Event 3
For my
third event, since I sadly wasn’t able to make any of the suggested events, I
decided to stay close to campus and make my way over to the Hammer Museum in
Westwood. This was a perfect place for me because of the great location,
admission is free, and there is so much to see and do there. It was my very
first time going to the Hammer, which is surprising because it is so close and
awesome, but I’m really glad that I was able to explore the museum by myself,
not just for this blog but for my own enjoyment.
As my
first time being at the Hammer, I didn’t expect that there was going to be so
much to do and see. Not only were there about six galleries, but there was also
a restaurant, spinning chairs, and a very large instrument playing itself.
Before walking into any of the galleries I spent some time in the outside
portion of the museum, taking in all that I could. The very first thing I was
drawn to wasn’t the food, surprising, but it was actually the spinning chairs
that I saw in the courtyard right when I walked in. Getting into these
unstable, odd looking chairs was kind of scary at first. I kind of just plopped
down into the circular seat. My first time around in a circle on the chair was
risky because I didn’t know how far back it went. I’m sure I spend a good 15
minutes of my time here twirling around in the chair, and to make my experience
even better, I decided to awkwardly record myself for you all to see.
While
spinning in my chair I noticed some beautiful music coming from the upper
level. When I was finally done having my fun in the chair, I decided to go and
find out where this music was coming from. Walking up and the stairs and
turning the corner I was surprised to see a massive, multi-part Asian drum set look
alike. It was placed in front of a large window, and with the light pouring in
it looked as beautiful and is sounded. The greatest part of it all was that
there was nobody there actually playing this instrument. In the video, you will
be able to see the instrument move on it’s own.
Because
there were so many galleries I chose just two to focus on and really delve
into. The first gallery was named “Living Together Apart”. There were so many
different pieces in this gallery that I couldn’t make sense of it all at once,
maybe not even at all. I was very interested in the art pieces that used many different
components to add to the full effect of the piece.
The very first large artwork that I saw were these yellow,
plastic looking columns. Walking past these columns you are able to see gaps in
between each and then a moment later they look like they are all connected. I tried
capturing this change in this video.
The
next piece of artwork that caught my eye was a portrait that used hair beads to
create the picture. Not only were there many hanging strands of beads but the
different colored beads is what really made the portrait clear. 
Another large artwork that I liked was this
hanging knot that consisted of many different fabrics. Starting ends of the
fabrics were hung from the ceiling and then they all came together to tie a
large knot, with some hanging pieces on the ground. One interesting thing about
this piece was how one strand consisted of hair and hair bands and clips.
The
second gallery that I was lucky enough to walk through was by Marisa Merz,
titled “The Sky Is a Great Space”. I thought this would be a cool gallery given
the topic for this week. Right when I walked in I was faced with huge
sculptures that looked like the works of a transformer. They were structures
made out of metal. They were large yet very detailed. Most of the pieces just
looked like metal, but one specific piece had color spray painted on it. These
pieces looked like hard metal, yet the detailed hundreds of layers made it seem
like the material could have been tin foil. I was so confused looking at these
pieces, but the many layers made me want to count them. 
In this gallery I also saw another work of art that
had so many complicated layers. In this piece, it had the same foil-like layers
that the other pieces had, but they placed a mirror on the ground to reflect
the metal and the light from above. Looking down at the mirror, it was like I
was looking into a kaleidoscope.
Overall,
even though all these works were so different in many ways, what drew my attention
towards each one was how they all used so many small components to create a
large and cohesive piece of work. My first experience here at the Hammer Museum
was great, but might I say there are a lot of workers here watching over the
art. Which is surprising considering this is a free museum. I asked so many
workers if I could get a picture with them, but they all said that they weren’t
aloud to. I almost was able to get one worker to take a picture with me, but
then he backed out. He also questioned why I needed the picture and if my
teacher didn’t trust me, which was funny to me.
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