Event: Hammer Museum

This week I visited the Hammer museum in Westwood. While I have been to many art museums in the past, my experience in this museum was much different. Since taking this class I can now see art through a different lens. 

Hammer Museum Map and Entrance Sticker

Walking through the Jimmie Durham At the Center of the World gallery the ideas of art and science integration made me appreciate the art in a different way. Durham’s Something… Perhaps a Fugure or an Elegy instantly caught my eye as it incorporated many pieces of old technology such as video cameras, VHS players, big TVs and a stereo. 

Something… Perhaps a Fugure or an Elegy

This piece also has many mirrors throughout perhaps to show that it is a self reflective piece. The start sign on one end and the stop sign at the other end focus the audience’s attention on the directionality of the piece. To me, this piece may represent the complexity of life as near the end of the work of art “death” is written on the floor before the biggest mirror in the piece. This piece encompasses this class perfectly as it shows the “third culture” C.P Snow predicted in his Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. In other words, the representation of science by means of technology and the representation of art in the sculptures within the piece, show that the two are incorporated in every aspect of life.  Another work of art in his collection that spoke to me was Obsidian arabesque. 

Obsidian arabesque

In this piece obsidian and human hair are used to create a secret message. This reminded me of Dr. Vesna’s lecture on art and robotics because much like the first computers and the beginnings of the internet the materials used are numbers arranged in a certain order that creates a message. Likewise, obsidian and hairs are used to convey a message. Overall, this exhibition reminded me that with every week that passes by I am learning more and more on how to appreciate art not only by the physical appearance but by the interpretations it can take on. I would recommend this gallery to anyone especially UCLA students as its walking distance from campus and it is free. The exhibit also includes many colorful pieces which incorporates a Native American ambiance out of modern objects such as refrigerators and pipes. In the future weeks, I hope to continue opening my eyes to the possibility that art and science are more related to each other than what school’s make it seem.  

Durham, Jimmie. Obsidian Arabesque. 2009. Hammer, n.p.

Durham, Jimmie. Something... Perhaps a Fugue or an Elegy. 2005. Hammer, n.p.

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

Vesna,Victoria. “Lecture Part 2.” Math + Art. 12 Oct. 2012. Lecture.