Contemporary Art Topics: Light, Matter, and Being
How do we feel and experience “light” as a matter of being through an environmental and conceptual context? Where do we perceive it in the world and in acts of making and creation? The theme for this season of Swiss Institute’s Contemporary Art Topics is centered on ligh, both how we perceive it from light sources and
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how it manifests in gravity, air, matter, architectural space, movement, embodiment, mental states, spirituality, and other aligned aspects of existence. Artists such as Robert Irwin and Dan Flavin famously pioneered the use and play of light sources in American contemporary art. Others, like Rosemary Mayer and Maren Hassinger, developed works that physically and conceptually convey a sense of light through gravity and movement. Through art making, observation, and sharing, we will investigate these concepts deeply, connecting them to our personal experiences and reflecting upon how we might manifest light in our lives, our practices, and in the world. We will look at a diverse range of contemporary artists, including Robert Irwin, David Lamelas, Jonathan Boskovich, Senga Nengudi, Maren Hassinger, Christine Sun Kim, Kelly Akashi, Melvin Edwards, and Rosemary Mayer, among others. This class is facilitated by Lead Educator, Julia Norton.