Event 3: Leap Before You Look at the Hammer Museum

For my third event, I attended the 'Leap Before You Look' exhibit at the Hammer Museum.

This exhibit looks at artwork created at Black Mountain College, a small experimental liberal arts college that was open from 1933-1957. The College emphasized inquiry, discussion, and experimentation, and in about 20 years produced artwork that was thought provoking and unique.

The works that caught my eye were made by R. Buckminster Fuller, a professor interested in experimental architecture. Architecture, in my mind, has been the epitome of art and science merging in the real world: an architect must apply mathematical and physical laws to create their imagined structures.

The sketch on the left is Fuller's geodesic dome. By combining mathematics and art, he sought to create a structure that encompasses the greatest volume of space while having the smallest surface area. By combining circles in specific pattern. Fuller was able to theoretically create a structure that was cost-effective and original.

Another artist who was at Black Mountain at the same time and inspired by Fuller's work was Richard Lippold, whose 'Sketch for The Sun' is shown to the right. Lippold, like Fuller, sought to combine physical, mathematical, and artistic concepts to create a sun sculpture that radiated and shimmered of its own accord.









Though not all the art in the exhibit was my cup of tea, I found these works to be fascinating. These artists had groundbreaking visions, and even though they may have been outlandish and impossible to create in the real world, their melding of physics, mathematics, and art created inspiration for a horde of artists to come.

Link to Event:

https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2016/leap-before-you-look-black-mountain-college-1933-1957/#sthash.ja0UQc0u.dpuf

References:

Vesna, Victoria. "Mathematics and Art." UCLA. Los Angeles, CA. 10 Apr 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.

 "In-Gallery Performances." The Hammer Museum. Web. 18 May 2016. <https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2016/leap-before-you-look-black-mountain-college-1933-1957/>.

 "R. Buckminster Fuller." Bfi.org. Buckminster Fuller Institute. Web. 17 May 2016. <https://bfi.org/about-fuller/biography>.

 

 "Black Mountain College Museum ." Black Mountain College Museum Arts Center. Web. 18 May 2016.

"The Legacy of Black Mountain College-An Experiment in Higher Education: Interview with Ruth Erickson by David Ebony." Yale RTbooks. 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.