Lara Boyle // At first glance, Naum Gabo’s Kinetic Construction is nothing special. A thin, motionless steel rod extends from a pit located in the base of a black square. With the push of a button, however, the rod springs to life. The rod wiggles back and forth as a motor beneath the base whirs with…
Author: Lara Boyle
The World We See – Interlude: Jeff Koons on the Intersection of Science and Art
By: Lara Boyle Apologies in advance – the regularly scheduled article on the visual system and art is postponed. Instead, I wanted to share a lecture by Jeff Koons, one of America’s most eminent modern-day artist. Koons has worked for the past year as an artist-in-residence at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, the building…
The World We See – Part 4: “The Dress” Will Still Fool You
By: Lara Boyle February 26th marks a strange and special date in the history of the Internet. On a musician’s fan page, a photo of a dress surfaced along with a plea: “Guys, please help me. Is this dress white or gold, or blue and black?” Over the next week, the picture surged across social…
The World We See, Part 3: A Study of the Women with Superhuman Sight
By: Lara Boyle December Article Summary: Last month, we followed the path of light as it raced from the sun towards the earth. The light hit objects and reflected into the eye, passing through the eye’s lens and cornea. The lens and cornea determined how much light could enter the eye, we learned, based on…
The World We See, Part 2: “What an Eye!”
Paul Cézanne’s eyes contained a subtle flaw. The late 19th century painter was famous for bridging Impressionism and the art movements that followed, but his eyes over the years had gradually changed shape, bending until they better resembled footballs than spheres. The change had no effect on objects nearby, but objects in the distance appeared…
The World We See, Part 1: A Brief History
Lara Boyle I intended to leave for the Museum of Modern Art by 3pm, but time slipped past until I had to rush to the museum before it closed. Navigating New York’s crowded streets while running late is an activity sure to make my blood boil, but today was a rare exception; the sun filtered…
The Role of Health Professionals in Treating Epidemic Violence
Lara Boyle The face of the young man before me is split open, in a line that extends from his chin to upper lip. Blood drips from the bottom corner of once-white, now-saturated gauze, which I hold in place with blue-gloved hands. Here in the emergency room at Harlem Hospital, surgeons bustle around me…