Event 3 - Orange County Museum of Art

My visit to the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in Newport Beach was a very different experience from my trip to the Bowers Museum. The art was much more modern and there was a large variety of mediums. The scientific sides of  these works were much more evident based on the various designs that were seen. In one of the displays, an artist had attached dried flowers to an electrically run spinning base so that it created a garden that was in constant motion. It was quite eccentric and at first, a little disconcerting, yet at the same time, very beautiful. Another room displayed a video of a woman using her voice to create beats just like an instrument would.

Exterior of OCMA

What I believed to be ceramic tiles actually turned out to be photographs of the tiles all neatly arranged on the wall so that it appeared to be attached to it. It was quite realistic until you looked up close. The Visionaries Galleries contained a series of pictures made out of gemstones. They were arranged to create a separate design for each piece. I also saw a giant bright pink trumpet made out of what appeared to be yarn among other items that were made from fabric. All the actual painted art was very abstract, each picture had numerous different shapes and colors. Often times, the shapes would come together to create a bigger picture.

The Two Galleries of OCMA

I was surprised by how diverse everything seemed and how different it was from anything I had seen before. This class has really helped me see how much art is apart of science as science is apart of art. In our modern world, science has become so important to way that artists think; it is vital to creativity. I am more aware of my surroundings and when I look at something, I often analyze which aspects have scientific or artistic characteristics.

The Orange County Museum of Art is definitely the place to go if you're curious about modern and abstract art. It is most certainly different from what I'm used to but I'm glad to have gotten the chance to see this other side of art. The variety of materials that were used created an atmosphere that made it feel like you were moving forward into a new world. I think we are slowly making our way into an era of art that will include technology much of the time. It is quite inevitable since we are developing new things everyday.