this one allows me to embrace my artistic side. After watching this film, I realized there has been a strong connection between art and science since the Enlightenment when romantics used the natural world as their muse for poems and paintings. Through Haeckel’s work with radiolarians, he was able to marry the two worlds of art and science. Additionally, he challenged Darwinian theories of evaluation and spirituality as Haeckel believed in a world undivided between matter and spirit and denied the immortality of souls. As someone with my own religious beliefs, I don’t necessarily agree with Haeckel’s theories and ideas. However, his work in sculpture has allowed me to understand how art can help us gain a better understanding of scientific topics. More specifically, creating these 3D structures gives us an understanding of how detailed and complicated one-cell organisms are and gives us an appreciation for the complexity of nature.