Colin Galbraith Event 1 blog

On April 21st, I attended Rita McBride’s: Particulates exhibition at the Hammer Museum. I'll briefly share my experience and videos/pictures I took, as well as my interpretation of the piece and how it helped me appreciate topics from class- particularly math and art. 

First, I want to talk about the artist -Rita McBride. Before coming to the Hammer Museum, I researched Rita - a contemporary artist known for exploring the intersections of art and architecture. Using her unique style of mixing harsh lines with some or no soft curves to make striking pieces that often exist in public spaces (“Rita McBride”).

Explorer by Rita McBride

Public Tender by Rita McBride.

The Particulates exhibit was a great display of her style. It explored the relationships between space, light, and sound. The piece spanned the whole room and used laser beams to create a rotated hyperbolic parabola. Sprinklers constantly misted water onto the beams, visually emphasizing the light and spontaneously creating sound when the water droplets condensed and hit the puddle on the floor. While seemingly insignificant, the addition of the water made me appreciate the piece much more, as I would often find myself lost admiring how technically complex the piece is but also how it was a simple shape, to be pulled back to reality with a loud splash. 

Video of Particulates Exhibit.

Me at the Hammer.

Me outside the Hammer.

The exhibit has influenced my ideas for the midterm; it has given me a new perspective on the role of space in art and architecture. McBride's works showed me that a space's design can profoundly impact how we experience art. In a YouTube interview about the piece, McBride said that she used the sprinklers to highlight the dust particles that pass through the laser beams and activate the geometry. The effect creates a fourth dimension in the art (Henderson 206). I will try to couple this with math and vfx, maybe discussing how this type of sculpture invites viewers to pause and watch the sculpture change in front of their eyes (“Rita McBride: Particulates”). 

Overall, I would highly recommend the: Particulates exhibition to everyone! You can check out some of the other exhibits if you have time! 

References: 

Galbraith, Colin. Colin Galbraith at Particulates Exhibit. Jpg, 26 Apr. 2023. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

Galbraith, Colin. Me outside the Hammer. Jpg, 26 Apr. 2023. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

Galbraith, Colin. Video of Particulates Exhibit at Hammer Museum.Mp4, 26 Apr. 2023. 

Hammer Museum. “Rita McBride: Particulates.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Apr. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0mD0qqdvJM. 

 Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 3, 1984, pp. 205–210. 

“Rita McBride.” Alfonso Artiaco, https://www.alfonsoartiaco.com/en/rita-mcbride/statement.html. 

 “Rita McBride: Particulates.” Hammer Museum, https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2023/rita-mcbride-particulates. 

“Rita McBride at Wiels, Brussels.” Contemporary Art Daily, https://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/project/rita-mcbride-at-wiels-brussels10785.