Author: erinhaye

In 2015, MoMA opened an exhibit about public interventions at MoMA over the past 75 years. While it is admirable that such a reputable institution is open to being challenged by artists and the public, the exhibit was entitled, “Messing with MoMA,” which I believe downplays some of the significance of the interventions being put on display. For example, several interventions dealt with sexism in art. I struggle with calling these interventions just the public “messing” with MoMA. With that said, MoMA is giving a sort of credit to these interventions for bringing the institution to where it is today. As a whole, I think the exhibit was a really neat and creative idea.

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More information about the interventions that were part of the exhibit can be found here: https://post.at.moma.org/content_items/804-messing-with-moma-critical-interventions-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-1939-now?_ga=2.97520863.1702438378.1576727747-686069336.1576727747

Serra is a Spanish artist whose aim is to capture the ironies and frustrations of modern life. Through his conceptual art installations, he pokes fun at pop culture and calls attention to the most pressing issues of our world today. Though his work is often simple, it is effective in its ability to challenge the status quo we often don’t realize we live by.

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For more about the artist, here is his website: https://ooss.eu/.

Ben Ridgway refers to his mathematic patterned and precise work as “Inner Space Art.” Though most of his animations are abstract, there is often some basis in reality. For example, in his animation “Cosmic Flower Unfolding,” the figures represented are not necessarily flowers as we imagine on Earth, but do evoke a sense of plant-like growth, making it a successful piece of abstract art. More of Ridgway’s work can be found on his Vimeo here.

In February of 2013, Alex Chung and Jace Cooke founded Giphy, the largest American database of short looping videos. Interestingly enough, although the art found on Giphy resembles GIF animations, technically they do not have to be. The two hoped to create a better way to communicate with solely visual media, and they certainly have. With over 200 million daily active users, Giphy is a widespread and powerful database.

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INSA began his career as a graffiti writer, leaving his signature “graffiti fetish” pattern on streets all over the world. As he became more well-known, INSA began experimenting with social and digital media, creating his own “gif-iti” which are animations of graffiti work. This type of work is almost like a paradox, as it is street art that exists only online. INSA has claimed most of his fame through social media platforms, often using them as his only marketing tool. To see more of his work, check out this link!

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There are few brand logos as iconic as Nike’s “Swoosh.” The designer, Carolyn Davidson, created it while still a student at Portland State University. Originally a journalism student, she switched into design after her success with the “Swoosh.” Initially, Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, said of the design, “I don’t love it, but it will grow on me.” Hard to believe after the great success of the brand’s logo. At the time, she was paid only $35 for the design, though she was after given a number of shares in the company. This logo led Davidson to a career of designing posters, ads, and flyers for Nike

I was thinking more about objects on Penn’s campus that have meaning to students, but not beyond that. The LOVE statue came to mind, as it has meaning in the greater Philadelphia area, but less meaning to the rest of the world. I found some interesting articles about the its history and the closeness that people from Philadelphia feel to it.

From the Philadelphia Encyclopedia, “the sculpture commonly known as “the LOVE statue,” first placed in Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Plaza for the 1976 Bicentennial, was not the only sculpture of its kind—by the twenty-first century, it was not even the only sculpture of its type in Philadelphia. Yet LOVE, by Robert Indiana (1928-2018), came to be embraced by Philadelphians and the city’s promoters as a distinctive icon for the City of Brotherly Love.”

Victor Vasarely was a French-Hungarian artist born in Hungary in 1906. In 1928/29 he abandoned medical school and enrolled in an art school that concentrated on graphic design and topographical design. He moved to France in 1930 and began his career as a graphic artist. Despite leaving behind his medical studies, his interest in science continued to influence the style and content of his work, which is often geometric and abstract. Later in life, he began creating sculptures in addition to his artwork. Vasarely passed away in France in 1997. Today, he is regarded as the grandfather of op art, short for optical art. This type of art uses optical illusions, giving the observer the impression of movement, vibrating patterns, or warping. Often times, op art is created in black-and-white, although some of Vasarely’s works include color. To see more of his work, click here.