Event 3: LACMA

       I went to LACMA today and enjoyed almost all of the artworks. However, influenced by this class, I was more impressed by some specific artworks that are related to science.

Robert Philippi, Madchen (Girls)

Liebespaar and I

Robert Philippi, Liebespaar (Lovers)

      As soon as I walked in the first exhibition room and saw two Robert Philippi’s drawings, I found the connection between art and medical technology – MRI. In Liebespaar and Madchen, Philippi draws the muscle, ribs and joints under the skin of the figures. The body structure under the skin cannot be seen by naked eyes. Philippi is able to draw the bones because he is aware of the images produced by MRI. The medical technology is well incorporated in these two drawings.

Joseph Albers, Homage to the Square, 1951

Joseph Albers, Honage to the Square: Dissolving/Vanishing, 1951

Joseph Albers, Homage to the Square, 1957

Joseph Albers, Homage to the Square, 1951-55

       I also found coexistence of art and science in Joseph Albers’s paintings. In Homage to the Square (1951), Homage to the Square: Dissolving/Vanishing, Homage to the Square (1957) and Homage to the Square (1951-55), geometrical squares (math) are the only subject matters. As a result, this series of paintings is not only aesthetically pleasing but scientific as well.

Chris Burden, MetropolisⅡ, 2011

       The artwork amazed me the most is Chris Burden’s MetropolisⅡ. It is a kinetic sculpture that represents a fast paced modern city. The most interesting part to me is the speeding miniature cars which are slow when going up and fast when going down. Although I am not very good at physics, I can tell that this artwork involves energy transformation between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy. I also found out that MetropolisⅡ is only operated for one hour a time and has to rest for one hour after each time. I asked the docent of LACMA about this schedule. She told me that the cars need to be cooled down or else they would break apart due to friction. Not only the operation of this artwork depends on physics but the schedule of operation also depends on physics. As a result, no one could deny the relation between this artwork and science.

Hours of Operation

       Before taking this class, I simply thought the art world as a separated world. However, after realizing various connections between art and science in this class, I know how to appreciate many of the artworks better.

Event 2: "The Art of Our Time" at MoCA

       I went to “The Art of Our Time” at MoCA last weekend. Since all the artworks in this exhibition are post-1945, I could try to figure out how the contemporary artists merge the “two cultures.” (Snow)

       As soon as I walked in the gallery, I was amazed by John Chamberlain’s Red Beatts. The amazement comes not only from the large scale of the work, but also from Chamberlain’s idea to turn wreckage into art by science. Red Beatts is a freestanding sculpture made of salvaged automobile parts. According to the wall text, Chamberlain did not design the shape of this sculpture by preparatory sketches, and therefore piled up these automobile parts 

John Chamberlain's Red Beatts and I

improvisationally based on principles of science – gravity and balance. Since the shape and execution of this work are determined by the balance of physical forces, Red Beatts could be considered as an artwork of science in which the “two cultures” become one.

Chris Burden, Hell Gate, 1998-1999, detail

       Another artwork that makes me immediately connect it with science is Chris Burden’s Hell Gate. Hell Gate is a physical structure that models the steel girders and cross bracing of New York’s Hell Gate Bridge. As the wall text suggests that Hell Gate investigates “the origin of physical power”, viewers could speculate that Burden must master the knowledge of steel engineering and construction capacities in order to construct the complex physical structure. Therefore, Hell Gate successfully proves how science could be well incorporated in art.

Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (three-tiered perspective), 1997

       Additionally, Mark Grotjahn’s Untitled (three-tiered perspective) also shows the combination of art and science. In this painting, only one vanishing point exists. This one-point perspective obeys the mathematical theory of perspective drawing developed in Renaissace.

       I strongly recommend “The Art of Our Time” at MoCA. After visiting this exhibition, I not only knew more about the interest of contemporary artists, but also realized how art and science could naturally merge together.

 

Reference:

Snow, C.P. Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics and Art." UCLA. Los Angeles, CA. 10 Apr 2016. Web.4 June 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.

Treibergs, Andrejs. "The Geometry of Perspective Drawing on the Computer." Department of Mathematics, University of Utah, n.d. Web. 4 June 2016.                         

Wall text, Red Beatts, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Wall text, Untitled (three-tired perspective), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles