Event #1: Hammer Museum

For my first event, I went to visit the Hammer Museum in Westwood. I had never been to the Hammer museum before, despite attending UCLA for three years. Luckily, I was able to make it out there today, and the exhibits were phenomenal to look at. The two primary exhibits that stood out to me were the Kiyan Williams exhibit and the A Decade of Acquisitions of Works on Paper - Part II exhibit. The Kiyan Williams exhibit was very interesting in its set up, as when you walk into the exhibit, you are almost portaled into another universe. The ground has rippled fabric and shreds and pieces of soot and soil dispersed sparsely throughout, and there are two main visual portions of the exhibit. The first is a statue of a figure with a woman's face sitting  atop it, and the second is a hanging of many different pieces of clay hung in three dimensional space, with two pairs of hands and two faces placed inside, over a reflective material that evokes a similarity to a pool of water. When reading the excerpt on the exhibit, it says that Williams used soil and synthetic hair to comment on the components of blackness. He also uses allusions to poems by Lucille Clifton. Clifton is a renowned poet that uses her poetry to comment on strength and endurance through the lens of the black experience.  Her accolades also include Emmys, a Lannan Literary award and multiple Pulitzer Prize nominations. This exhibit was very experiential and was surreal to take in. 

  

The second exhibit that stood out to me was the A Decade of Acquisitions of Works on Paper - Part II exhibit. There were many very interesting drawings and themes that were touched on and conveyed through paper art. One that stood out to me was Jim Shaw’s “Dream Drawing” (1994). Jim Shaw is known for drawing on popular culture to aspects of temporary society that seem disturbing or taboo. This drawing was of specific interest to me because I always thought dream drawing and dream science was an interesting and under researched concept. According to a Scientific American article, dreams are ways for us to deal with our emotions and subconscious thoughts by manifesting them in stories and images in our sleep. That is a primary reason I loved looking at Shaw’s drawing. It was a direct window into a man’s mind, and if the things we dream are not random, it was interesting trying to find what his emotional and mental state was in order for him to dream the things he dreamed. Additionally, it was very interesting for him to be able to draw these dreams with such detail, as I always felt that it was hard to remember my dreams for very long after I woke up. According to Medical News Today, we find it hard to remember our dreams because of “changing levels of acetylcholine and norepinephrine during sleep”. However, they also provide many other reasons, so there is no one set idea on why it is difficult for us to remember dreams. The Hammer Museum was a very interesting experience that gave me artists perspectives and insights on the world around me as well the deeply personal and human experiences we share. 

Work Cited

Foundation, Poetry. “Lucille Clifton.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 1 June 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lucille-clifton. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.
Jim Shaw - 104 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. https://www.artsy.net/artist/jim-shaw. Accessed 1 June 2022.
Linden, Sander van der. “The Science Behind Dreaming.” Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-behind-dreaming/. Accessed 1 June 2022.
Poets, Academy of American. About Lucille Clifton | Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poet/lucille-clifton. Accessed 1 June 2022.
Why Can’t I Remember My Dreams? 22 Oct. 2020, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/why-cant-i-remember-my-dreams.