Week One

Growing up, I was always overexposed to the arts. My mom frequently took my brother and I to a local art museums so we could learn more about the culture and history of art. I always took a little easier to the arts because it was more of an abstract concept, there was no right way of interpreting something. I struggled more in math and science because we were taught that there was just one way to solve these issues.

Figure 1: Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA

After reading CP Snow’s The Two Cultures and Scientific Revolution, I agreed with the fact that science and art appeared to two separate cultures. I found that I had a very separated thinking, with ‘literary intellectuals at one pole-at the other scientist” (Snow P. 4). I had a very hard time while reading “Third Culture: Being in Between” by Victoria Vesna and the interview with John Brockman entitled “Third Culture”, as both articles discussed this realm where science and art met within the area of technology. I did not understand how two very different things could ever find common ground. CP Snow failed to acknowledge or overlooked how a third culture bridging the two cultures could develop. After a few moments of thought, I began to realize that technology, as mentioned by Professor Vesna, does allow for these two cultures to come together.

Figure 2: Royce Hall at UCLA built in the area known as North Campus

This two-culture thinking I previously was accustomed to has heavily influenced me. I mostly see this thinking in my schooling. I am currently a history major at UCLA which means I normally find myself hanging around North Campus, which in my mind is strictly for the more for the students pursing a History, Art, English, etc. degree. I rarely find myself venturing to South Campus which is known for its scientific roots. I am beginning to realize that the two sides of campus are brought together with the use of technology. North Campus utilizes science to help construct artwork on computers and uses tools to help carbon date how old fossils. South Campus uses art to help construct new scientific models and design new and improved experiments. After this week, I see how intertwined the two are through technology and how I must submerge myself into both, if not all three, cultures to become successful.

Figure 3: Picture depicting a brain which is known to have a left and right. Each controlling one of the two cultures addressed by CP Snow

Works Cited

Brockman, John. The Third Culture. N.p.: n.p., 1995. Print.

Ed Asmus. THE CREATIVE PROCESS @ THE CROCKER ART MUSEUM EXPANSION. 2011. Ed Asmus Photography. Web. <http://blog.edasmusphotography.com/2011/01/20/the-creative-process-the-crocker-art-museum-expansion/>.

Green, James. The Data-Driven Art of Digital Marketing. 2015. Marketing Land. Marketing Land. Web. <http://marketingland.com/data-driven-art-digital-marketing-121667>.

Royce Hall Deteriorating from Camera Flash. N.d. Satyr Magazine. Satyr Magazine. Web. <http://thesatyrmag.com/royce-hall-deteriorating-from-camera-flash/>.

Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.