Our Friday Field trip last week took DH and me to the Weisman Art Museum at the U of MN campus, Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, it was completed in 1993. The exterior is stainless steel and brick and is situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The art work exhibited inside is as striking as the exterior of the museum.
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Much to my surprise and delight in one of the galleries I found a large installation by Richard Barlow, a former student in the school where I used to teach, a fine young man whose mother, a language teacher, was one of my colleagues.
The inspiration for the art piece is a photograph, Trees and Reflections, by Wm Henry Fox Talbot, 1842. Although he was fascinated by the photographic process, Barlow found that he was constantly referring to a JPEG image of the photograph, which led him to realise that the basic building block of photograph is now the pixel. This insight led him to "Pixelated Promide," made of thirty-six thousand plastic billboard spangles. These "pixels" respond to the moments of air currents.
Striking art, I hope you will show us the outside of the building as well.
ReplyDeleteI like your postings from your field trips.
ReplyDeleteThat is what my husband and I also call our trips now:)
Great post. Wm Henry Fox Talbot was one of the inventors of photography. What better image to explore pixelation could there be? Interesting that you have a connection to the artist.
ReplyDeleteWhat won't they think of next? I also would like to see the exterior of the building situated above the Mississippi...
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing piece of art. I would love to see it in person.
ReplyDeleteI remember trying to find a vantage point to photograph that museum on one of my visits to Minneapolis and I could never find the right place to get a good shot.
The best place is directly across the Mississippi on West River Road, and it photographs differently depending upon the light and time of day. I love that museum!
DeleteIt is eye catching!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty amazing piece of art. I imagine it's fascinating to see movement on it. Very cool!
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