Event 1: The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life

It was a really amazing and interesting experience. When I saw the title of the event "The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life", I could not imagine the connection between heart and dance. Normally, we think that heart works as contraction and relaxation. However, in Dr. Gerald Buckberg' speech, he introduced an unprecedented approach, which he developed with Drs. Francisco Torrent-Guasp according their research on the heart movement, to dealing with congestive heart failure. Instead of contracting and relaxation, heart works by alternatively twisting and untwisting.

Dr. Buckberg showed us a short film inspired by his astounding idea and work, which is called "The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life". This film is a perfect example that how art and science are combined. The dancers use a segment of fabric to form the heart movement. It is a very vivid form of expression that with some dancers and a segment of fabric, the process of "twisting and untwisting" was vividly performed in front of my eyes. I could actually feel the beat of the "heart". When the "heart" changed from a "football" into a "basketball", I felt the very pain of the heart failure in the terrifying background music and lights. The dancers were acting more exaggeratedly and they seemed to lose their senses. They were struggling and living death in the pain. This is a very impressive performance that would lead us falling into the world of the dancers.

Dr. Buckberg and me

The poster of "The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life"

Recalling the discussion of "two cultures", I find that Kevin Kelly's idea of "third culture" really fits here. Kevin proposes that computer technology is the bridge between art and science; in the "cardiac dance", the heart movement was vividly expressed by modern-style dance, music and multimedia. With these modern technology, science was perfectly resolved into art expression and art was amazingly sublimated by the magic of science. The experience will make me more focused on the way of combination of art and science in the projects of this class. In addition, this event is really worth attending and the "cardiac dance" is really worth watching. You will find out how surprisingly the traditional view is changed by an art performance. 

Here is the link of the "The Cardiac Dance, The Spirals of Life". http://www.behance.net/gallery/the-cardiac-dance-the-spirals-of-life/954407


Resources:

1. Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5353/992.full>

2. "UC HealthNews : Findings: College of Medicine Alumnus Develops 'Artistic' Way to Teach About Heart Function." UC HealthNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://healthnews.uc.edu/publications/findings/?/5109/5110/>

3. "the cardiac dance - the spirals of life on Behance." Behance. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. <http://www.behance.net/gallery/the-cardiac-dance-the-spirals-of-life/954407>