Event 2: Making Strange" at the Fowler Museum

This event is by far one of the coolest art exhibits showing I have ever witnessed. On May 27, I was able to go down to the Fowler Museum with two of my friends. I had no idea what this exhibit was going to be about. When we got there, we had to put away our backpacks before we could enter the show room. Since I had never been to an art museum like this before, I was very surprised that we had to check our bags, but it got me extremely excited about the show we were about to see. When we walked inside, we were met with a big room with a lot of really cool art work: Directly in front of us was a big sign that read "Making Strange."

When I entered the room I couldn't believe my eyes because of how many different types of cool art was before me. The work of some great artists who have dedicated their lives to making something they love and sharing to the world was all around me. It was truly a surreal moment for me.

The piece above really inspired me a lot because it is a perfect example of how art can be used to express the artists' feelings and thoughts. It caught my attention initially because of the bright red color of the dress. This piece uses the medium of a mannequin dressed in a really cool garment that appears to use a bunch of bras to create one piece. What I found really interesting about this piece was the pattern of the clothing, which used the same exact measurements throughout the dress, resulting in an extremely intricate design. This shows just how much time was put into this making this great piece of art work perfect.

           





















This is a shield that was made in 2013. It uses a mannequin, fiberglass, organs/anatomy, leather and wood to create a very modern take on a shield. As a shield, it is supposed to look ancient, and it somewhat did, but it was really cool to see this artists' modern influence on an object so old as a shield.

This is my favorite piece. It's a glass coffin with a sculpture of male and female buried in it. I like this piece because it reminded of the topic we learned in this class, of the transition that we can see today where coffins are no longer only made of wood, but are now made from glass as well. Once again, art is used here to express what people think and imagine. I had a great experience at this exhibit and learned so much about different types of art that is being made around the world. This trip to the museum broadened my experiences with art and showed me the many great things that art can offer to its viewers, and how art can influence the world in a very positive way.

Citation/link

"Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram | Fowler Museum at UCLA."  N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2015.

 http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/making-strange-gagawaka-postmortem-vivan-sundaram

Events 1: Installation by Jane Mi in the MFA exhibition, Wight gallery

On May 29, I took a trip to the Wight Gallery to see an exhibit by Jane Mi. It was a busy midweek school day when I went, so I was the only one there at that time. I found this to be very cool and the lack of human surroundings really allowed me to feel like I could understand the art at a deeper level. I figured that Jane Mi's work was going to be like nothing I had ever seen before, and my hypothesis proved to be true. 

Figure 1: A selfie of me in front Jane Mi's work at the Wight Gallery

All of Mi's artwork was presented in a big room that measures 30 feet x 40 feet, and the floor was filled with gravel.  All of her work was set up in a very neat and tidy order, and I immediately felt as though a lot of hard work was put in to the presentation of her work. 

Figure 1: This is art by Jane Mi called Te Tai-Uka-A-Pia, also called the Frozen Sea  

This a great photograph taken with great quality,  which really gives the audience a wide perspective of how a frozen sea looks like. I especially liked this piece because it shows me something that I did not fathom was possible. Being from Africa, I hardly see snow, let alone being able to imagine an entire sea freezing over. This piece not only showed me the beauty of the Northern Hemisphere, but also brings me closer to understanding what I have been learning the entire quarter in this class. This art made me understand that there is a world out there that I don't fully understand and that I can learn more about, kind of like the world of space which we covered last week. Water is 75% of the world and the fact that such large bodies of water can be frozen by extremely low temperatures makes me realize how the world is changing. It is important that we, as humans, realize how our behaviors could be the reason for this. 

Figure 3: this is another piece  called The End of the Earth,

This is a generative animation Mi made, which is  5’ , and 10” in diameter. This piece of art is an iceberg tracker, which includes data from over a twenty-year period from 1995-2015. The movement of the object traces the iceberg’s movements through the current surroundings of Antarctica. This was my favorite piece because it shows how much technology has influenced the world in many ways. This tracking data was made through the work of technology. the collection of current and data is done is a way to me connects to what i learnt in this class. With art and technology, we are able to understand how things like this amazing piece work. 

This video I took during my visit to the Wight gallery shows the full view of Jane Mi's entire exhibit that she presented. This is a way for me to share my great experience with those of you who didn't get the chance to attend and see this amazing work by a great artist in person.

Citation/link

"The End of the Earth - Jane Chang Mi." The End of the Earth - Jane Chang Mi. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2015.

"Te Tai-Uka-A-Pia - Jane Chang Mi." Te Tai-Uka-A-Pia - Jane Chang Mi. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2015.

http://www.janecmi.com/