Defining Art: What it is and Why we Need it

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Bard Free Press, Vol. 5, No. 4 (December 12, 2003)

https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/bardfreepress/1036/thumbnail.jp

Losing True

At the beginning of this project, I found myself researching something I wasn\u27t even sure existed. I was searching for a word or a phenomenon that explained an indefinable feeling that I have come across in my life. This feeling, which is so pronounced and yet invisible, causes me to question how it works, how it makes us feel things, what it is made of, when it is present and when it is not. I cannot access it intentionally, I only notice it when it is already happening. My research oscillated between the scientific and the spiritual. I came across ideas including energetic communication, clairvoyance, and telepathy. Through this research, the central question I came to focus on was What does it mean to feel \u27connected\u27 to someone? While we can read facial expressions or \u27body language,\u27 to me, understanding another person\u27s feelings goes beyond those physical indicators. While these feelings, when experienced, are so real they are almost palpable, they seem impossible to explain materially. Communication is understood through facial expression, voice, and bodily movement, but there is a subtle yet influential electromagnetic or energetic communication system that operates just below our conscious level of awareness. Energetic communication is an innate ability that heightens awareness and mediates important aspects of empathy and sensitivity to others. Our emotional state is encoded in the heart\u27s magnetic field and communicated through the body into the external environment. There are happenings all around us that are unseen; this project\u27s interest lies in the ones that connect us to each other. For me, I imagine this phenomenon to exist in the physical space between two people, and although we cannot see it, it perhaps exists on an alternate plane or dimension. Everything regarding love happens there. Through my work, I am trying to answer all of the questions I have about this by visualizing how it operates, and simultaneously acknowledging that I do not and will not know what it is. This show is my attempt to understand my personal experience with this force. All of my research came to no clear conclusion on what this is, and written words don\u27t fully explain this indefinable feeling. My paintings do not either, but this place of curiosity and desire to understand is where I start all of my work. I work to visually articulate this subtle and invisible feeling which, in turn, leads me to explore other subjects such as isolation, longing, nature and love - but this invisible plane is where my work begins and stands

Development of a CRISPR-SpyCas9 In-Vitro Cleavage Assay

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) were discovered within bacteria as a self-defense mechanism against invading viruses by using CRISPR associated (Cas) proteins to cleave viral double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Since then the CRISPR-Cas9 system has rapidly evolved into one of the most efficient and effective means of genome editing. Utilizing a single-guide RNA complementary to the target genome DNA sequence, the Cas9 enzyme from Streptococcus Pyogenes (SpyCas9) is able to recognize and cleave dsDNA. The goal of this research is to develop an in-vitro cleavage assay for the CRISPR-SpyCas9 system for further studies into the effects of RNA binding drugs such as Cisplatin and metal complexes on the cutting efficiency of the sgRNA-SpyCas9 complex

Art and Self-creation: An Encounter of Nietzsche and John Cage

Why is Nietzsche holds such a unique view of art? Why does he thinks that art is closely related to the development and transformation of our selves? This project provided an attempted explanation of the relations of art to ourselves in the context Nietzsche\u27s works. By inviting John Cage into the conversation with Nietzsche, we might be able to get some new insights of what is the best way to actualize the power of art that Nietzsche envisions in The Gay Science and other works

Socio-Ecological Synergies for a Sustainable Onondaga Lake: Reckoning with the Complexities of Restoration

For decades after industrialization and urbanization in its vicinity, Onondaga Lake in central New York State was considered the most polluted lake in America. Recently, however, the system was declared recovered and ready for human use. Honeywell International Inc. – supervised by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency – and their partners completed considerable clean-up in the last twenty years. Efforts included dredging, capping, and habitat enhancements. While these efforts have led to renewed ecosystem services, the endpoints of ecological restoration are inherently unclear. Prompted by inconsistent theory and practice of restoration, this study investigates how opinions among and within stakeholder groups – Honeywell and Associates, Non-Governmental Organizations, Academic Institutions, and Governmental Agencies – vary in the case of Onondaga Lake. Via analysis of qualitative and semi-quantitative data pulled from a series of interviews, this study examines the extent to which criteria of Onondaga Lake\u27s restoration were met and recommends further management actions. Circumstances are complicated by Onondaga Lake\u27s long history and this study found perceptions of ecological restoration were different according to personal and professional experiences with the lake over time, which rest upon diverse values and interests. Results show the complexity of ecological restoration procedures, including the determination of restoration targets and goals, success metrics, methods to be employed, and how to assess progress. An adaptive management approach is endorsed for future restoration work

Bard Observer, Vol. 12, No. 14 (September 24, 1969)

https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/observer/1568/thumbnail.jp

Eternity in Art: The Embodiment and Transcendence of Time in Proust and Messiaen

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

“Gaining Control” Women’s Health on Period and Pregnancy Trackers

This project conducts a discourse analysis on four FemTech platforms: Clue, Flo, Ovia, and Sprout. It interrogate how these apps market their services and shape user attitudes about health. This analysis takes place in four sections: (1) visuals, (2) language, (3) services, and (4) terms of use and privacy. This project makes an argument for how FemTech replicates rather than mitigate disparities in the U.S healthcare system

Initiatives to Find the Lost Einsteins through the Integration of Independent Scientific Research Projects in Early College

This exploratory study examines the effects of incorporating Independent Scientific Research Projects (ISRP) into early college biology curriculum. The authors present their findings, which are steeped in the goal of increasing minority students’ interest in STEM careers, by analyzing student engagement in classrooms with and without ISRP integration