https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aQfDmFdKjfQDIz8Tt9mRIDGSmCNAHmV_Ft3XEwZLHJY/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PlbK3uRCQYJ_Ma5aMlVuamVur2yeEZmWYS4k8o1jeyE/edit?usp=sharing
by Erin Wiehn
by Naomi Malone
by Jason Savas
I watched the video on how dogs can smell cancer. I chose this video because my dog got diagnosed with lymphoma cancer two summers ago. Whenever I see my dog, I think she is the smartest creature in the world. In the beginning of the video, the narrator talks about how dogs can sense when humans are going to go for a walk sometime even before the human knows they are going to go for a walk. The narrator says that dogs are masters of reading body language, like a sixth sense, and they use this skill to do many things, such as sense when their human is going for a walk. The narrator then goes to talk about how dogs are able to read a human’s body language and even smell the chemical nature of cancer in a person. In the video, a woman’s dog randomly began acting lethargic when the dog was normally full of energy. This behavior from the dog led to the woman getting a biopsy on a lump that was considered benign. They found cancer in the lump, which was promptly removed, and the dog was full of energy again. The video then showed how dogs can be trained to detect cancer.
Thesis:
The intelligence in other animals has proven to be near the level of humans, and in some instances surpasses human intelligence. Animals have the capability to do things that even humans can’t readily do. This intelligence possessed by other animals will be valuable in humanity’s progression towards the future.
by Anna Barrios
Overall, in the videos I watched, I learned about animal intelligence in a variety of animals, including dogs, dolphins, monkeys, etc. In these videos, researchers in one test dolphins to see if they can recognize themselves in a mirror. Their change of behavior suggests that they understand they are looking at a reflection of themselves. Another talks about how certain animals, including dogs and monkeys, will deceive humans and other animals. This suggests that not only are they capable of complex thoughts, but that they understand others have complex thoughts as well. Another video talks about how worms are similar to humans in that they will test a number of different ways to get a leaf into a hole in the group, similar to how a human may try to fit a couch through a doorway. Another video talks about how one species of crows has the same intelligence of a 7 year old. All of these videos taught me that animals are much more intelligent than I had previously thought. They are able to analyze and solve complex problems, along with recognizing other animals and their own reflection. It was very interesting to see comparisons and similarities between how animals act and solve problems to how humans do.
Response: I watched a YouTube video called “Dogs Can Smell Cancer”. It is discussed in the video how dogs spend more time watching humans than any other animal. Many dogs have a strong sense of connection with their owners and the humans they live with because they are very social creatures. They have the ability to read the body language of humans and can sense what is coming before it actually happens, such as how they express that they know they are going for a walk before the wonder actually decides that themselves. It is described in the video how a dog, Max, changed his mood and acted depressed and less energetic towards his owner because he sensed that he had cancer. Once his owner was treated for her cancer, his behavior drastically changed. It is explained that dogs can smell the tiny volatile chemicals given off by cancerous tumors, and with training they can accurately pick out a cancerous patient from a group of patients from a selection of urine samples. They can also sense when blood sugar levels are getting low and alert people before an allergic reaction happens. The main ideas from this video are that dogs have incredible capabilities when it comes to helping people because they have a sense of connection with humans and are very intelligent creatures. They can be trained to use their senses in helpful ways. They also try to communicate things to their owners every day of their lives and can often warn them before something happens. They can be very useful in the medical world, as well as to dog owners in general.
Thesis: Dogs are very social and intelligent creatures that can save lives. They are keen observers that can sense what is coming before it happens and they have abilities to sense diseases such as cancer, when blood sugar levels are low, or when a person is about to have an allergic reaction. They can be trained to be of service to humans in the medical world, along with the services they provide to their owners every day.
by Anna Barrios
by Naomi Malone
by Hayden Pugh
As a 4th grader, over summer break, I joined a Civil War camp in which we would tour battlefields and learn about the incredible struggle that took place in the early 1860s. In particular, we went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to walk around one of the most important battlefields of the entire war. Not only was it a very historically intriguing adventure, but also carried a deep and solemn weight knowing that thousands of people died fighting for certain freedoms and ensuring that others could live and prosper. This battle, essentially, decided the fate of the Civil War given that a Union defeat would mean the occupation of Washington D.C. by the confederate army of Northern Virginia, spelling disaster for president Lincoln and the U.S. as a whole. Knowing this it is very exciting to be able to go to the real place and understand the rich events that took place. Since then, I have gone to Gettysburg about five times and am looking to go a sixth sometime soon. It is amazing that such a basic place can hold such great power and significance in the mind just because of what happened there. Ultimately, this trip opened the door to a much larger love for history and the American Civil War and the desire to understand the sacrifices made to keep the U.S. together in the face of incredible challenges.
Before taking this class, and watching this film, I had never been introduced to radiolaria. I discovered that they are unicellular organisms that are structured out of silica, and are found deep beneath the ocean’s surface. They are one of the oldest skeletonized species, as they are roughly five hundred million years old.
After flashing several radiolarians and their intricate designs, the film began to introduce Heckel, describing him as someone who was fascinated with the convergence between art and science. His interest in the sea was something that I enjoyed listening to, as I also love learning more about the ocean and all of its mysteries. At the time, people believed that there was nothing living in the ocean. The film described the moment when a group of people crossed the Atlantic to lay telegraph cables, connecting America with Europe. They explained how when some of the cable broke off, they would reel it back to the boat and discover crustaceans and other life attached to the cable.
Over his lifetime, Heckel discovered over four thousand radiolarians on the ocean floor, and studied and drew the complexities and beauties of many of them. The film didn’t really introduce me to the relationship between science and art for the first time, as I have done many geometric paintings and drawings of nature and animals. Through his discoveries and drawings, Heckel was able to advance the understanding of sea life and creatures.
Turning Heckels 2D drawings into 3D sculptures helps me understand the basic structures of each radiolarian. Not only does sculpting these radiolarians bring them to life, but it also helps me appreciate the uniqueness of each one.
by Erin Wiehn
After watching the film, I have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the deep history that revolves around the Radiolarian. The Radiolarian is a one celled organism that is found at the bottom of the sea. It has a skeletal and glace-like structure: made up of shells that form from absorbing silica from the ocean’s water. Out of the more than 15,000 known species of radiolarians, 5000 were discovered by Ernest Haeckel. Haeckel was a Biologist and artist who spent his life trying to merge the gap between art and science. His work specifically on the aspect of “art forms in nature” is what interested me most. This is because of his intricate use of patterns and structures that he defined as evolutionary art. Specifically, he grew extremely fond of the Radiolarian as he believed this creature embodied the unity he’d been searching for. He continued to dedicate his life to the research and discovery of Radiolarians for ten years. Through his research, he developed ideas and theories of evolution. Later he was recognized as a major figure in the history of evolutionary theory. After his intense research, he began to travel around the world to talk about his findings and his theories on evolution. With this sharing of ideas came a lot of criticism and backlash and his work became heavily controversial. The one I found to be the most interesting were the comments to do with his theory on race. In Haeckel’s theory, he defined phylogeny (the development of an organism) and ontogeny (the evolution of an organism) as one in the same. He created a racial anthropology to explain how different people evolved from different organisms, therefore creating a racial hierarchy. Although there was less integration of cultures worldwide in this time period, his thought process was inherently racist and even was used to reinforce the German thought process in World War Two. I also found it interesting that his peer Nikolai Nikolajewitsch Miklucho-Maclay, whom he studied with closely for many years, had a completely different view on race and evolution. Maclay’s in fact is viewed as very progressive for the time. Overall, the history of the Radiolarian and those who studied it was way more interesting than I thought it would be. It affects more aspects of history than I expected it too and is a really crucial part of a lot of different scientific histories.
by Jason Savas
by Anna Barrios
One thing I learned about radiolarians is that there are over 4,000 different types of them. There seem to be too many to fully understand, so it was interesting when they never really stopped discovering more. I also thought the aspect of Haeckel’s life that interested me most was his sudden change and fascination with art and painting. He hadn’t dedicated any of his life previously to painting, but after moving to study marine life, he painted landscapes for the rest of his life, and at points wanted to abandon science to devote his life to art. This film made me think differently about the relationship between art and science because you can find art in almost all things related to science, such as in these radiolarians. I think one issue mentioned in his work was that there was no separation between God, spirit, and nature. I don’t think it was wrong of him to believe this, but I think that he may have been wrong in being so firm on this belief, especially today when fewer people have devoted their lives to God. I think creating these radiolarians, will allow us to have a better understanding of the type of nature out there, and how it can be so unique, such as these that all look different.
by Katie Pombar
This film talked a lot about radiolarians and their discovery and existence of them. Prior to this I did not really know what they were so this educated me a lot about them and how Haeckel and other historians developed and researched them. During his educational years his father wanted him to finish school and at 25 he was full of discoveries. When he first met poets and artists, he discovered a love for landscape painting and learned a lot about himself. He considered abandoning science for art which was very surprising. He did a lot of studying with shells, and he devoted himself for 10 years toward a task chasing ancestries and had identified more than three thousand new species. All art, history, and science do relate a lot and have developed and discovered many things within each other. One thing that I found the most interesting was his interest in painting landscapes and his obsession with painting rocks. I think based on his drawings and looping this into his discoveries, what can be drawn from creating these sculptures are the specifics in graphic precision and shading and the number of details in some of them are very crucial.
This film greatly expanded my knowledge on radiolarians. I learned that they are a type of plankton that absorbs silica from sea water and uses it to form a unique glass-like skeleton. I found it interesting how these organisms are more than five million years old and there are thousands of different species. I also learned that they exist in a large variety of forms and they all have different structures. I thought it was interesting how Haeckel was always interested in biology and went to medical school, but he decided to follow through with his passion for nature and single-celled organisms. It is also interesting how he spent ten years studying specimens of radiolarians and found three thousand new species. The fact that he sometimes had to search one thousand droplets of water before he would find a new organism and he had to draw their structure fast because they would die quickly is incredible. I admire his dedication to his work and patience. This film made me recognize how art and science are connected in many ways. Haeckel was a passionate painter as well as a scientist and he continued painting landscapes while also studying new organisms. This shows how nature is present in both art and science and can show and prove similar things. Ancient stories such as the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner are connected to the discovery of new life and traveling the world, similar to how scientists on the Challenger explored the deep sea and found marine organisms on their cables. I thought it was interesting how Haeckel expressed how there is one spirit in all living things and how he explained how his organisms were connected to God. Many people of the time did not agree with him because he rejected revelation and theological faith. Since the 19th century was a time of many new and different discoveries, peoples’ religions and faiths were challenged by science and many issues between science and religion were faced. I think the conceptual implications of creating radiolarian sculptures based on Haeckel’s drawings are that we are honoring his life and work, as well as discovering the new species he found and studied in his lifetime. He made a significant contribution to the worlds of art and science and his life, history, and connection to God and nature all played a role in his discoveries.
by Joe Meiser
{ 1668# is the Sculpture Lab keypad code }
General course materials:
* Class Schedule * (lists due dates and class activities)
How to post materials on the class website
Instructions for submitting artsXpose
Sculpture Lab Safety Regulations
Art Report example and guidelines
Artist Presentation Guidelines
Project 1
Grading Rubric and Self-Evaluation Form for Project 1
Project 2
Project 2 Outline and Research Assignments (self-portrait)
Project 3
Project 3 Outline (Animal Intelligence)
Project 4
Project 5
Project 5 outline (Performative sculptures and earthworks)
Student contact info