Event 1: Hammer Museum

Over the past two years, I must have walked past the Hammer Museum at least two hundred times without setting foot past the first step into the building. Venturing into the museum to see the exhibits never really crossed my mind. However, I was ecstatic to see the museum on the list of recommended events because it gave me a reason to finally see what I've been missing.

One of the first things I noticed upon my entrance into the museum were these interesting chairs out in the courtyard. Immediately, I sat down and started spinning around until I was dizzy and felt like I was going to fall over. When I learned that the chairs were part of the Provocations exhibit by the Heatherwick Studio, I knew it had to be the first one I visit.

Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio features a variety of innovative design concepts ranging from small products, such as the chairs above, to large architectural projects. The Heatherwick Studio began each project with a question, such as "Can a rotationally symmetrical form make a comfortable chair?" before designing a prototype in an attempt to answer the question. In creating the spinning chairs, titled Spun, the studio considered ergonomics and geometric shapes to design a chair that could be made using metal spinning techniques. The entire exhibit is an example of the intermingling of math, science and art.

I also visited The Catch by Lauren Bon and Metabolic Studio. The exhibit is based on Lauren Bon's interest in figuring out "how to retain our water and how to send the rest of it out to the sea cleaner" (Bon). The exhibit featured a droning sound with heavy bass which created ripples in the water. The light above the bowl of water in tandem with the ripples created a shadow resembling flowing water. Lauren Bon's The Catch incorporates science by using light and vibration to turn the bowl of water into a lens.

I definitely would recommend the Hammer Museum to anyone. I felt as though I was able to appreciate the exhibits at the museum much more because of the topics covered in this course. I was able to identify the interactions of a variety of disciplines with art through the recommended exhibits.

Works Cited:

[1] Agsten, Allison. "Lauren Bon's "Devices of Wonder" - Hammer Museum." The Hammer Museum. The Hammer       Museum, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 May 2015. <http://hammer.ucla.edu/blog/2015/03/lauren-bons-devices-of-wonder/>.
[2] "Hammer Museum: Photo Credit: Http://hammer.ucla.edu/about/museum_board_and_staff.html." UCLA Life Blog. UCLA, 07 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 May 2015. <http://blog.admissions.ucla.edu/2012/03/07/what-happens-when-800-degrees-meets-the-hammer-museum/hammer-museum-photo/>.