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digest 2006-03-31 #001.txt

litsci-l-digest         Friday, March 31 2006         Volume 01 : Number
151



In this issue:

    
=?windows-1252?Q?Abstract_SLSA2006_N=2EY=2E_The_tensile_geometry_of_Leonardo_?=
=?windows-1252?Q?da_Vinci=92s_Vitruvian_man?=
     SUB-06: 'Bioalloy - Designing a Cyborgs evolutionary future'.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 12:29:16 +0200
From: =?windows-1252?Q?Ann_Pont=E9n?= 
Subject:
=?windows-1252?Q?Abstract_SLSA2006_N=2EY=2E_The_tensile_geometry_of_Leonardo_?=
=?windows-1252?Q?da_Vinci=92s_Vitruvian_man?=

Abstract=3A

The tensile geometry of Leonardo da Vinci=92s Vitruvian man

One of the most frequently reproduced=2C paraphrased=2C and recycled
draw=
ings in Western art history =96Leonardo da Vinci=92s Vitruvian man=96
has=
 been claimed being based on thorough empirical measurements on actual
bo=
dies=2C which then generated the geometry of the inscribing square and
ci=
rcle=2E =


On the other hand=2C by treating the geometric figures themselves
empiric=
ally=2C a margin of error for the instability of the drawing can be
sugge=
sted=2E Within this margin of error a number of constructive relations
be=
tween the square and circle can be found=2E The margin of error thus
cont=
ains several very good approximations of the squaring of the circle =96a
=
problem to which Leonardo devoted numerous notes=2E
 =

The manuscript treats the body as a moving geometric tool and its text
pr=
escribes certain relations between the bodily positions within the
square=
 and the circle=2E However=2C it can easily be shown that the body
=96and=
 specifically the separation of the legs=96 simply cannot generate the
ci=
rcle as suggested by Leonardo=2E Therefore the manuscript actually
refute=
s both the idea of empiricism and the idea of the body as a geometric
too=
l=2E The construction ends up as an illusion demonstrating the rhetoric
o=
f Leonardo=92s persuasive style=2E

Key words=3A body=3B geometry=3B margin of error=3B empiricism=3B
illusio=
n
 =

Ann Pont=E9n=2C PhD=2C MD=2C =

and licenciate of architecture
Specialist in Dermatology

Department of Architecture (Theoretical and Applied Aesthetics)
Lund University
221 00 Lund
Sweden
ann=2Eponten=40med=2Elu=2Ese



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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:51:00 +0800
From: "Gary Cass" 
Subject: SUB-06: 'Bioalloy - Designing a Cyborgs evolutionary future'.


Paper Proposal for SLSA 2006

=20

'Bioalloy' - Designing a Cyborg's Evolutionary Future

=20

=20

Bioalloy is a designed Cyborg, researching a possible futuristic
evolutionary pathway of the living and the non-living. In=20

the 21st century where cybernetic entities are becoming more viable,
Bioalloy predicts an evolutionary leap exploring=20

the possibilities of a living system (bacteria) interacting with a
machine to create a Cyborg that will grow and nurture=20

its own "skin". Presently, very few machines in'corp'orate any organic
material. Will the theory of Symbiogenesis and=20

its possible involvement in biological evolution play a major role in
the Cyborg's evolutionary future? Where we have=20

been is the best predictor of where we are going (Gray, 2002).=20

The presentation poses critical questions about evolution and its
future:

*         Will Symbiogenesis and Darwinian evolutionary theories only
link the living?

*         The role of Symbiogenesis in the evolution of a Cyborgian
system?

*         The designer's intentionality for the Cyborg?

Bioalloy is an ongoing research endeavour into artistic cybernetic
entities developed in SymbioticA - the art & science=20

collaborative research laboratory, University of Western Australia.

=20

Keywords: Cyborg, Evolution, Symbiogenesis, Designer, In'corp'orate.

=20

=20

Thanx Gary

=20

Gary Cass

Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Teaching Laboratories

University of Western Australia

35 Stirling Hwy

Crawley 6009

Perth, Western Australia

ph: +61 8 6488 2573

fax: +61 8 6488 1002

gcass@cyllene.uwa.edu.au 

www.savejarrah.com =20

=20

=20

=20