Event #1: Leap Before You Look at The Hammer Museum

At the Hammer Museum, the exhibition that stood out to me the most was the Leap Before You Look exhibit showcasing the individual pieces of more than 90 students from the Black Mountain College.  While I had never been exposed to this experimental school before, it became very easy to draw a connection between science and art in this exhibition.  The Black Mountain College was founded in 1933 in North Carolina and placed extreme emphasis on the study of art and an interdisciplinary approach. 

 

It is obvious that both science and math were a huge influence upon these students’ art.  Without the use of both, the pieces would not possess the same level of experimentation that enabled this school to produce alumni that would go on to revolutionize the art and science fields. 

I thought the best comparisons in the exhibit lied between math and art, with many similar points that we discovered in Unit 2. For example, throughout the exhibit, music was playing that reflected what was taught and heard at the college.  Music is extremely influenced by mathematical concepts due to the idea of sound, which can be defined as relationship between physics and perception.  I have included a picture below that was on the wall and listed some of the tracks playing at the Hammer.

 

Another art piece that combines mathematics is R. Buckminster Fuller’s “Great Circle Sphere Model” made of aluminum and steel.  These seemingly perfect spheres actually illustrates the basic ideas of geodesic design, showcasing a series complex mathematical calculations to ensure the angles and shapes mimic an atom and support themselves. 

 

I highly recommend this exhibit to any of my fellow students! There was incredible artwork that showcased many of the principles we have learned about in class that put into perspective how connected art and science truly is.