Artist Lecture, Spencer Finch

Like a fair amount of the lectures that I go to I generally have no prior knowledge of the artist. I actually prefer this because most of the lectures are a retrospective of what the artist has done up until this point. The down side is since I do not know what to expect I sometimes write the artist off to quickly when I see their early work. This was the case with Spencer Finch, but fortunately all of my very premature notions about him were completely false and I ended up thoroughly enjoying both him and his work.

I'm always drawn in by an artist that clearly deeply loves his work and puts countless amounts of physical labor into each piece. I'm also very interested in the new wave of 'art scientists' so to speak, like Finch and Mark Dion. It's inspiring to see someone who is very interested in a solid science or mathematical subject and be able to turn it into beautiful and meaningful art. This first became clear to me when he explained the piece where he translated the scientific theory into a color language. It was the perfect mix of science and art, a theme that would run through all of his pieces.

The piece that really intrigued me the most were the light bulbs that were in the formation of atoms of the light of night sky. The fact that you could easily walk by them and not even notice them, writing them off as a simple sculpture made it all the more interesting. I respect that he creates these pieces knowing that a large portion of his viewers will not know the meaning, or even think twice about the purpose. This is something that I often struggle with and it is liberating to see that someone with such abstract and difficult to understand concepts can be so successful. The research and experimentation that goes into each of his pieces is incredibly intelligent and inspirational. So glad I went!