Our Children: Tang Da Wu 2012

This exhibit caught my eye because it’s design and industrial aesthetic instantly made me think of the Boston Dynamics Spot robot dog. But looking further into this makes me think of the timeless tradition of respect for one’s parents. There is a glass of milk on top of the larger being that no doubt, represents the parents’ ability to provide for their children.

Two shakes, a tick and a jiffy,  Julieta Aranda 2009

The exhibit features a modern looking clock, which doesn’t display time in hours, but in base-10. I thought this was absolutely hilarious because I had a confusing experience regarding base-10 time when I was logging my hours for an internship I was participating in last year. What is really interesting is that the second hand ticks according to a recording of the artist’s heartbeat over the course of a day. So some of the “hours” will be longer than others, depending on the artist’s experience.

Das Beste oder Nichts: Danh Vo 2010

Meaning “The Best or Nothing,” the title is one of Mercedes Benz’s most famous slogans. The engine and transmission are from a Mercedes Benz 190 that the Danh Vo’s father owned, and subsequently left behind when fleeing Vietnam as a refugee. As an engineering major, have a fascination over complex pieces of automotive engineering and I think there is a great deal of artistry involved in producing each of them.

Sweat Glands, Sweat Lands:  Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla 2006

This is 2 minute long color video of a pig carcass, skewered over a fire, attached to the rear axle of an old sedan. The absurdity of the exhibit made it stand out in my head, as I instantly thought about the cyberpunk sci-fi genre. The dystopian, and almost surreal nature of the video is something really unique, that I’ve only experienced in viral Eastern European dash cam recordings.

The Treachery of the Moon: Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook 2012

Immediately, what jumped out to me was the bright yellow tungsten lights rippling on the wall. This looks very similar to the cinematographer Roger Deakins’ work in the film Blade Runner 2049, in which he suspended a massive rig of tungsten lights suspended from the ceiling, reflecting off bodies of water to create surreal yellow rippling lights on set.

Sam (Ground Zero): Ryan McGinley  2001

I’m a sucker for film photography, and that’s why I have 3 works from Ryan McGinley featured on here. My best guess about this image is that it is of a young man riding his bicycle at ground zero on September 11th. I like the photojournalistic feel of this image, with its unmistakable film grain. The heavy vignetting on the corners, the blurred background and moving subject create a real feeling of chaos and tunnel vision in the catastrophe that was 9/11. And it only felt right to include a tribute to that event, on the 19th anniversary of 9/11

Untitled (Morrissey 16): Ryan McGinley 2006

Another film photograph by Ryan McGinley on here. This was taken at a concert, with young people idolizing the performers at the front row. The aesthetic of the image immediately caught my eye. I remember shooting a roll of film of my friends at Coney Island that reminded me of the same aesthetic. I messed up my developing and overdeveloped it, leading to blown out highlights, massive red/blue color shifts and a heavy white haze along the top and bottom of the frames. It makes for a very interesting and unique aesthetic, similar to light leaks, but it’s also the sign of an incompetent darkroom specialist.

Untitled (Morrissey 6): Ryan McGinley 2005

Okay, last film photograph, I promise. As far as I can decipher, this was taken at the aftermath of another concert, with plastic bottles and papers strewn across a black stage floor. I also see some of myself in the subject, especially because he is wearing my favorite winter jacket: an M65 field coat. The colors really caught my attention, with blue hues that make it look like it was shot on tungsten balanced film, like Cinestill 800T. Very cool shot.

Pan de Azúcar: Federico Herrero 2014

When I first saw this painting, I immediately laughed out loud, thinking, “this is absolutely a money laundering scheme. This made me think of an AI software written by NVIDIA, which would attempt to turn abstract images like this, into near photo-realistic images of landscapes. I attempted to reverse-engineer a landscape photo of Pan de Azucar using this software, and the result was even more hilarious, a strange bulbous outcropping from a nonsensically flat ground. Apparently, the artist was trying to capture the “soul” of the mountain, but I don’t see it.

Drinking Song: Donna Conlon and Jonathan Harker 2011

This is a 2 minute video in which the Star Spangled Banner is played on Panamanian beer bottles and cans, shot in the style of a beer advertisement. This is a slightly goofy critique of American imperialism, one that reminds me of the music video for Rammstein’s “Amerika,” in which indigenous people around the world are all seen chanting “we’re all living in America!” as footage of a faked moon landing plays, along with imagery of consumer culture.