I don’t really “get” John Chamberlain’s Installation at Dia:Beacon; even after reading Dia’s introduction, however, it does remind me of the discussions in Thesis class on January 23rd where Bruce mentioned how classic cars use to be much clearer in the use of materials. E.g. bumpers use to be chrome, or actual chrome plated metal and not plastic? Bumpers were discretely visible from the rest of the body. Google Images

The “Installation View” and the “Union of the Torus and the Sphere” at Dia: Beacon is really a site to see. At first I was hesitant to get close but I did eventually notice a gap between the torus segment and the wall, which I took as a cue that it was ok to into the sculptures… perhaps a bit too subtle? The scale of the sculpture, the texture of the material and a general “cold feeling” gives clues that they are made of iron or steel. The Union of the Torus and the Sphere does not reveal whether or not the segments are solid or composed of sheet metal. There are four more pieces installed in the mezzanine. As I walked into them,…

Walter de Maria’s The New York Earth Room is located very close to the Broken Kilometer in SOHO. Visiting this installation made me think about how broad of a definition I should have for “materials” especially the use of “dirt” filling an entire room/apartment, on the second floor, and all the way up to the windowsill, provokes quite a variety of questions. Why?!What is it suppose to mean?It’s been here since 1977?! Who’s maintaining it? Do they have to weed it? What do the rats and mice of the neighborhood think?The dirt looks loose, when the person maintains it, does s/he sink into the room?Is there really that much dirt? or is it faked? http://www.diacenter.org/sites/main/52 View Larger Map

I have a dislike for museums and art galleries that disallow photos to be taken of the space and artwork. I understand it’s to protect the artwork from being illegally duplicated and sold, however, the intent of any exhibition is to show off the work, then having photos taken of it to be shared with the world should serve as free publicity that draws attention to the artist, the artwork, and of course the museum or gallery. To see a glimpse of what this exhibit about while I comment on it as it pertains to my thoughts and understanding as it pertains to my research, please search “Walter de Maria Broken Kilometer” on Google Images. As described by the Dia Art Foundation flyer, the…

It’s funny that in the three years I lived in the DC area, I never visited the Vietnam Memorial. It’s not that I didn’t want to go, it’s more like I didn’t want to deal with the scores of tourists visitors that frequent the memorials every day. On hindsight, I probably should have tried at 6am in the morning, which, by the way, is the way to see cherry blossoms when they flower. When I heard about the scene where Maya Lin took a piece of glass her size and weight, put it in a plastic bag, and then broke it, I thought that was quite a … strange thing to do. Then, I saw the video, then it made so much more sense.…