The Guggenheim Museum in New York showcased the exhibition, Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow. The focus of this exhibition was to showcase art that was produced post World War II. The focus of this artwork was to start anew after the war and experiment in different types of art. Upon hearing of it, our group (Chris Pun, Elyssa Sur and Tony Chu) decided to go check it out.

The Guggenheim Museum itself was a sight to see. With its six rotundas combined by gradual spiral walking area, the perfect word to describe its architecture would be: complex. The artwork however, was the complete opposite. We found that the art seemed very minimal and simple. As stated in an earlier post, the Zero artists wanted to begin a new beginning for artwork during this time. Their art focused on color, light, movement and certain mediums such as light and fire.

As a whole, our group was indifferent towards the artwork that was presented. Certain sections of the exhibit, especially where light was used as a medium of focus, interested us and we found it very elegant and beautiful. (Otto Piene’s Light Ballet is the perfect example of something vibrant and elegant.)

On the other hand, there were other sections that we did not find very appealing. Certain sections explored color and consisted of one color painted on a canvas. Other sections experimented with movement and vibrations and we just found that very confusing. There was even one piece where it was just feathers stuck onto a canvas. We had a hard time digesting the fact that it was considered as art.

 

Despite the fact that we didn’t find some of the artwork appealing, it was nice to experience this different take on art. Since the artworks didn’t really have a definite meaning, it allows those who view it to put their own take on it. In our case though, we ended up being confused.

– Tony with Pun and Elyssa