Extra Credit Event 1: Timken Museum of Art

      This week I had the opportunity to go to another museum of art at Balboa Park in San Diego, this one was called the Timken Museum of Art. This museum is considered to be one of the greatest small museums in the world. In here, I was able to see many famous artists like Rembrandt, and Rubens. However I was not allowed to take photos inside the museum. The exhibit I found most interesting, and I felt connected the most to Desma lessons we learned were the Futurist exhibit made by El Lissitzky. His graphic art really intrigued me, and I learned so much more about him and his works after researching him after visiting. These geometric and abstract pieces of graphic art represent his comparison to the utopian ideals of Soviet Communism.

Through these abstract paintings he would make with geometric shapes, he referred to them as “prouns.” These were defined as a spatial relationships of his compositions, and they contained a varying perspective. These “prouns” also were considered to be the interchange between painting and architecture. He made strong political statements through his artworks. He believed that the future of the arts was to be integrated, and his “prouns” are considered to be precursors to industrial modern architecture. This integration of painting and sculpture, or architecture, can be paralleled to what we learned in the intersection of art and math. Lissitzky helped show others about this integration of math and art that people today want to follow.

I found one of Lissitzky’s quotes to be very interesting. “The artist constructs a new symbol with his brush. This symbol is not a recognizable form of anything which is already finished, already made, already existing in the world- it is a symbol of a new world, which is being built upon and which exists by way of people.” This shows just how much art can influence and shape lives. Art is a way of innovation and contains much power. In Lissitzky’s work, many times he would use Jewish symbols in his pieces. These symbols would help him promote his Jewish culture.

One of the works I truly found interesting was this proun by Lissitzky, seen in the picture above. This photo lays the foundation for architecture. It shows that math is definitely needed in art. The ideals of mass, space, and color are all needed in order to obtain the best painting possible. I also enjoyed learning how Lissitzky’s artwork was not just aesthetic, but it also had much significance to the politics of the time. I like how he intersected the idea that art can be visually pleasing, but also can have importance and meaning.

Here is proof that I attended the Timken Museum of Art

Citations

"Archiveellissitzky." Archiveellissitzky. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014.

"Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014.

"The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." El Lissitzky Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014

"THE COLLECTION." MoMA.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014.

"| Timken Museum." Timken Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2014.