Week 1 | Two Cultures |

Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am all too familiar with the concept of "Two Cultures". Being a former British colony, Hong Kong is a fusion of Western and Chinese culture; our street signs are all bilingual in Chinese and English, and our streets are dotted with the occasional age-old temple hidden amongst towering skyscrapers. 

Figure 1 - Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong
http://yeinjee.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/travel-hong-kong-wong-tai-sin-6.jpg

Being from Hong Kong is not my only experience with “Two Cultures”; I am a Psychology major, but my biggest passion lies with arts and design. I have taken a few Design| Media Arts classes here at UCLA and so I have a good idea of the cultures of both the North Campus and South Campus classes. As Wilson states in Myths and Confusion in Thinking About Art/Science/Technology, “[artists] see the new technologies as tools that give profound new ways of doing what artists have historically done” which was very apparent in my Desma studio; not once did I ever have to sketch something by hand, everything was done on the computer through Photoshop, Illustrator, or Autodesk Maya (a 3D modelling program).

Figure 2 - Broad Art Center at UCLA
http://www.bruinwalk.com/site_media/media/uploads/img/2011/Jul/01/Broad_Art_Center.jpg

 However, Wilson also believed that “arts/humanities and science/technologies are talking different languages” which may have been true decades ago but is currently becoming a thing of the past. In my studio, some of my classmates were double majors in both Desma and something like Electrical Engineering or Computer Science. Technology was not simply a tool for them to create art; they may be able to use art in return to improve technology, something Wilson believes to be non-existent. In addition, I once worked as an intern under Baylor College of Medicine professor, Dominic Lam, who not only became the founding director of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology, but was also honored as an “accomplished and influential artist” by the China Academy of Art, with his works even being displayed at the Beijing Olympics (qtd. from Wikipedia). Lam explained to me that many of his art pieces are heavily influenced by his work in ophthalmology and biotechnology, and that he thrives to combine these different aspects of his life into one. As such, I am led to believe that in modern times, the cultures of art, science, and technology are in fact, much more closely intertwined than many people think.  

Figure 3 - Man-Kit Lam, 2005
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQeJbvC18R6u4qHGYHY26Pw-CzajkXfdqwn4hQVWU-nzYiRNoEzG0tiyke_jcsmuQgEaG7t1oKPqBaDTN4T_0WaTfJUCWuiiswjyOIionMUcvLFhqRkTCbR-AoOA6L98nQlTk8zW-wgR-/s1600/Man+Kit+Lam+for+web.jpg

Citations

• YeinJee. Temple Meets Skyscrapers. 2011. Hong Kong. YeinJee's Asian Blog. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
• Wilson, Stephen. "Myths and Confusion in Thinking About Art/Science/Technology." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
• Broad Art Center. 2011. Los Angeles. Bruinwalk. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
• "Dominic Lam (physician)." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
• Dcollins. "Re: Chemigram Shows for Rest of the Year, including Some You'll Have to Travel to." Weblog comment. Nonfigurativephoto.blogspot.com. N.p., 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.