Da Vinci: 15th Century Artist or Scientist?

Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most profound artists of the Italian Renaissance. Surely that is my opinion; however, it is an opinion which is supported by historians all over the world, across several generations. While many people think of him as merely an artist, they do not realize his genius went far beyond simple pigments. He was an artist, a scientist and a mathemetician. He left behind hundreds of sketches that may never have made it to the Louvre, but they do offer insight into the mind of the master.

Da Vinci was a thinker. Let's take his work the "Vitruvian Man". At a glance, it looks like one of his overworked sketches, with the man's limbs flaling about, posed within a circle overlapping a square. Let's read the sketch shall we. First of all, at the top of the sketch you'll notice his handwritten note to himself is backwards, something not at all uncommon for Da Vinci's personal journals. Below that is the subject of the piece, the man. I invite you to survey the image yourself and take this ride with me.

The "Vitruvian Man", is not only an anatomical analysis of the human form, but a mathematical experiment rendering a circle and a square with the same area, without measuring either one. You'll take notice of the fractions written at the bottom of the image. Da Vinci spent his lifetime trying to figure out such things and left behind pages and pages of his toiled research and experiments. Much of the paintings we know of, are deeply scientific and were created from his understanding of the human body and physics. In his unpolished notebooks, he left behind the world as he understood it, repleet with inventions that were to come hundreds of years later.

With that said, who do you think invented the bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and parachute?
BBC - Science & Nature - Leonardo - Vitruvian Man

Single Sign On....OpenID....WWYD?

So, you know how you have 7 different user ids and passwords for the different websites you frequent? And if you're anything like me, you have to create a new account each time you visit those sites you only go to for that -one time only - random reason every 8 months?!

You guessed it was coming. The high rollers of the internet industry are working together to make navigating the virtural world more convenient for consumers. Soon the option to have one ID and Password for major sites will become available.

There is no tentative onset date-----to the relief of critics. They argue that the FREE service will constitute the sharing of sensitive consumer information among companies, posing a significant threat to many people, in an age of all too prevalent identity fraud. I invite you to read the article and share your thoughts.

We look for ways of making our lives simpler, but at what cost? Would you hand a stranger all of your personal information if it meant you didn't have to memorize as much information? Perhaps there is no real threat to personal securities, and that with innovation comes mental minimalism? Peut-être. Read on mes amies. Technology News: Collaboration: Internet Bigs Back Single Sign-On

Beal Center for Art + Technology

UC Irvine is home to an amazing facility devoted to exploring the relationship between the visual and technological worlds. Their website is worth visiting if you have a moment.
UCI Beall Center for Art + Technology Calendar : 2005-06. There you will find examples of some of the truly monumental works created using digital technologies. The center strives not only to redefine the audience, but the artist, thus promoting creativity through the arts, sciences and engineering. Enjoy mes amies.

Best. Edith

La première poste....

This is the initial post. This blog is to be a source for national gallery openings, marketing ideas, and all around art talk, with a bit of history and innovation interlaced in the mix. Enjoy this space. Best.