LACMA

I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on July 6th and saw much more than the beloved lights that grace many a Facebook Cover Picture.

Unfortunately, I didn't find anything from the Japanese Art section to relate to our materials, but the large, ancient, intricately-minimalist pieces were very nice.

I was able to visit all the main exhibits/halls including Art of the Americas, Art of the Ancient World at the Hammer Building, Art of the Pacific, European, Islamic, Modern, and Southeast Asian Art at the Ahmanson Building, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, and the Resnick Pavillion, but I'll be grouping these pieces according to our material structure from class.

The next few pictures are technological displays that I feel represented the Third Culture of either a fusion of Art and Science or an actual third form of appreciation for knowledge through technology.

The power of one-way transmission is felt through this radio, where surely many people on this side of the signal would listen on edge for the latest that the world could bring to them instantly.

An older form of patient-monitoring that revolutionized not only how we can take care of hospital patients, but also signified remote communication across battlefields, work places, and our own homes. Actual physical presence is no longer necessary to pass influence.

Treasuring of scientific instruments is not a "geeky" thing, but a noble preservation of the skills of their users.

Math and numerical artistry were also present.

Two is more than just a number; it can hold things inside that may be unique to a single person's experience with the number, or it might convey a universal feeling just like color-association.

This piece is captioned with numerical times and dates, amounts of bricks and knots to show how much of our lives are quantified.

This glass structure instantly struck me as soundwaves, and it's title "Music" indeed indicated it to be so. The peaks are more impressive to some in 3D structure than the hills and valleys they arise from on paper.

Without the mathematical principles of perspective, this piece of art would not have such an alluring hallway.

Similarly, perspective here creates the vanishing point where the subject is clearly headed, provoking the question of "Where exactly is she going?" and "Does she know what she is doing?"

Where some may find optical illusions confusing to the point of dizziness, some are able to appreciate the limitations of human perception of physical objects and properties.

These large-scale billiards balls represent a game that relies on skillful application of geometry and physics to win.

The Smoke structure does not have a functional purpose besides providing observers with different perspectives of the same shape from different angles, much like the dimensions of Flatland.

The architectural world of skylines, the ultimate application of geometry and physics, makes the edges of this bowl, the artist clearly showing how quick is the recognition of urban structures.

This very expansive set of urban structures modeled our dependence on mathematical properties for achieving structural stability, utility, and beauty.

Early robotics also found a display.

This Memory Board looked to me a lot like the punchcards that began memory storage.

Medical technology had some presence as well.

These abnormal walls bear a resemblance to tbe 3D printing sculptures that are becoming increasingly useful in constructing personalized medical technologies for humans and animals alike.

More than a spiritual practice, mummification applied Egyptian knowledge of anatomical structures to create an artistic process

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This symbol of man and snake has persisted as a symbol of medicine even until today, making this sculpture of Hyiegia recognizable as an avatar of health if not by name.

Not too far off was biotechnology...

This 20-foot tall series of folds reminded me of the microvilli that line several mucous membranes of our body that actually serve to make our chemical processes more efficient; standing in between these structures makes one interact with their very own biology.

The battleground might not only refer to the biological warfare between your own immune system and the invading organisms all around, but also your personal inflictions upon it and the rights that governments wish to impose or take away from it.

The fascination we have with space of course left its mark on artists as well.

Described by the other to represent "an opening to a new kind of thought", this piece does invoke the new perspectives on physical capabilities that space offers.

Entitled "Life Begins," this depiction of an explosion in space is paralleled against a newborn baby and a fruit seed to show the shared qualities of very different environments.

This nexus of light captures the intensity of stars and the entrancing effect of the individual rays and collective glow.

I'd like to end this post on a piece that models how many artists and scientists alike begin - by looking out into the world and wondering what the can do with it.

Although LACMA had a lot of historical art pieces that displayed individuals that made it hard to understand the artistic recognition of more than the subject's mere presence someone who existed, one could take some time and understand the context of that person's influence and relate it to some sort of scientific underpinning that would make it relevant to our class. LACMA was definitely an amazing experience of rediscovery of important fusions between art and science throughout human history.

He kept me from exploring restricted areas of LACMA and having more things to write about.