Engrama / Oppamev Platform

OPPAMEV SOFTWARE/“Ontología de Percepción de Piezas de Arte y Modelos Evolutivos de Visualización” (“Ontology of the perception of works of art and visualization evolutionary models” as per its Spanish acronym) Vladimir Muhvich Meirelles vladimirmuhvich@gmail.com

1. Introduction The computer system tool known as OPPAMEV was devised within the framework of the Engrama platform – Research on evolutionary and morphological visualization models in relation to art collections, archives and cultural heritage. The development of the OPPAMEV application is the ontological evolution of a research work entitled “Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts”(1).

This application is capable of measuring, modeling and classifying the field of arts, while generating mappings of means of expression, sensorial mappings, and conservation strategies. It corresponds to a graduate thesis presented for obtaining a degree in Computer System Engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of the Republic of Uruguay (UdelaR Montevideo), presented in May 2016. The development of the OPPAMEV application is the ontological evolution of the Engrama Project, where Vladimir Muhvich authored the original ontologies, and co-authored the development ontologies with graduate candidates Néstor Rocchetti and Gonzalo Labandera, and Professor Regina Motz acting as tutor.

1.1 Initial Considerations. Definition of Engram: neurophysiological trace on the brain that is the base of memories in our mind.(2) Concept wise, the Engrama platform functions within the field of cultural memory. It is an art, science and technology project with a platform operating in a worldwide framework, with the purpose of gathering samples from national and international collections. The Engrama Platform applies mathematical models where data grouping enables the analysis, modeling and search for cultural behavior patterns, based on the study of cultural objects. The original ontology of the OPPAMEV application is a study entitled “Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts”(1). The objective of the research was to unveil, visualize and materialize the traces of events of official recognition of Uruguay’s field of arts, with the purpose of describing the morphological evolution of official collections. The study “Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts” applied to the period from 1939 to 2012 confirmed that, based on the analysis of an art collection, it is possible to obtain morphological visualizations of art collections using mathematical models. It is also possible to verify that such morphology corresponds to the visual representation of the collection’s content. A direct relation between the contents of evolutionary groups and their morphology was detected, which enables the assertion that visualizations corresponding to the same evolutionary group share morphological similarities with one another. Along with such visualizations came the possibility to reach general and specific conclusions regarding the visual study of the collection. The compared morphology study of the fifteen particular samples used in the research led to evolutionary conclusions regarding the collection. The outcome of the compared morphology study enables the visualization of quantitative, qualitative and phylotecnic relations in the collection’s evolution, also revealing the possible external agents for change in the collection’s evolution.

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Figure 1. Corresponds to visual morphologies of Uruguay’s Halls of Art of the years 1939, 1945, 1956, 1960, 1974, and 1976, analyzed from the perspective of their production techniques, conservation strategies and the associated sensorial experience.

Figure 2. Corresponds to visual morphologies of Uruguay’s Halls of Art of the years 1960 and 1980, analyzed from the perspective of their production techniques, conservation strategies and the associated sensorial experience.

1.2 Fundamentals. In order to visualize the power of results obtained in the analysis of an art collection with mathematical models, the idea is to pursue the evolution of the Engrama Project in the field of software production. Such development provides a computer tool to the Engrama platform, to be used in the analysis, modeling and search for cultural behavior patterns, based on the study of cultural objects worldwide. This enables the description of artistic, curatorial, institutional, and sensorial behavior patterns as well as in relation to production techniques. The visualization of such patters in connection with the context allows for the analysis of the level of influence of the economic, cultural and political context upon the selection of production techniques, in addition to the possibility of gauging the degree of subordination existing between the peripheral production centers in relation to hegemonic centers.

1.3 Objectives. The objective is to generate a computer tool with a simple interface for entering data in art ontologies, also capable of measuring, modeling and classifying the field of arts. The modeling should generate three types of mappings: one to classify the means of expression in the field of arts analyzed; a second one to generate a mapping of the sensorial experiences spurred in the spectators that come upon these exhibitional events, and a third type of mapping associated with conservation strategies concerning the pieces under study. The computer tool must include, as well, a software interface for data visualization – Gephi Platform. (3)

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2. Theory/ Conceptual Framework From a conceptual perspective, the Engrama platform is inspire don two sources of a scientific nature, namely, the research work on memory by Richard Semon Wolfgang, and the Atlas Mnemosine Project by historian Aby Warburg.

Richard Semon Wolfgang (1859-1918) was a zoologist and evolutionary biologist who established –in his work entitled The Mneme and published in 1921– that “in any living organism, every stimulus, or external or internal experience, will leave a mnemic trace (or engram) that is recorded permanently upon cellular matter predisposed to such engraving, and is capable of being retrieved.”(4) In other words, he suggested that an encoded experience transferred into our memory is expressed through the specific physical trace that such experience leave on our brain cells.

In his Atlas Mnemosyne Project (1924-1929), German Jewish historian Aby Warburg (1866-1929) takes the concept of engram introduced by the evolutionary biologist Richard Semon Wolfgang to coin the concept of cultural engram. According to Warburg, “engrams understood as the traces or symbols –of a visual type in this case– that are recorded in the files of cultural memory.”(4) 2.2 Ontological–Computer Framework. The ontology model OWL 2 (Ontology Web Language Version 2) was applied as the speciation language. OWL 2 is based on Descriptive Logic (DL) that comprises a TBox (i.e., where concept definition are located), an RBox (i.e., where dependencies on the roles are defined), and an ABox (i.e., where assertions on individuals are defined).

Ontologies imply two mechanisms for reasoning: model satisfiability and instance classification through inferences on existing data. (5) 2.2.1 Development environment for computers. The development environment for implementing the ontology was Protégé, a free, open source ontology editor that serves as a system for acquiring knowledge. The application was written in Java language and resorts mainly to Swing for creating its complex interface. (5) 2.3 Sensorial theoretical framework. Given the subject’s complexity and its evolution, it was decided to approach the subject considering the physiological conduits through which information enters the brain. Such strategy enabled the adjustment of ontologies based on the development of the research work in the field of neuroscience. From the viewpoint of brain physiology, the ontologies of sensorial experiences were associated with the brain pursuant to the scientific findings of Korbinian Brodmann known under the name of Brodmann areas. In 1909, Brodmann defined and numbered these areas from 1 to 47, using the Nissl cell staining method. Initially, the mappings obtained corresponded to humans and primates, among others. Some of the areas were subjected to subdivision, such as Area 23, which was divided into 23a and 23b. (6)

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Figure 3. Detail of Brodmann Areas.

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Methodology

A new taxonomy concerning aspects relative to conservation, production techniques, supports and sensorial experience was defined on the basis of the original ontologies of the research work entitled “Engrama Oficial del Campo del Arte Uruguayo” (Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts). Such taxonomy creates ontologies for the application that are not related to computers. The creation of the new ontology yields two conservation families and four production families in the field of arts. Non-computer ontologies are also created from sensorial experiences associated with the brain areas. In relation to production techniques, the four families described are: the Bidimensional Production Family, the Three-dimensional Production Family, the New Supports Production Family, and the Unstable Means Production Family. Concerning conservation, the two families described are: the Family of Conservation Strategies based on Traditional Supports and Means, and the Family of Conservation Strategies based on New Supports and Unstable Means.

The ontologies result from the use of specialized biography.(7) In what concerns sensorial experiences with the brain areas according to the Brodmann map, the experiences entered are visual, auditory, gustatory, tactile, olfactory, and related to movement. Entering movement as a piece of data results from the need to inform all possibilities of communication and interaction that the piece projects towards a spectator, since the various actions of a spectator observing the piece may be activating different areas within the brain.

3.1 Based on the original non-computer ontologies, the engineers generated the application’s development ontologies. For the development of the computer ontology, they applied a simple method known as METHONTOLOGY, that is widely used to build ontologies from scratch. Following the assessment, documentation, knowledge acquisition instances, the construction of the ontology went through five stages, namely: Specification, Conceptualization, Formalization, Integration, and Implementation & Maintenance. These stages lead to the objective of building a formal ontology to model a particular reality proposed. (8)

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Figure 4. Detail of taxonomy of production families.

3.2 The application’s validation is done in two testing stages: a lab testing stage and a fieldwork testing state amidst the development process.

3.3 Functional structure of the application. The application supports two kinds of users. One is the administrator, with the capacity to create and activate form configurations, manage the system’s users and fill out the forms, and the other is the non-administrator user, whose possibilities are carrying out the survey, view the answers, and edit its user data.

Figure 5. Screenshots of the OPPAMEV application.

At the start, when the form is to be filled in, all buttons are colored blue. When a stage is completed, the color of the button corresponding to that stage changes to green, meaning that 5

the data entered for that stage is ready to be entered in the ontology. When the form is confirmed, the data entered is stored in the ontology, creating an instance of objective individual and the corresponding relations. Following the save, all data entered on the form is deleted and the color of the buttons is back to blue. The user is then enabled to fill out a form to enter another individual. The procedure for entering a piece (an individual in the ontology) comprises five steps: Identifying the Exhibit, Identifying the Piece, Identifying the Support , Identifying the Sensorial Experience associated with the Piece, and Identifying the Means of Expression.

Figure 6. Screenshots of the OPPAMEV application.

Figure 7. Screenshots of the OPPAMEV application.

Following the data entry, the information is exported from the application in two different formats, one of which is visual (graph), and the other being a PDF report. By generating a graph, we may

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implement compared morphology studies in search of visual patterns. The PDF report has the features of a cataloguing record; it includes the description of the piece, with image, author, technical data and the fields surveyed and reasoned by the application.

Figure 8. Documentation delivered by the OPPAMEV application, graph of the whole exhibit surveyed, and cataloguing record of each piece in the exhibit.

Figure 9. Documentation delivered by the OPPAMEV application, graph of the whole exhibit surveyed, and cataloguing record of each piece in the exhibit.

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4. Conclusive considerations Based on what was generated and the fieldwork carried out with the OPPAMEV software, it was possible to verify the possibility for developing a computer tool to enter data into an art ontology.

The possibility for developing a computer tool to operate with a data visualization interface was also verified, enabling morphological visualizations of the event surveyed in search of visual patterns for further analysis. By using the application, it was also verified that it is possible to define mappings in relation to means of expression, sensorial mappings and conservation strategies of the exhibitional events analyzed. Relying on a computer tool with these features for doing our fieldwork broadens the possibility to describe artistic, institutional and curatorial behavior patterns as regards the selection of means of expression and in direct relation with specific economic, political and cultural contexts. It implies the prospect of evincing the possible sensorial incidence on spectators of the means of expressions selected from the curatorial institutional and artistic areas, in a direct relation with a specific economic, cultural and political context.

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Bibliography and References (1) Publication/15th Conference on Contemporary Art Conservation, Queen Sophie Art Center National Museum (MNCARS) and GEIIC /Vladimir Muhvich, Engrama Project. Research work on morphological and evolutionary visualization models in relation to art collections. Case study: Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts. Publication, Contemporary Art Conservation /15th Conference on Contemporary Art Conservation, Queen Sophie Art Center National Museum/ February 2014, pages 259 to 272. http://www.museoreinasofia.es/publicaciones/conservacion-arte-contemporaneo-15a-jornada 12/SEP/2017 (2) Health Encyclopedia, http://www.enciclopediasalud.com/definiciones/engrama, 12/SEP/2017 (3) The Gephi Platform is an interactive visualization tool and an exploration platform for all sorts of networks as well as for complex, graphic, dynamic and hierarchical systems. Gephi serves as a tool for those who need to explore and understands graphs. Similar to Photoshop, but in this case with data, the user interacts with the representation, manipulating structures, forms and colors to unveil hidden properties. Gephi platform web - https://gephi.org/13/09/2017.

(4) Anna María Guasch, Arte y Archivo 1920-2010, Genealogías, Tipologías y Discontinuidades, Madrid: Akal/Contemporary Art, 2011, page 24.

(5) Néstor Rocchetti and Gonzalo Labandera, Final Degree Thesis – Computer Science Engineering.

Automatic generation of forms for entering data in ontologies. Application to implementing an ontology for the perception of works of art. - Computer Science Institute, School of Engineering, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay - May 2016, page 2.

OWL 2, overview of the language - https://www.w3.org/TR/owl-overview/ Protégé site - http://protege.stanford.edu/products.php (6) https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81reas_de_Brodmann#Historia 12/SEP/2017 (7) -Getty Research Institute, Tesauro de Arte & Arquitectura, translated into Spanish by the Cultural Heritage Documentation Center of Chile, web of Tesauro de Arte & Arquitectura: http://www.aatespanol.cl/taa/publico/buscar.htm 12/SEP/2017.

-Taxonomedia, http://taxonomedia.net/ - Different authors: Esther Alegre Carvajal, Genoveva Tusell García and Jesús López Díaz: Técnicas y Medios Artísticos, Madrid: Editorial Universitaria Ramón Areces, 2010.

- Lino Garcia Morales, Doctoral Thesis, Digital Art Conservation and Restoration, European University Madrid - Madrid, Spain, 2010.

(8) Néstor Rocchetti and Gonzalo Labandera, Final Degree Thesis – Computer Science Engineering.

Automatic generation of forms for entering data in ontologies. Application to implementing an ontology for the perception of works of art. - Computer Science Institute, School of Engineering, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay - May 2016, page 17.

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Index of images: Figure 1. Corresponds to visual morphologies of Uruguay’s Halls of Art of the years 1939, 1945, 1956, 1960, 1974, and 1976, analyzed from the perspective of their production techniques, conservation strategies and the associated sensorial experience.

Figure 2. Corresponds to visual morphologies of Uruguay’s Halls of Art of the years 1960 and 1980, analyzed from the perspective of their production techniques, conservation strategies and the associated sensorial experience.

Figures 1 and 2. In publication/15th Conference on Contemporary Art Conservation, Queen Sophie Art Center National Museum (MNCARS) and GEIIC /Vladimir Muhvich, Engrama Project.

Research work on morphological and evolutionary visualization models in relation to art collections.

Case study: Official Engram of Uruguay’s Field of Arts. Publication, Contemporary Art Conservation /15th Conference on Contemporary Art Conservation, Queen Sophie Art Center National Museum/ February 2014, pages 259 to 272.

Figure 3. Detail of Brodmann Areas, from Henry Vandyke Carter - Henry Gray (1918) “Anatomy of the Human Body” (Refer to "Book" section below) Bartleby.com: Gray's Anatomy, Plate 726, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=620390 12/SEP/2017 Figure 4. Detail of taxonomy of production families developed for the OPPAMEV ontology.

Figures 5, 6 and 7. Screenshots of the OPPAMEV application.

Figures 8 and 9. Documentation delivered by the OPPAMEV application, graph of the whole exhibit surveyed, and cataloguing record of each piece in the exhibit.

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