For my fourth event, I visited the LASER: Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous, which featured Appelusa, Daniel Schuster, Daniel Krasofski, Daniel Small, and Sarah Brady. Going into the event, I didn't really know what to expect because I didn't really read up on it, but I just went because of Dr. Vesna's recommendation. Having sat in on this meeting, it is clear how each of the speakers' works and ideas connect with many of the concepts we have covered in this class.
(Daniel Krasofski speaking about the brainwaves that occur whilst smelling perfume)
Daniel Krasofski spoke about an interesting topic regarding scents/perfumes and how they affect human life. He has as rare condition known as Synesthesia, which was introduced by the first speakers Appelusa and Daniel Schuster. Synesthetes, who make up about three to five percent of the population, essentially will report that when stimulation in one sensory or cognitive pathway occurs it will lead to the activation of a secondary sensory or cognitive pathway. Specifically, in the case of Daniel Krasofski, every smell that he was able to catch would have an associated color with it, down to the very molecule of the smell. This reminded me of the nanotechnology unit we had a couple weeks back because although not much technology is involved, it's cool to see how even humans can sometimes perceive in the "nano" and that life actually does go down into that much detail. Furthermore, smell synesthetes are in fact better at odor recognition because of the visual experiences they have (Anderson, 2017).
In addition, Krasofski proceeds to talk about an experiment done on individuals with anosmia, or the inability to smell. He essentially hooks them up to an electroencephalography (EEG) while having them smell different scents to see if their brain still triggers waves. To his surprise, the brain still recognizes the scents, although it can't translate it directly to a sensory experience. This connects directly to our neuroscience section and how the brain is actually a very intricate and complicated structure in our body that has so much to be learned about. I thought this was a very crazy and super interesting concept, as I've never heard of this condition before. However, upon listening to Krasofski's life and how he used this condition to become a perfumist, traveling the world to find different scents that will positively impact human lives, I found it eye-opening and enlightening.
In addition, Krasofski proceeds to talk about an experiment done on individuals with anosmia, or the inability to smell. He essentially hooks them up to an electroencephalography (EEG) while having them smell different scents to see if their brain still triggers waves. To his surprise, the brain still recognizes the scents, although it can't translate it directly to a sensory experience. This connects directly to our neuroscience section and how the brain is actually a very intricate and complicated structure in our body that has so much to be learned about. I thought this was a very crazy and super interesting concept, as I've never heard of this condition before. However, upon listening to Krasofski's life and how he used this condition to become a perfumist, traveling the world to find different scents that will positively impact human lives, I found it eye-opening and enlightening.
(Artist Daniel Small explaining the aerogel material used in his work)
Artist Daniel Small brought up some interesting topics that directly connected with some themes from our class. First of all, he introduced an interesting material known as aerogel that he has worked with in some of his art pieces. What makes aerogel so interesting is that the material is made of the lightest solid materials known to man, while it is 99.8% made of empty space (Woods, 2015). In fact, this material is so durable and light that NASA has considered using it in possible space travel expeditions or even on Earth (Pline, 2007). It's really interesting to see how space and art really come together in a real life example like this. In what can be an artistic tool and avenue for someone like Daniel Small, aerogel also serves as space travel materials and technology for an association like NASA.
(A selfie I took at the event after it was over)
Works Cited
Anderson, James. “People With Smell-Color Synesthesia Better At Odor Recognition.” ReliaWire, 22 Aug. 2017, reliawire.com/smell-color-synesthesia/.
Badhwar, Amanpreet & Jakobson, Estrid. “The Interplay between Neuroscience and Art.” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, 3 June 2017, www.ohbmbrainmappingblog.com/blog/the-interplay-between-neuroscience-and-art.
Duncan , Bruce. “Bina48 Social Robot with Lifenaut.com.” LifeNaut, www.lifenaut.com/bina48/.
"Nanotech Jim pt2." YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2018.
"Nanotech Jim pt4." YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2018.
"Nanotech Jim pt6." YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2018.
Radboud University. "Better odor recognition in odour-color synesthesia." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 August 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170821105523.htm>.
Pline, Alex. “Ideas That Gel.” NASA, NASA, 30 Oct. 2007, www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/aerogel.html.
Woods, Tori. “Aerogels: Thinner, Lighter, Stronger.” NASA, NASA, 15 Apr. 2015, www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/aerogels.html.
Woods, Tori. “Aerogels: Thinner, Lighter, Stronger.” NASA, NASA, 15 Apr. 2015, www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/aerogels.html.
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