Event 2 - LACMA

Despite having lived in LA for more than seven years, I have never actually gotten the chance to visit LACMA, so when the museum appeared on the listing of events we could attend for this class, I jumped at the opportunity. As it turns out, LACMA actually has something they call the “Art + Technology Lab,” which “pair[s] artists with technology companies in Southern California” in order to support “artist experiments with emerging technology” (LACMA). Of course, this sounded like a perfect place to go for this event blog, so I made a trip there on May 31, 2015.

There were many inspiring and amazing displays, but given the word limitations for this blog, I will talk about one in particular: Newton Harrison’s Installation for Art and Technology. This display was part of LACMA’s original Art and Technology program from 1967-1971, and today’s display shows images of the installation process of the exhibit, as well as the finished product.

Figure 1. Harrison and Ray Goldstein from JPL work on the exhibit.

  Harrison worked with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA-affiliated research center, to design and build an installation of Plexiglass tubes that show the effects of glow discharge. Glow discharge describes the “light effect that occurs when electrical current passes through gas, causing it to break down into plasma and glow in different colors” (LACMA). Glow discharge is essentially how the ubiquitous glowing neon signs in storefront windows work. This resulted in twelve-foot-high columns of continually fluctuating color and intensity. He also hid all of the supporting infrastructure (wiring, tubing, etc.) either under the floor or behind false walls so as not to distract viewers from the glow discharge columns.

Figure 2. Construction of the exhibit.

I believe that this display is a great example of the combination of art and technology that we have been discussing all quarter, particularly the Space + Art unit. It shows how simple chemical reactions can be made into beautiful and educational works of art.

Figure 3. The completed exhibit.

Works Cited

"Art Technology Lab." Art Technology Lab. Web. 6 June 2015.

"Art and Technology in the Archives at the Balch Art Research Library | Unframed." Art and Technology in the Archives at the Balch Art Research Library | Unframed. 7 July 2014. Web. 6 June 2015.

"Glow Discharge." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 6 June 2015.

Salsac, Lydie, and Thomas Nelis. "Glow Discharges." GlowDischarge.com. Web. 6 June 2015.

Scott, Gail R. "Newton Harrison." Media Arts and Technology Graduate Program. University of California, Santa Barbara. Web. 6 June 2015.