Event 3

Film and Textile
This past week, I attended Jeanine Oleson’s “Production of Copper” exhibit at the Hammer Museum.  The exhibit consisted of four parts: a video where four characters explore caves and mines, a TV screen showing the production of copper, a large floor textile, and a clay speaker.  All four of these items are connected by copper wires; however, only the wires between the TV screen and the clay speaker were visible.  The wire was not your typical electrical wire, but much thicker, with around 1/4” diameter.  It was interesting to see the wire actually come directly out of the TV screen, not the back side, with the remainder of the screen working as it normally would.

Unfortunately, I showed up to the longer film that was being shown on the projector with about 5-10 minutes left, so I was unable to comprehend fully what was going on.  I was able to ask some questions about it to a Hammer employee, however, she told me that she had seen the film several times and was still very confused by it.

The clay speaker was my favorite of the four items, as it was quite large in size.  According to Oleson’s background information, the speaker has been used in one of her prior projects.  Titled Figures of Speech and previously displayed in New York, it emphasizes Oleson’s current interest in sound and voice.



Clay Speaker
The abstract rug, located in the center of the gallery, had a grid-structure pattern to it.  This pattern was modelled after the two-dimensional grids used in 3D modelling software.  Its artistic essence comes from the rug’s ability to stretch and compress the grid.

My biggest peeve of this exhibit was the inability to touch any objects.  I understand that art can be ruined by such encounters, but it is difficult to see the abstract value of the rug stretching when I cannot stretch it myself (it was simply laid on the floor).  I also wanted to touch the copper wires, thinking that I could better understand the artist’s fascination with the copper by feeling the large wires produced for the exhibit.  Again, I was instructed not to touch anything within the exhibit.

While I believe Oleson’s work was intended to have deeper meaning, this was not conveyed well, as the Hammer Museum employee working the exhibit was as confused as I was about some of the objects and their artistic representation.  While researching through a brochure and online has helped, I do not feel that I truly gained a valuable artistic experience by attending this event.  It is for this reason that I would not recommend this event to my classmates. 




TV Screen


Selfie with Hammer Museum Employee

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