Final Project

Link to Final Project

Event 3: Singular Spaces

Yesterday I revisited the Fowler museum to see Singular Spaces exhibit. This exhibit was actually a series of pictures that showed various different art environments created independently all over Spain by eight Spanish artists. These artists were unique in that they did not have much of a plan behind their artwork and often simply used whatever materials they had to make these one of a kind environments.

A map depicting the location of all of the art environments showcased in this exhibit

Admittedly I initially had a hard time seeing how this exhibit related to the crossing of art and science. However, I was able to find two artists who used their art to deal with trauma from their lives. In this way these artworks can show a person’s psychological reaction to painful memories.

One of these artists is Julio Basanta López. His environment titled House of God appears to instead depict his inner demons. López has gone through much trauma in his life through the abandonment of his father and the deaths of his brother and eldest son. He built physical representations of this trauma from bricks that were covered in concrete. The result are these looming figures who loom all over his house and tells a story of a man haunted by the past.

The other artist was José Maria Garrido. He was a former fisherman who quit sailing once a close friend died at sea. He instead started building a museum dedicated to the sea and his friend. The museum was a boat shaped building to which he added masts and sails and added photographs of old ships, signs with maritime proverbs, and various objects gathered from beaches. To me it was interesting that Garrido decided to celebrate the sea despite his psychological pain associated with it.

I would definently recommend checking this exhibit out. All of the artists, not just López and Garrido, have created fascinating works of art that truly must be seen.

 A picture of me in front of the exhibit. Museum employees no longer are allowed to take pictures with guest so this is the next best thing.

Event 2: Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem

Last Friday I went to the Fowler museum to see the Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem art exhibit by Indian artist Vivan Sundaram. I have never been to the Fowler museum before and it was fascinating to see this museum for the first time.

The Fowler museum combined two bodies of work from Sundaram for the Making Strange exhibit. Gagawaka contains clothing made from recycled materials and medicinal supplies. This exhibit showcased dresses made out of surgical masks, bags of pills, and orthopedic supports among other materials. Many of these garments look like they would not be out of place on a fashion runway. It is fascinating what Sundaram was able to make from the materials he found.

The other body of work in the Making Strange exhibit was the Postmortem exhibit. Postmortem uses manikins and medical tools, like a stretcher or a model of the human thoracic cavity, in a way that made me think about the strangeness and fragility of our bodies. One such sculpture was a manikin that was meant to look like a ballerina but was somewhat damaged and was cut in half above the waist. Sundaram added a sculpture human anatomy inside the manikin. The result was an interesting sculpture that made me think of human mortality.

I highly recommend seeing this exhibit if you have the time. It is truly unique and will make you think about medicine and our bodies.

A picture of me at the Fowler Museum. The museum employees told me they were no longer allowed to take photos with guests so hopefully this photo is satisfactory.

Event 1: LASER Symposium

About two weeks ago I attended that LASER symposium at the CNSI in UCLA. I have not really had the time to sit down and talk about my impressions of it until now.

A picture of me after the LASER symposium finished

The LASER symposium was set up as a series of quick talks between many different individuals who bridge the gap between art and science. One of the speakers was Tamira Elul a professor Touro University in California. Her background is in biology and she focuses on comparing slides of biological tissues to early paintings by abstract expressionist painter Sam Francis. Like Elul, Francis had an initial background in biology before turning to painting. Elul argued that this background greatly influenced Francis’s early works and showed pictures of biological tissues which looked remarkably like Francis’s paintings.

Another presenter at the LASER symposium was Robert Gero who just opened up his exhibit Infinity Structures: Paradoxical Structures. The purpose of his exhibit is to explore the creation of the infinity structures. These paradoxical structures would have internal dimensions that exceed its exterior dimensions. To this end Gero took a very scientific approach to design a room with an “infinite” interior.

The LASER symposium was an interesting look at individuals who take a simultaneously artistic and scientific approach to understand the world.