Event 2: MFA Town Hall Exhibition

 Yesterday, I was able to attend the MFA Town Hall Exhibition at Broad Art Center at UCLA. As someone who doesn't regularly visit art museums or exhibitions, I was amazed at the creativity and dedication showcased in each individual exhibition. I had also never (in person) seen art that incorporated technology and interactivity into it so well.

The piece in the exhibition that stood out the most to me was one by artist Eunice Choi titled 'In between letting out and holding in'. It was set up in a room-like structure, with white walls and scissors made of cucumbers engraved into the walls. The 'room' had blinds made of resin cucumbers, a clock filled with resin cucumbers, and a cooler that held resin cucumbers and a metal book. In the center was a table with more resin cucumbers and a white cutting board, onto which a video was being projected.

I asked the artist why her object of choice was a cucumber, and she told me the story behind her exhibition. She explained that she was suffering from the loss of a loved one and was in so much pain that her body felt like a vessel for tears. Cucumbers, being one of her favorite vegetables and also full of moisture, were what she chose to serve as a metaphor for the pain (moisture) leaking out of her body in tears. In line with these emotions, the video being projected onto the cutting board contained images of moisture seeping out from the cucumbers along with her heartbreaking words, such as "I guess I tried to understand what happened", and the sensation of pain in "the middle of my chest". The metal book in the cooler asked questions such as "How do you carve the pain out of your body?"

The artist, Eunice Choi, with her work (taken by me!)

Experiencing this piece of art, along with others in the Town Hall Exhibition, demonstrated firsthand to me the value of intertwining art and creativity with technology. Immersive experiences definitely blur the boundaries between the viewer and the artwork, encouraging active participation and emotional engagement. They offer an opportunity for viewers to connect with art on a deeper level, fostering emotional resonance and personal reflection (Wiener).  As such, "Artists... have the opportunity to play with the “real-virtual” boundary between the viewer... and the digital dimension. Touch, physical participation, and social interaction become essential qualities," (Cooper). 

In line with this, my experience of being able to walk around the 'cucumber room' the artist had carefully curated and interacting with each element of her creation made me more curious and eager to understand the meaning behind each creative decision. The video creation splayed out onto the cutting board, both through its images and words, made me feel as though the viewers were cutting her open and taking a glimpse into her deepest emotions. Personally, I feel I can say that I have not felt this immersed in or connected to a drawing/painting or digital image art creation. 

Attending this exhibition also made me think about the issue Professor Vesna discussed in lecture regarding authenticity in creativity and art in the age of mechanical reproduction and artificial intelligence (AI). The issue of art being mass distributed and thus not remaining true to its original form, as well as the issue of AI replicating it, grows as a threat as technology advances (Vesna). However, it seems to me that art installations such as the ones I witnessed at this exhibition cannot be experienced or replicated by such means -- one simply must experience them in person.

Selfie (with a friend) as proof of attendance

Works Cited:

Wiener, Anna. “The Rise of ‘Immersive’ Art.” The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2022, www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/the-rise-and-rise-of-immersive-art. 

Cooper, Zoe. “The Future of Art: 8 Digital Installations and Interactive Spaces - Architizer Journal.” Journal, 31 May 2022, architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/digital-art-projection-installations/. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics+Art: Lectures Part 1". DESMA 9, University of California, Los Angeles.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 9: Space + Art

Image
Although outer space and art are widely different aspects of the human experience, they both have the same goal – to better understand the human experience. Artists challenge the boundaries of what is possible, especially through works and pieces of science fiction. Artists "…have continued to be instrumental catalysts in our quest to conquer the unknown, because they imagine the future before it happens – as the saying goes, life imitates art," (Maldonado).  Space art by Charles Bittinger shows the solar system as imagined in 1939 Ideas such as a "space elevator", a structure made of carbon nanotubes that stretch from earth to space as introduced in the 1976 science fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke, envision concepts that have yet to be imagined or implemented (Vesna). An even earlier such example appears in the 1865 science fiction novel From Earth to the Moon , which proposes a projectile launch to the moon using a giant cannon, explor...
Read more

Week 1: Two Cultures

Image
  The idea of “Two Cultures” has been instilled in me – perhaps somewhat subconsciously – from a young age, and has perpetuated even to my college years at UCLA. Fitting into the categories of a “STEM major” (whose classes are usually confined to South Campus) or “humanities major” (whose classes are typically in North Campus) is how most students make snap judgments about others upon first meeting them. To students, there appears to be quite a divide – “majors like economics and psychology, straddling the line between STEM and humanities, have found themselves in the midst of a cross-campus crossfire,” (Jung). In C.P. Snow’s 1959 Rede Lecture, “Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution”, he reinforces this idea that there is a fruitless rivalry between ‘physical scientists’ and ‘literary intellectuals’ at the heart of the separation of the Two Cultures. However, he also adds that educational institutions themselves, and not simply the judgements of others, are fueling this divide...
Read more

Event 3: Color Light Motion with Marisa Caichiolo

Image
 On May 12th, I attended the Color, Light, and Motion online event with speaker Marisa Caichiolo. Prior to attending this event, I had no knowledge of the fact that kinetic art was even its own subcategory of art, let alone exactly what it was or its implications for the art and science communities. I was able to gain a lot more insight into this art and its effects by viewing and hearing about works by artists such as Marisa Caichiolo herself, Julio LeParte, and Martha Boto.  Kinetic art incorporates motion into its design and composition -- artists use mechanical elements, as well as natural forces, to create movement. The movement can be subtle or energetic, and it adds a dynamic and ever-changing dimension to the artworks (“Kinetic Art Movement Overview”).  The example I found most intriguing from this event was a piece by Marisa Caichiolo titled "How Else Can I Serve You?" This piece discusses gender inequality through performance art; the artist "unfolds a...
Read more