Jasmine Lee

Author: jasmine_lee

  • Disorganised ramblings about life

    I’m going to have subheadings on this post, because I have things to write for several areas of what I’m doing.

     

    PhD Proposal

    I don’t know why I want to base my research on digital art, because it makes more sense if I base it on multidisciplinary art. The reason why I changed it to digital art is because I needed to narrow my topics down. In hindsight, I don’t think this is what the supervisors mean, they meant the scope of my research project rather than the tangible work. I’m thinking of changing it back to multidisciplinary art.

     

    The good thing about being a student again is having institutional access to JSTOR and ScienceDirect to see unlimited amount of journals. I can use this access to help me write my PhD proposal. I can also get a discount on Adobe suite.

     

    Science, ramblings about the past academics and identity

    I wrote a few posts ago that chemistry is really difficult at the point of sub shells, orbitals and electrons, but I’m okay with it now. It’s like I just woke up one day and understood energy levels, azimuthal quantum numbers, and the electron configuration of atoms in the subshell orders. I don’t think it’s that bad now.

     

     

    I was really happy to find out that I’ve given my brother all my previous revision guides from secondary school. He’s kept them, so I can drive to his flat to collect these today, and look through to refresh myself the GCSE triple science knowledge. When I was in secondary school, I was classified as an allrounder who wasn’t particularly good at one subject, but had potential to specialise in any area of my own choosing. This was (and still is) a really unfortunate place to be, in the context of Sartre and Kierkegaard on existential choice. I spent year 9 being poached by different subject teachers to choose a range of different subjects, and in the end settled for triple science, history, geography and art as my optional GCSEs. That would go on to predicting my long term interest for sciences and humanities. The teachers were serious about GCSEs being really important in life actually, not in the sense of grades, but in the sense of building an identity.

     

    Something happened at home during my A levels and I kept it to myself, so I didn’t get very good grades for human biology, history, art and psychology; but I don’t want to write about it in more detail. There was something interesting about my A level choices in how I wanted to learn about the human condition from a biological perspective, an artistic perspective, and from a psychological perspective. When we see the structure of the brain and separate the biological components as white, grey matter, and conclude that consciousness is something to do with neurons; it’s not the same as experiencing that consciousness to create art and literary work as a result. Maybe that’s the binary problem of theory and practice in humanities, as in we can’t connect the two?

     

    I think I’m in long term identity moratorium, because I want to keep my options open still. Society has a tendency towards pushing people to foreclosure and philosophical bad faith, with rules of specialising in something, to find a partner and get married, to have kids etc., I think identity moratorium is the existentialist way of life, and a subtle rejection of this transgenerational life script.

     

    Chemistry lesson and theory

    My chemistry lecturer introduced us to the concept of valence bond theory of how the chemicals want to become similar to noble gases with a full outer shell, with the analogy that people want to get a job, get a house, have a partner to become more stable. She was basically describing the life script dictating people to become more stable in life. To explain this further, I think people are attracted to certain people who ‘have valence electrons’ that are compatible to ‘their own amount of valence electrons’ to form a stable partnership, hence the notion of the right amount of opposite and similar traits lead to attraction. People aren’t attracted to everyone they interact with, because ‘their valence electrons’ are a different amount, so they ‘don’t make a full outer shell’ that’s stable, and so it breaks down or decays over time.

     

    I just thought of a funny way to explain it in Lacanian terms. If someone has a lack (of electrons. and electrons is like the personality of the atom that is how an atom appears to behave), they want to gain someone else’s electrons to make their outer shell whole, so they are unconsciously on the look out for someone with a specific amount of electrons on their outer shell in order to fill that structural lack/empty space. So that might explain for example, why a shy person is attracted to a confident person, but because the other person hasn’t got a complimentary amount of traits with this person, the relationship decays over time, where that person eventually perceives the other person as arrogant. It’s not accurate, but I’m just borrowing terminologies and concepts and changing it to another field.

  • Test piece 1: experiment 1

    The hypothesis for test piece 1

     

    I’ve done the experiment this morning, and have attached photographs documenting it.

    The set up for the experiment

     

    What the supposed spot plate or paint palette (linguistics dependent on context) looks like

     

    Raw data from the experiment

     

    Bar graph from the valid raw data

     

    From this data, I can form another hypothesis that:

    There is significant relationship with the different types of paint and alkali pH readings.

     

    Null hypothesis:

    There is no significant relationship with different types of paint and alkali pH readings.

     

    This is because the raw data is suggesting that paints are alkaline, but the sample size is too small.

     

    The raw data was definitely telling me that only water based materials are compatible with the red cabbage indicator, because graphite pencil, coloured pencils and oil pastel were N/A. It didn’t affect the indicator as it was the same as the control.

     

    I tried transferring the indicator onto paper. It didn’t work, because (I’m guessing) the anthocyanin was too diluted. This tells me that paints have a very concentrated pigment : water ratio to allow it to be transferred onto paper.

  • Art and theoria

    I wrote this on my ‘Test piece 1: hypothesis‘ post on the 17th September.

    Perhaps this affects the pricing of equipment due to social desirability, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Although I think it raises some questions of accessibility and the various associations of status. It could be because art bases status of materials on historical lineage and science bases status of materials on functionality, but that is just my own opinion.

    I wanted to highlight the last sentence, because I think it’s a potentially important point; which I will go back to further in the post.

    I was reading Thinking Through Art, and this time I’m reading it properly instead of passively reading. I read it last time, but I was just wading through words, so in a way I was simulating the experience of reading without understanding the content (?). This time, I’m finding the terminology that I don’t understand. I’m using the Dictionary of Critical Theory, recommended by my former lecturers from the BA Fine Art course. I have a dictionary which I bought when I was in secondary school; it was recommended by my English teacher. I didn’t have the writing skills back then, but I think she saw potential in me to be a good writer one day. My history teacher saw something too, because she told my parents on parents’ evening that I belong in higher education, where I’m reading around topics and pursuing independent study. She said it with such passion too. (I’m going off on a tangent.)

     

    In the Introduction: disputed territories in Art and theoria, Nicholas Davey writes that philosophical hermeneutics recognises that any communicative activity doesn’t arise from ex nihilo, Latin for out of nothing, but is enabled by pre-reflective historical transmission of norms, values and assumptions which give an inherited world-outlook, which he later terms as a historical horizon (Davey, 2006). Davey acknowledges that the humanities of communicative activities, such as art making and writing, comes from a lineage of norms, values and assumptions of that society that the author finds themselves in. So, when I wrote that art bases materials on historical lineage, it might not just be on the level of materials, but the meanings we place on these materials. It could be that the professionals operating in the sciences have a different system of hermeneutics, but that’s an opinion until I find evidence to back it up.

     

    Reference
    Davey, N. (2006). Art and theoria, in Macleod, K. and Holdridge, L. (eds.) Thinking Through Art. Oxford: Routledge, pp, 20-21.

  • Revision and Libraries

    I was excited with the arrival of my paint palette for the red cabbage experiment, but the delivery driver didn’t manage to deliver it today. I have an existing one, but it’s got paint stains so it’ll interfere with my experiment.

    I started making flash cards for unit 1. It made me reflect back on when I was revising for exams when I was in Sixth Form. It turned out I was being ineffective then, because I was copying the information to smaller chunks to fit on the flash card. It’s better if I ask questions, that would turn the card into a function rather than something to look at. If all else fails, I could be a science illustrator…

     

    I went to the library at Baskerville House (next to the library of Birmingham). It’s a treat, because Baskerville House is a grade II listed building with Art Deco architectural interior. I prefer college and university libraries more, because I’m more likely to find books on topics I find interesting. I read around the topic, but my topic is interdisciplinary, so it’s whatever I’m interested in. I borrowed the following books:

     

    • I’m OK – You’re OK, by Thomas A. Harris
    • Why Fonts Matter, by Sarah Hyndman
    • Internet Research Skills, by Niall O Dochartaigh

     

    I’ve heard of the concept for I’m OK, you’re OK. It’s based on Eric Berne’s transactional analysis, and the concept of psychological games. The second book is about the type of fonts and its psychological implications, and how marketing strategises on its findings. It’s interesting how marketing and consumerism play a big role in both arts and sciences, I think the sector stretches the findings into coaxing consumers to buy products believing that it’s the truth. The last book, Internet Research Skills, would help me the most with my literature review. I already have that section written down, I think that was about linguistic codes. It’s been annotated by my previous supervisor, so it’s better if I leave it as it is for now. Although, I’d probably add in some research journals or valid articles on mainly artist research. I’ll stick to the area of institutional critique, and articles on digital art.

  • Test piece 1: hypothesis

    I thought of an idea I want to test out that combines the process of science to make a document or piece that uses a bit of art, or rather could be presented as such, as it’s dependent on the context (outside lab conditions), where I’m presenting it (possibly in an art gallery), and because I was trained as an artist at one point.

    We did the red cabbage indicator pH experiment a couple of weeks ago. I want to replicate this experiment with the mediums of art.

     

    The hypotheses are:

    Hypothesis 1:

    If the type of art medium is different, the pH level reading would be different.

     

    Null hypothesis:

    There is no significant difference between the different types of art mediums and pH levels.

     

    Variables:

    Independent variable:

    The type of art medium

     

    Dependent variable:

    The colour of the cabbage indicator after application

     

    Control(s):

    The cabbage indicator and the test tray

     

    Graph:

    Bar graph, because I’m working with discontinuous data. The type of medium is on the X axis, and the pH level on the Y axis

     

    Implications:

    The test tray is going to be a white paint palette, because the spot plate costs more, but it’s interesting how the aesthetics of art is coming into contact with what is thought as a science context. The material is potentially the same, but the shape alters how we read the appliance. Perhaps this affects the pricing of equipment due to social desirability, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Although I think it raises some questions of accessibility and the various associations of status. It could be because art bases status of materials on historical lineage and science bases status of materials on functionality, but that is just my own opinion.

    I’ll test it out, and use the samples at the end to paint on art paper and label the test pieces. Maybe I’ll even paint something from the colours it produces and it’ll be research into the different types of codes as comparative analysis. For the mediums, I’m sticking mainly to white, as I think that using heavily pigmented mediums could interfere with the results, giving an inaccurate reading of the pH level. I also can’t test oil paint, because it’s oil based.

    If I have any red cabbage indicator in the ‘beaker’ (realistically my PYREX measuring jug) left over, I might go further and record what it looks like over time, making it a time based piece; using time as the X axis and colour intensity as the Y axis in a line graph.

     

    This last bit isn’t related to the hypothesis, but is interesting in the Bourdieu sense (and in the context of my art research), would my activity be interpreted differently, if I wrote ‘plastic measuring jug’ or even ‘pyrex measuring jug’ instead of ‘PYREX measuring jug’? Would the experiment have more validity if a MSc graduate replicated it instead of an MA graduate?

  • Observation

    I was sitting in my car for 40 minutes with the engine on, because my car battery is weak. I have a suspicion that the wiring of the radio is causing the battery to drain, but I’d rather wait to get a new car than fix this current one, as it might cost more than a grand, which isn’t worth it after depreciation.

    So I was in my car revising for science lessons I had this week, and observed an example of physics happening in real time.

    I drew the arrows of how light would travel from the sun and reflect off the mirrors into my eyes (I tried to draw an arrow pointing out, but it’s restricted on a 2D image (such as a 2D representation of the 2Pz orbital coming out along the z axis.) Applying it to Renaissance art, the trickery of the eye is done by using foreshortening and perspective lines to create the illusion of the Z axis for the drawings and paintings. So I could have drawn a 3D arrow with foreshortening techniques.

    I think I retract that notion of physics being harder than chemistry at this particular point, because with chemistry, I don’t know how to find a real life example of shells, sub shells, orbitals and electrons. We were shown an analogy of a building, but I still have trouble extrapolating how a building relates to electrons on a microcosmic/quantum level, it confused me more than if I was just explained the non-analogy of orbitals and sub shells. I’m watching Khan Academy videos on YouTube to help me understand it further.

    I’m also observing different styles of teaching, and taking note of it so it can help me one day, on an odd chance of me ending up teaching when I pursue a PhD. What seems to work in pedagogy is being interactive with students instead of the classic lecturing style of having the lecturer talk and students take notes. There’s also methods STEM lecturers use to gather data from students and gauge whether we’re learning and following the teaching during lesson.

  • Oscillations of re-drafting the research proposal

    This is my latest blog out of many failed ones. I think life has given me quite the journey so far. I came from a sixth form which emphasised their STEM ethos, and went onto study BA Fine Art. I have retained my learning from science subjects throughout these years. I then assimilated the art side and did my masters in Fine Art embracing a non-science identity. I had a job within food science at the end of last year, early this year. I had imposter syndrome because I wasn’t legitimately qualified to work it. I left shortly after because of neurodivergence related problems. At this point I abandoned the research proposal I have written, along with the guidance of my potential research supervisor. I thought getting a job was my path to the holy grail.

    I’m doing a U turn now, because I’ve started studying L3 Applied Science, with the intention of getting a job within a science-related field, but I can’t seem to let my research go, maybe that’s a sign of grit? Even though it’s a bit tentative. I’ve just been learning about transverse waves in the physics section of unit 1 (we learn AS biology, chemistry and physics in this unit). I sometimes feel like I’m perhaps oscillating perpendicularly to the direction I’m travelling in! Never straightforward. It’s more like a M or W turn than a U turn.

    I feel it has slightly improved my proposal when I combine the skills of science investigative techniques through the legitimate training from scientists/lecturers. I’m able to formulate my research questions to become a hypothesis and null-hypothesis, as both predictions of my chosen research area could be possible. This would go onto forming my methodology and how to go about collecting qualitative and quantitative data.

    I don’t want to be too serious about my proposal though. I don’t want to think of it as ‘I must write a proposal and get into doing a PhD’, but rather write it in my free time as fun. This isn’t the exact point Kant was making, but in the context of detaching the action and consequences, imagine the idea that an action has true moral worth if it’s done purely for the sake of duty, and not as a means to an end.

    I think my job for this particular PhD I’m proposing is to remember my old identity prior to art education, and to apply it to present endeavours, without diluting the identity I assimilated within art. One of my previous art lecturers was right on his insight, that this dilemma of science and art isn’t a phase for me.