Wednesday, May 6, 2009
dia:beacon
My excitement rose exponentially as we pulled into Dia:Beacon (after driving 3 hours, who can blame me?). The setting was pleasant and the lake and weather helped boost my mood. I was pumped. I’ve never heard of this place before but it seemed like a cool way to spend my day. I had looked it up on the Internet the night before and there were a few exhibitions I really wanted to check out. Before I talk about the artwork, I wanted to comment on how nicely the museum itself was laid out: they clearly took care to make it spacious and open and bright. I hate when museums are cramped and dark. That environment really added to my enjoyment of the day. Or maybe it was because me and Adriana spent a significant time talking to one of the cute guys who worked there.
The last piece that I found very effective was Michal Heizer’s North, East, South, West. Obviously they wouldn’t allow it but I felt this incredible anxiety to walk up to the edge of these massive inverse structures. His use of negative space, especially at such a huge magnitude, is thought provoking. Really, his artwork is nothing. He is presenting to the viewer a whole lot of nothing. This void, absence, is really the centre of his artwork. If a void can be a material, he monopolizes it. I would have loved to see it from 2 or 3 stories up, so I can look down onto it. These structures are TWENTY feet deep. That’s four Darcies! That’s absolutely insane!
Jean Chamberlain's work is another that I thoroughly enjoyed. His work has this personal and candid atmosphere to it. It seems to say “this is what I felt like doing now” and so, he did. The Privet is notoriously awesome. It’s massive scale and unpredictable twists keep the viewer locked in on it. It’s loud and ostentatious with it’s bright colours, but the ribbon twists and metal material make a nice triple juxtaposition (is that possible? Color shape and material can make a triple juxtaposition?) What makes this effective artwork is the way Chamberlain takes everyday elements— colored metal— and transforms them into new and exciting conjunctions. It’s fresh and different. It’s uniqueness makes it a key part of contemporary conceptual art. The last display that sticks out in my memory is Gerhard Richter’s Six Gray Mirrors. The massive size of each one combined with the significant space of the room had a powerful effect. Standing in the middle of the room, I felt the presence of negative space. This hybrid between glass and rock was semi transparent, and the reflections of the viewer in a murky depth was a great effect- seeing oneself this way isn’t what we’re used to. The full “me” wasn’t there, as in a clear mirror. I also like how in effect, you can never view this same piece twice. The combinations of lights and angles will always reflect something new- and the fact that there is six of these reinforces that idea
The last piece that I found very effective was Michal Heizer’s North, East, South, West. Obviously they wouldn’t allow it but I felt this incredible anxiety to walk up to the edge of these massive inverse structures. His use of negative space, especially at such a huge magnitude, is thought provoking. Really, his artwork is nothing. He is presenting to the viewer a whole lot of nothing. This void, absence, is really the centre of his artwork. If a void can be a material, he monopolizes it. I would have loved to see it from 2 or 3 stories up, so I can look down onto it. These structures are TWENTY feet deep. That’s four Darcies! That’s absolutely insane!
Jean Chamberlain's work is another that I thoroughly enjoyed. His work has this personal and candid atmosphere to it. It seems to say “this is what I felt like doing now” and so, he did. The Privet is notoriously awesome. It’s massive scale and unpredictable twists keep the viewer locked in on it. It’s loud and ostentatious with it’s bright colours, but the ribbon twists and metal material make a nice triple juxtaposition (is that possible? Color shape and material can make a triple juxtaposition?) What makes this effective artwork is the way Chamberlain takes everyday elements— colored metal— and transforms them into new and exciting conjunctions. It’s fresh and different. It’s uniqueness makes it a key part of contemporary conceptual art. The last display that sticks out in my memory is Gerhard Richter’s Six Gray Mirrors. The massive size of each one combined with the significant space of the room had a powerful effect. Standing in the middle of the room, I felt the presence of negative space. This hybrid between glass and rock was semi transparent, and the reflections of the viewer in a murky depth was a great effect- seeing oneself this way isn’t what we’re used to. The full “me” wasn’t there, as in a clear mirror. I also like how in effect, you can never view this same piece twice. The combinations of lights and angles will always reflect something new- and the fact that there is six of these reinforces that idea
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