Carmageddon II be damned! It’s worth fighting the traffic to get to the second annual Art Platform-take the bus, ride a bike, walk… just GO! I had the opportunity to briefly check out the preview on Thursday. Random shots:
I really enjoyed the Bitforms Gallery in booth 109. What I loved about their space was their unique synergy between technology and art. We were captivated by a piece by Marina Zurkow which featured a computer animated landscape that morphs and changes over a 146 hour cycle. A software algorithm of randomized data is displayed on the screen in such a way that there’s no predictable loop of animation on the screen. The piece was a commentary on the environmental impacts of oil refining. Next to the piece stood a miniature haz-mat suit that is a nod to one of the many forms that randomly emerge in the computerized space.
The Bitforms booth was a technological playground, and even I got caught up in Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s shadow box display called “The Year’s Midnight”. The piece is made to look like a mirror where the viewers image is displayed on a screen and a computerized sensor tracking system zeroes in on the eyes and then displays plumes of smoke emerging from the eye sockets. I generally don’t like taking pictures *with* art, but I couldn’t help myself with this one.
In other news, as part of Art Platform L.A., there have been numerous special events offered, and thanks to the graciousness of a co-worker (I work for one of the event sponsors), I had the unique opportunity to finally visit the Broad Foundation and get a peek at some of their collection. How do I begin to describe this experience? It was somewhere between Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and Oz… The Foundation is located in an unmarked building in Santa Monica steps away from the Ocean. The experience was all quite clandestine and surreal, and surprisingly thought-provoking.
Sadly I can’t post pictures, but I learned a tremendous amount from Ed Schad,, one of the curators at the Foundation; if he hasn’t published a book, he needs to consider doing so. He’s a great story-teller and knowledgable without being overtly pretentious. A rundown of the works currently on display are linked here.
Art Platform LA runs through Sunday, September 30th.
Culture Shock Art 