Mark W. Humphries - Journal Two
Gallery as Blank Slate
The Gallery of the
Carpenter Center of Visual Arts at
Harvard University
During the day the gallery is flooded with daylight. At night the space is lighted by track spots.
An artist's installation in the gallery with temporarily tinted widows.
An artist's installation in the gallery with site built temporary walls, which gave the artist complete control of the light. Here we see his use of fluorescent paint and black lights.
Galleries and museum can be thought of in one of two ways. One is to consider the gallery as a blank and neutral space. I call this the "white box", which strives to not compete with the art. Another way is to think of the gallery itself as a work of art to be seen along with (or instead of?) the art.
Consider Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum. Once when asked if his design for the museum got in the way of people seeing the art, Wright responded, that people where not going there to see the art, they are going there to see his museum.
Le Corbusier's design for the Carpenter Center is to some degree a compromise solution. While not a pure "white box", the design does not visually overpower the art as at Wright's Guggenheim.
The lighting scheme is the height of simplicity. There are only two light sources. One are the floor to ceiling window which are shielded from most direct sunlight by the deep overhang of the second floor. The light from these windows tends to be very diffuse and create an overall even and continuous level of light.
All of the electric lighting is done with movable track spots. So the lighting changes greatly with each exhibit. While the exhibits vary widely, the most common type may be the similar as shown in the first photo above. We can call this the classic wall art display, and will be the focus of this analysis.
Flynn Attributes
Visual Clarity/Haziness
There is great visual clarity. This makes sense as the purpose is to see the art.
Spaciousness/Confinement
The space feels very spacious, especially during the day when one can see out the windows.
Preference (dislike vs. like)
Very likable.
Relaxation/Tranquility
A relaxing space, that is if one is comfortable with raw waxed concrete floors and white painted concrete ceilings.
Privacy/Quiet
Paradoxically the space feels private even though it is a very public space.
Modes
Bright/Dim
Bright during the day when the is a large amount of diffuse sun light. More dim at night.
Uniform/Non-uniform
More uniform in the day. More non-uniform at night.
Central/Perimeter
Central for the most part as the art is often shown on the movable partitions within the space.
Warm/Cool
Warm in the day. Cool at night.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment