Event 1: Leap Before You Look

After reading the description of the Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957 exhibition on the DESMA 9 website, I knew I had to attend. Upon entering the official website for the exhibition, there is a quote by Josef Albers that instantly stood out to me. It reads "We do not always create 'works of art,' but rather experiments; it is not our intention to fill museums: we are gathering experience." I made sure to keep this quote in mind when I attended the event this past Sunday, and it truly transformed my experience. 

(As you can see, I was very excited to attend this event.)

(Richard Lippold, Sketch for The Sun, 1953.)

Many of the pieces in the exhibition embodied our Unit 2 topic of Math + Art, which was actually my favorite topic covered so far. I was really excited to see all of the mathematics undertones and concepts within many of the pieces, and I made sure to take pictures of the ones I found represented Math + Art the most. I was also excited to know the history behind the combination of math and art, and where it all originated from. I could see the concepts we discussed in class, like geometry and linear perspective, in each of the pieces, and it was awesome. 

(R. Buckminster Fuller, Three Frequency Geodesic Sphere, n.d.)

When one thinks of liberal arts, mathematics is not the first thing that comes to mind. That being said, I thought it was so cool that so many of the pieces from a liberal arts school were filled with mathematics elements. I became even more aware of the significant influence mathematics has on art, and the absolutely beautiful artworks that can be created when math and art are integrated. 

(Josef Albers, Multiplex A, 1947. Josef Albers, Astatic, 1944.)

If you cannot tell from the look on my face in the second picture, I was really happy to be able to attend this exhibition. Not only did I find it to be extremely relevant to the topic of Math + Art, but academia aside, I found it to be very fun and interesting. I would definitely recommend this event to everyone, and encourage them to attend and read about the exhibition on this website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2016/leap-before-you-look-black-mountain-college-1933-1957/#. Whether you are an art lover or not, I believe this exhibition is beneficial to us all. All the pieces come from a rich beautiful history, and all embody the idea that art is much more than what meets the eye. 


















Albers, Josef. Astatic. 1944. Woodcut on Japanese nacre kozo paper. The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, n.p.

Albers, Josef. Multiplex A. 1947. Woodcut. The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, n.p. 

Fuller, R. Buckminster. Three Frequency Geodesic Sphere. N.d. Graphite and felt-tip pen on paper. Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford.

Lippold, Richard. Sketch for The Sun. 1953. Ink and graphite on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.