In Focus: Electric!
Today I went to the Getty to look at an exhibition relating to this desma course called "In Focus: Electric!" It was my first time visiting the Getty and I was so impressed. It is such a beautiful and well kept museum with a lot of fascinating art. Up in the hills, it also has great view points where you can see the whole city of LA!
The exhibition that I visited was called "In Focus: Electric!" The event focused on electrical innovations including lightbulbs, and how they influenced photographers. Lightbulbs often symbolize new inventions or ideas, like the phrase "a light bulb going off in someones head." Nowadays it is difficult to imagine a time without electricity. It is especially difficult for photographers to imagine art without electricity.
Photographers in the twentieth century documented light that they unexpectedly encountered. They have always been observant of the effects of electricity. Nowadays, many artists and photographers use images of light in their works to represent the electricity that plays such a crucial role in their professions.
The concept of electrical innovations in relation to art reminds me of what we learned about in Vesna's lectures about technology and art. We learned about how technological innovations in that time period influenced artists and our perception of the human body. This gives me the impression that as things are evolving culturally, or in the scientific field, the art world changes and adapts as well.
<http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n43/art_scene/the_electric_company/art1.jpeg>
When I think of electricity and art, I think of my experience in Nanjing, China two years ago. I went to China to play in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games for Beach Volleyball. China is a country that always seems to be up to date technologically. They went above and beyond to decorate the entire city in colourful lights that illuminated to create beautiful images. The closing ceremonies was the most amazing show with countless sculptures and routines put on with colourful lights. Without those electrical innovations so many years ago, they would have been unable to create these images and make my experience there so unique.
<http://www.insidethegames.biz/images/2014/08/The_Nanjing_2014_Youth_Olympic_Games_Village_has_been_designed_to_be_both_environmental-friendly_and_sustainable_Nanjing_2014.jpg>
I would definitely recommend this exhibition to my classmates. The Getty is beautiful and close to UCLA. The exhibition was interesting and had many great images to look at. I was able to tie a lot of the concepts there to materials that we have learned so far in this course.
Citations
"In Focus: Electric!" The J Paul Getty Museum. J Paul Getty Trust, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine pt1." Youtube. Uconlineprogram. 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
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