Extra Credit Event 1 - "Joyce Cutler-Shaw Exhibition"

 

I attended the Exhibition opening by Joyce Cutler-Shaw at the CNSI Art Sci Gallery.  Her Exhibition was titled: What Comes to Mind: Memory Traces | Engrams from the Anatomy Lesson.  Her most recent project was full of different themes.  One theme dealt with the exploration of the human life cycle from birth through death.  Another theme in her project was the brain, particularly the complex phenomena of memory.  Joyce Cutler-Shaw wrote about the details of her childhood memories.  Joyce remembered growing up in New York, and visiting Central Park every Sunday.  On a label next to one of her paintings she wrote, "We would start at the same entrance to Central Park.  She [her mom] would buy me a garden corsage.  They were 25 cents".  Detailed memories such as these remind me of our Unit 7 topic, Neuroscience + Art.  There is a vast amount of research dealing with the brain's ability to process information and store it over long periods of time.  Research has shown that separate parts of the brain are responsible for processing and storing information.
 

Another theme of Joyce Cutler-Shaw's project is the body's primary structure and skeleton.  Scientists have long been fascinated with the functionality of the human body.  The ability to better understand the human body was revolutionized by the discovery of a form of electromagnetic radiation known as X-radiation.  Wilhem Conrad Rontgen took an image of his wife's hand which showed the skeletal structure of her hand.  This ground breaking technology was the start of new technologies that would help scientists and doctors properly evaluate their patients.

A common feature seen throughout the Exhibition was an image superimposed on Joyce's face.  It was obvious that Joyce wanted to allow the art to show that the images were a part of her memory.  What I found interesting was that with close inspection, you could see that Joyce's faces showed signs of aging.  In a very subtle way, this shows a small part of the human life cycle from birth through death seen through Joyce's own eyes.



SOURCES:

Cutler-Shaw, Joyce.  "What Comes to Mind: Memory Traces | Engrams from the Anatomy Lesson". 5 Dec. 2013. 

Warwick, Andrew. “X-rays as Evidence in German Orthopedic Surgery, 1895-1900”. The History of Science Society, 2005. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <www.dahsm.medschool.ucsf.edu/history>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture Part 2. Human Body & Medical Technologies part 2.” Cole UC online. YouTube, 9 April 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. < https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/63226/wiki/unit-4-view?module_item_id=970434>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture Part 1. Neuroscience + Art part 1.” Cole UC online. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/63226/wiki/unit-7-view?module_item_id=970446>. 



PROOF:

We spoke at the event on UCLA's campus.