Spring Break
AVAM's new exhibit reaffirms its place as B'more's finest
Issue date: 10/30/08
There are few places where art lovers and burgeoning scientists alike can find common ground, but The Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy, the American Visionary Art Museum's latest exhibit, provides a Mecca-like outlet for both.
The exhibit, which just opened on Oct. 3 and is planned to stay at AVAM until next September, features works by 50 artists who fused passionate imagination with stalwart mathematic, philosophical and scientific properties like string theory and fractal geometry. In a world in which the concepts of "arts" and "sciences" are forced to remain separate entities entirely, AVAM's exhibit has managed to offer a sense of unity and fluidity that will hopefully appeal to those studying both sides of the spectrum.
The Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy begins with a miniature tour through the history of science and invention, featuring portraits and brief biographies of famous scientists like Albert Einstein and Nikolai Tesla. Many of the great thinkers who are celebrated by the exhibit tinkered with concepts beyond the scope of characteristic scientific and mathematic philosophy; this is a starting testament to the actual works in the exhibit, all of which delve into the unusual and unthinkable depths that are created when the twisted world of postmodern art collides with complex sciences.
The exhibit's most telling piece of artwork, "Cram Guy," was sculpted by former National Institutes of Health bio-medical engineer Dr. Seth Goldberg and consists of a stuffed mannequin sitting at a desk, attempting to simultaneously study for exams in physics, philosophy and history. French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes's famous "I think, therefore I am…" phrase is scribbled above a complex calculus equation on a whiteboard in front of the mechanized mannequin's absent face, an ideal homage to the blend of art and science boasted by the exhibit. Adam Smith's The Wealth of the Nations lies next to a half-empty ketchup bottle, and a back scratcher placed in the mannequin's hand sporadically scratches its worn-out plaid shirt. The sculpture is both humorous and realistic at the same time; to a college student, it might as well be a perfect mirror image of real life.
The exhibit, which just opened on Oct. 3 and is planned to stay at AVAM until next September, features works by 50 artists who fused passionate imagination with stalwart mathematic, philosophical and scientific properties like string theory and fractal geometry. In a world in which the concepts of "arts" and "sciences" are forced to remain separate entities entirely, AVAM's exhibit has managed to offer a sense of unity and fluidity that will hopefully appeal to those studying both sides of the spectrum.
The Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy begins with a miniature tour through the history of science and invention, featuring portraits and brief biographies of famous scientists like Albert Einstein and Nikolai Tesla. Many of the great thinkers who are celebrated by the exhibit tinkered with concepts beyond the scope of characteristic scientific and mathematic philosophy; this is a starting testament to the actual works in the exhibit, all of which delve into the unusual and unthinkable depths that are created when the twisted world of postmodern art collides with complex sciences.
The exhibit's most telling piece of artwork, "Cram Guy," was sculpted by former National Institutes of Health bio-medical engineer Dr. Seth Goldberg and consists of a stuffed mannequin sitting at a desk, attempting to simultaneously study for exams in physics, philosophy and history. French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes's famous "I think, therefore I am…" phrase is scribbled above a complex calculus equation on a whiteboard in front of the mechanized mannequin's absent face, an ideal homage to the blend of art and science boasted by the exhibit. Adam Smith's The Wealth of the Nations lies next to a half-empty ketchup bottle, and a back scratcher placed in the mannequin's hand sporadically scratches its worn-out plaid shirt. The sculpture is both humorous and realistic at the same time; to a college student, it might as well be a perfect mirror image of real life.
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