Visit to Dia:Beacon

I really enjoyed the Dia: Beacon Museum and its vast range of works. As a college student studying contemporary art in almost all of my art classes, I have become increasingly interested in this type of art and I really appreciated the fact that I could further explore this field. Unlike some other museum visits that I have taken, I was able to really enjoy the wide open spaces between the pieces of work because I could really take time to interpret each piece. I also enjoyed the feeling of this museum. Almost entirely illuminated by natural light, I felt at peace in this atmosphere. Although I was impacted by a great deal of works in this museum including Richard Serra's large steel sculptures, An- My Le's Trap Rock series, and Sol Lewitt's amazing drawing series, I was specifically intrigued by Bernd and Hilla Becher's exhibit of photography of machinery. Because these photographs had been taken all over the world, each of the photos are entirely different even though they are part of the same category. I was very interested because it seems as if they were produced entirely by hand because they are so unique. Although these objects have specific industrial functions, they serve as magnificent sculptures. I was not only interested in the functions of the machinery, but the designers choices of appearance. This exhibit reminds me of the exhibit that I had seen in the MOMA where there was a set of about 20 different water towers. Even though the towers share the same common purpose, each tower was beautifully crafted displaying its own interesting model. It is apparent that the artist makes specific selections of an ordinary object such as a water tower, but then glorifies the object, therefore creating a sense of appreciation from the viewer. I was also very impressed with John Chamberlain's morphed aluminum sculptures. I must have circled each of these sculptures at least five times each, yet every time I passed by, I found an element to the sculpture that I had not seen before. Although I had seen these sculptures in books, I was absolutely in awe to see that an artist could sculpt with large shards of metal. I really appreciated this work because it was very bright and it kept me coming for more. I love the creativity and ability behind this artist's works.