Event 1 Blog: From Forces to Forms

-

The second part of the From Forces to Forms series explored the topic of Morphogenesis. The presentation, led by artist Ellen K. Levy, spotlighted five different artists. The artists presented works in which they utilized natural processes in different ways to create their art. Morphogenesis is defined by google as “the origin and development of morphological characteristics” or “the formation of landforms or other structures”. In this way, this event relates to the Two Cultures phenomenon because it interconnects scientific concepts with art. 


The first artist that stuck out to me was William Lamson and his “Badwater” exhibition. This collection of art survives under a climate controlled environment in order to create cyclic flooding and drought conditions, inspired by Death Valley’s Badwater Basin. The gallery displays these geologic forces and allows them to persist and develop without intervention from the artist (Lamson). In essence, it displays the inherent relationship between art and nature. Lamson expressed how important it was for these processes to run their courses naturally.


"Make Room" by William Lamson


Another artist that interested me was Haresh Lalvani for his unique body of work. Growing up in a family of welders, I’ve seen my fair share of ironwork art. Unlike welders, Lalvani uses natural forces, mainly gravity and pressure, to shape stainless steel into various forms. In his presentation Lalvani described using heavy metal balls as “paintbrushes” to produce bumps untouched by human hands in smooth, round surfaces. 


Screenshot from Zoom Presentation - "GR Flora"


The final artist I will touch upon is Gemma Anderson and her Isomorphology series. The term “Isomorphology” is one coined by Anderson herself, used as a way to describe the morphological patterns in the shared forms of animals, minerals, and other species. In her presentation, Anderson urged viewers to question the sometimes “arbitrary classifications” placed on the biological world. Her work serves as a reminder that there are many ways to see relationships between species.

Screenshot from Zoom Presentation - 'Hexagonal Form'

Screenshot of Registration Email:


Sources:
Anderson, Gemma. Hexagonal Form. Karlsruhe, Germany, 2013. 

Anderson, Gemma. “Gemma Anderson - Isomorphology.” Isomorphology Homepage, 2013, https://www.isomorphology.com/index.html. 

​​Becherer, Joseph. “Gram – 2012.” Lalvani Studio, 2012, http://lalvanistudio.com/exhibitions/gram-2012/. 

Haresh, Lalvani. GR Flora 24, 100, 2; GR Flora 64, 60, 102. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2012. 

Lamson, William. “William Lamson: Badwater, 2018/2020.” Lafayette Art Galleries, https://galleries.lafayette.edu/2020/02/03/william-lamson-badwater-2018-2020/. 

Lamson, William. Make Room. Easton, Pennsylvania. 6 Feb. 2020. 

​​Mortice, Zach, et al. “Haresh Lalvani on Biomimicry and Architecture That Designs Itself.” Redshift EN, 18 Oct. 2017, https://redshift.autodesk.com/haresh-lalvani/. 

“From Forces to Forms: Episode 2 ‘Morphogenesis.’” UCLA ArtSci, Pratt Institute STEAMplant Initiative, Feb. 2022, https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?e=%5BUNIQID%5D&u=9baf6baeafa7dd6c42a6db349&id=f7213fa9e8. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 4: Medicine + Technology + Art

-
Image
The intersection between medicine and art isn’t an idea I’ve come across often, but this week’s lectures and readings have provided me with a new viewpoint on the ubiquity of art. Like professor Vesna, I discovered an unlikely creative inspiration from studying the human body. In my first-ever anatomy class, I realized that the material I was learning extended to my art and it helped to considerably improve my skills with proportions. Because of this experience, the topic that piqued my interest during this week's lectures was the history behind anatomical art. Throughout the Renaissance period, anatomists and artists frequently worked together to create anatomical illustrations; it was necessary for an artist to be nearby when dissecting or studying cadavers because of their quickly-decomposing nature (Kornell). Some anatomists even became artists themselves to further bridge the gap between representation of the body and scientific knowledge of the body (Kornell). Contrastingly,
Read more

Week 2: Math + Art

-
Image
This week’s lecture was incredibly enlightening, notably the topics on perspective and the golden ratio. In one of my favorite and most influential art classes, I was taught about the theory of perspective by studying some of Filippo Brunelleschi’s works. As stated in the lecture, Brunelleschi’s mastery of geometry and other mathematical principles manifested themselves in his carefully crafted line work and discovery of the vanishing point. These techniques have greatly improved my art ever since learning of them. With this knowledge, I’ve also been able to dissect and reference paintings with ease; you can say I’ve gained an entirely new perspective on the use of math in art. Filippo Brunelleschi   (1377 – April 15, 1446)   On the topic of geometry, the article “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art” by Linda Henderson proved to be a surprisingly interesting read on the matter. Henderson writes about how the concept of the visualization of a fourth dimension
Read more

Event 2: The Mortal Plastik

-
Image
The second event I attended this quarter was a viewing and short presentation on the behind-the-scenes making of Jess Irish’s short documentary, This Mortal Plastik. Her self proclaimed “nontraditional documentary” is about 20 minutes long and features various artistic mediums in order to provide commentary on the ever-growing culture of single-use plastics and their detrimental effect to the environment. Irish included poems/quotes and eye-catching visual images, making the documentary both entertaining and impactful.  Screenshot from event: drawing of plastic over animated hands One of the quotes that really stuck with me was one by Annie Leonard, which goes “There is no such thing as ‘away.’ Just ‘elsewhere.’” This quote was shown simultaneously with visuals of landfills and oceans filled with plastic; it made me reevaluate my use of plastics and other wasteful material. I thought to myself, how many recyclable materials are actually recycled and not just transported elsewhere to ex
Read more