Event #3- Hammer Museum

Every time I am driving around Westwood, I always happen to find myself passing the Hammer Museum. I have always been interested in what is inside, but never seemed to follow through in actually going inside. However, seeing that I needed to attend 3 or more events, the Hammer Museum was definitely going to be on my lists of places to go. I found myself walking into the gallery of James Welling- "Monograph". His pieces of art were very unique/abstract and it was evident that he preferred using color in his work. I found myself being gravitated towards his art piece called “Glass House (06-09)”. I was in awe by the vibrant colors that were radiating from his photographs and I couldn’t help but get closer to the pictures to see exactly what was happening in the frame. The title of this photograph series explains it all as he photographed a glass house. However, what makes these photographs unique and ones that stand out from many other photographer’s pictures is that he used color filters in front of the lens to enhance the house in the photograph. By adding the colored filter in front of the lens, the glass house appeared to be very animated and lively. It was stated on the information card beside the photographs, that James Welling returned back to the house over 12 times, over the course of 3 years. I find this to be extremely interesting because it illustrates just how much time and commitment he invested into getting these particular photographs of the glass house. 

James Welling's photograph: "Glass House"

By simply adding the color filter in front of the camera lens, James Welling intended on capturing the line between what he says is, “real and imaginary”. After studying these photographs it is evident that he executed his intentions. Welling’s used his knowledge of optics to enhance and show the different amounts of light that was present in the different photographs of the glass house. Each photograph had the same glass house, however each one had a different color filter and appeared to have various amounts of light in each image (This is shown below in the two images). 

 

 

James Welling’s gallery was one that I enjoyed walking through and looking at the different and abstract photographs that he took. It is always entertaining when the image captivates your attention and makes you think about what the image is/what it is about. Welling’s gallery was not like any other that I have been to before because of the bright colors that radiated off of the photographs. Welling was able to capture abstract images and designs and visually express them through his photographs.

Sources: (No pictures were allowed at the gallery)
Image #1: James Welling. Glass House. http://jameswelling.net/projects/14
Image #2: James Welling. Glass House. http://jameswelling.net/projects/14 
Image #3: James Welling. Glass House. http://jameswelling.net/projects/14