Event #1: LACMA

For the first event of the quarter, I attended the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). I choose LACMA due to the pieces coinciding with the culture of art and science that we have been talking about. Specifically, Richard Serra’s Installation called Band popped out to me the most. It is actually considered Contemporary Art according to the information at the museum. I felt this is right and fits the description of the “Third Culture” due to its combination of art and science. Due to its large shape, I considered how math is crucial to the success of Band’s design. Going back to week 2, Marc Frantz emphasizes the importance of the vanishing point in order to find the right distance, areas, and measurements needed. Serra signifies the crucial importance of angles, shapes, and sizes in his work. As for art, Band creates a cultural performance through your own voice when you enter inside the structure. Serra invites the viewers into his piece which makes them feel apart of the experience. He brings a cultural element to his piece by involving interaction from the audience in order to see the change of sound when inside his art compared to regular.  Since it is consider contemporary art, Richard Serra’s piece would fit John Brockman’s idea of a third culture or “middle men.” This allows Band to eliminate the idea of it being just “vocational” art.

Another interesting piece I found is called Miracle Mile by Robert Irwin. Irwin created sixty-six  tubes of light that consist of different colored lights. It is actually right next to Band. I walked down a dimly lighted hallway, but realized the color was coming from Irwin’s work. As a viewer, I saw that each tube was the same size; however, the perception of each tube can be viewed differently and I believe that is what Irwin is trying to point out in Miracle Mile. As a result of my perspective, Miracle Mile is an example of contemporary art due to its association with shapes and technology; as well as its ability to use art challenging the color spectrum. I believe that Robert Irwin’s work correlates with John Brockman’s idea of third culture. Due to the shapes being a crucial component of this work, math is needed in order to execute all sixty-six tubes being exactly the same.  

Out of all my years at UCLA, this was actually my first time at LACMA. For my first experience, I was very shocked in how much I enjoyed it.The only reason I knew about LACMA was from Drake’s music video of “Hotline Bling” and seeing tons of instagram post regarding the famous lights. Not really knowing what to expect when going in, I loved how majority of the pieces of art differed from each other. I was more shocked with what kind of art they had there due to my lack of knowledge of LACMA. Since this was my first time, I felt obligated to a photo shoot among the lights since that’s the LACMA thing to do. Overall, my experience with this event has opened my eyes to what is considered art and how culture can impact the perspective of the audience.  

Band 

Miracle Mile