Event Three

Event Three: Hammer Museum

I went to the Hammer Museum as my third event. I got to see many interesting exhibits and a great time and loved comparing this art to the previous museums.

The first exhibit I went in to was Mary Reid Kelly’s black-and-white video exploring the myth of the Minotaur. It was absolutely nothing like what I expected. I thought it would be a historic documentary with mythological Greek theories. The hybrid was half woman instead of half man. It was interesting that the visual language aligns with the artists’ own writings. Although it may not seem like it, her video explores the roles of women, sexuality, and language.

 

This is the half-woman minotaur from the Mary Reid Kelly exhibit

One of the most interesting pieces of art that I saw was James Deller’s “The History of the World.” This really stood out to me because EDM is one of my favorite genres of music, so I was immediately drawn to it when I saw “acid house” and “brass bands.” This image portrays the history, influence, and context for these two types of music. Not only is this textual portrayal about the music, but also suggests much broader social and political points that date from different eras. It also looks like this image is just a random flow chart, but it is actually a diagram that has been carefully organized.

This is James Deller's diagram connecting music to historic events

When I first saw this piece of art by Mark Hagen, I thought looked really cool and simple. The triangles reminded me of the geometry class I took in high school. I wanted to know more about the artwork so I read the excerpt on the artist Mark Hagen. I learned that he uses contradictory materials and often engages in DIY building. He is not a traditional artist in the sense that he uses unusual materials such as cement, steel, burlap, house paint, and obsidian to create art that embraces modularity, seriality, and geometric repetition. As shown in this piece of art, his style aims to create works that are disorganized as they are organized. According to the excerpt on the wall, he has cast cement units from imported plastic beverage containers, cardboard packaging, and a mold made from the 1960’s ceramic tiles on the façade of the abandoned Rampart police station near downtown LA. This just goes to show that art can be found virtually anywhere.

 

Mark Hagen's disoriented yet oriented geometric artwork

Here is the excerpt of Mark Hagen's work

I had a really great experience at the Hammer Museum and exploring all of the current collections. I thought that a lot of the exhibits were different from that of other museums. I learned a lot from this event and would highly recommend going to this museum.

The worker wasn't allowed to take a picture with me, so this is my ticket :)

Event Two

Event Two: LACMA

 

The lights outside LACMA

I went to LACMA on May 29^th and observed many of the neat exhibits. One of the key elements that made this museum so special was the use of advanced technology. I couldn’t help but notice the cutting-edge technology throughout the museum. My favorite exhibit by far was James Turrell’s “Breathing Light” show. Combing the fields of history, mathematics, perceptual psychology, and astronomy he became one of the most important artists of the Southern California Light and Space movement. I found this fascinating because the connection shared between art and varying scientific fields are fundamental to Desma 9.

 

“I make spaces that apprehend light for our perception, and in some ways gather it, or seem to hold it…my work is more about your seeing than it is about my seeing, although it is a product of my seeing.”- James Turrell

			I was scolded by security for trying to take a picture inside; but this is what the exhibit looked like This is what the exhibit looked like on the outside

The room did not have a main focus, object, or image, but instead created an experience of wordless thought. It was different than any kind of art I have ever seen before. Technology was a key element in making “Breathing Light” possible. If the lights were off, there would not be anything to see. It was an optical illusion that threw off my sense of perception because the room did not have any corners or edges; it was literally like being inside of light. Mathematics was used to form precise geometric calculations to create an illusion. The back of the lit up room looked like a wall, but instead was a curved bubble with a five-foot drop off. This was by far one of the coolest exhibits I have ever seen.

Event One

Event One: The Getty Museum

For my first event, I attended the Getty with my friends Jenny, Robin, and Chanelle. I had never been to a museum in LA before but I had a feeling it would be pretty cool.  The tram ride up to the top of the hill was fun and a nice view.

This is the view from the tram going up to the Getty

Once we got to the top, we explored all the diverse collections of art that the museum had to offer. The museum consisted of four pavilions that were arranged in chronological order, each exhibiting of works from their respective time period. It was so interesting to see art from different cultures and watch how they changed over time.

After exploring all of the exhibits, I found the sculptures and decorative arts exhibits to be the most fascinating. One of the signs in the exhibit was very thought-provoking, it said: “There is only one way for the moderns to become great and perhaps unequaled: by imitating the ancients.” This made me think of the topics from the class lectures and how they build off one another. The continuous innovation in the fields of art and science have allowed for modern day scholars to learn from the past and create for the future.

The first sculpture that caught my eye was the statue of Venus because I have always had an interest in Ancient Greek and Roman mythology. This sculpture of Venus was crafted by a British Neoclassical sculptor named Joseph Nollekens in the 17^th century. I think it is so cool how he drew ideas from ancient Roman mythology and created a different version of it centuries later.

This is the sculpture of Venus

Another sculpture that I liked from this exhibit was the Python Killing a Gnu by Antoine-Louis Bayre. He is known for his scientific observation of animals, often in violent struggle, which he observed at a zoo in Paris. I never would have considered this to be scientific before I learned about the connection between art and science. The sculptures in this exhibit must have incorporated a lot of math and science to get such concise works of art.

This is a python killing a Gnu

In addition to the art and sculptures, the Getty also has beautiful landscaping and views of LA.

Overall, this was a great experience and I am very happy that I had the opportunity to venture out and spend some time at The Getty. The employees were all very helpful and provided us with background information on the art and sculptures.

Space + Art

The vastness of our universe has been a captivating field of study for artists and scientists from the beginning of time. All of the topics from this class come together in space and create extraordinary discoveries. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, and robots bring the two cultures together and have allowed scientists to develop atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and rockets. In turn, their knowledge has allowed artists to create works that exploit the unknown and feed publics fascination with outer space. Some of the most significant events that occurred during the space age changed history for art and science.

This image captures the vastness of space

Although scientists have discovered approximately 100 billion other galaxies, 96% of the universe still remains unknown. In Carl Sagan’s video called “the pale blue dot,” he described the Earth as a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. He viewed our planet as “a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.” This allows artists and film producers to use their imagination and create extraterrestrial universes geared toward the public’s curiosity with space. The filmmaking industry has flourished with so many works dedicated to space exploration. For example, I find movies such as Gravity, Star Wars, and E.T very intriguing because although they are all very different, there is no right or wrong interpretation of the unknown universe. There is still so much that is unknown. Robotics are currently being used in space to explore nearby planets in pursuit for life elsewhere. Curiosity is the latest rover on Mars, Magellen is orbiting Venus, and Galileo and Cassini are probing Saturn and Jupiter.

The tiny pale blue dot represents Earth to scale in the universe

The advancement of technology in just the past few decades has allowed us to further explore the depths of our universe. Astronomy has come a long way since Sputnik I was launched by the USSR on October 4^th 1957. This event struck fear and paranoia in America that the terrorists were more technologically advanced and had the upper hand in the arms race. President Eisenhower reacted by speeding up the U.S space program. The United States launched the satellite Explorer I on January 31^st, 1958, marking the beginning of the “space race.”

Sputnik I was about the size of a beach ball and polished so that it could reflect light and be seen from the ground

"8 Space Pt1." YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013. Web. 31 May 2015.

"8 Space Pt3."YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013. Web. 31 May 2015.

Launius, Roger D. "Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age.” Histroy.nasa.gov, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

Sagan, Carl. "A Pale Blue Dot." A Pale Blue Dot. The Planetary Society, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

Brown, David W. "15 Ongoing Space Missions You Should Know About." Mental Floss. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 31 May 2015.

"Soviet Union Launches Sputnik I." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015.

Writer, Clara Moskowitz SPACE.com Senior. "Missing: 96 Percent of the Universe | Dark Matter & Dark Energy | The 4% Universe, Richard Panek | Space.com." What's 96 Percent of the Universe Made Of? Astronomers Don't Know. Space.com, 12 May 2011. Web. 31 May 2015.