Monday, September 14, 2009

Contemporary art, Assign 1


























(image is from http://www.minnpost.com/artsarena/2009/04/24/8328/review_the_quick_and_the_dead_at_the_walker_plays_on_the_romantic_legacy_of_conceptual_art

Harold Edgerton's Atomic Bomb cicca, caught my attention, it is a gelatin silver print from 1952. As a viewer I can assume from the title that it is a real life depiction of the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb. This assumption with the image, allows the us to realize what it is and why it looks the way it does, bringing even those who have just read of the event into the true story.
The image is striking and brings the eye around and into the form itself, like that of a
spiral, while holding its abstractness. At the left outside center of oval, that the cloud makes, there are lines suggestion that the cloud is enveloping its self; this personally reminds me of a shell. The contrast of the white and grays of the cloud and the deep black background creates amazing positive and negative space. Personally this deep contrast is an attribute I have always enjoyed in art.
Unfortunately because the cloud is so big, there is very little that can be seen, making it difficult for the viewer to imagine the full size and scale of the cloud; while, what is there is difficult to understand what it is ("it could be trees or bushes?).

1 comment:

  1. I enjoy the thoughts you have going on here – but it is really hard to read given all the grammatical issues you have! Did you read this before you posted it? I love what’s being said and the image, so please don’t let something like a few serious typos get in the way of seeing how good you really are. Edit this piece and you’ll have a fantastic little piece here.

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