physics of daydreaming

This was definitely a worthwhile reason for venturing into the rainy day!
I'd had the ticket for the lecture for several weeks.
Other possible outings for this time and date kept popping up, but I persisted in keeping this appointment.
After all, I had a ticket.
And the ticket was a free perk of my annual membership at the Telfair Museum family.
So, why not? I knew nothing about the new exhibit, "State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now", nor any of the artists involved with it. But that shouldn't deter me, right?
I believe you should never pass up an opportunity to learn something new. Who knows? You just might find a new favorite.
If there's anything I've learned by being a volunteer at the Lucas Theatre and a volunteer for the Savannah Music Festival, exploring new art, in whatever form created, is quite beneficial!

So, on this day on which the rain has fallen almost non-stop,
I left my midtown abode for the Jepson Center northside.
Only mildly moistened, I hung out
with the Bird Girl for a while,
then went to explore the exhibit.
Looked like "found art" to me...


In the auditorium, I took my usual seat: front row, right of center.
Jonathan Schipper came to the podium, a big and bearded fellow with a big Western hat leaving his eyes shaded. (Was he shy? Or did that allow him to better see the audience?)
What I discovered, during the course of his talk, is that the man is a physicist.
No, I'm not saying that he is trained as a physicist.
Not at all. I have no idea whether he has ever even had a physics course.
However, he uses a physicist's approach to art.
First, you daydream.
(That is, you sit and think about whatever pops into your head.)
Next, you develop the idea.
(You figure out what concepts could be used to design an experiment or craft a new equation.)
Finally, you build it and hope that it works.
(You perform the experiment or do calculations with the new equation and hope that it works.)
Then you show the world what you have wrought.
(You publish a paper to share your findings with the world.)

How did I come to my conclusion?
Jonathan Schipper talked of several of his former art pieces. "The Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle" featured two classic sports cars, moving inexorably into a hydraulyic-driven crash.
Definitely physics.
And there was "The Inherent Beauty In A Failed Attempt To Reconstruct", showing a broken cup repeatedly, but inaccurately, being repaired.
More physics.
"To Dust", appropriately, featured two human-form statues suspended in just-touching proximity, allowing that mild friction to wear them slowly away.
Physics, for sure.
One of my favorites was "Explosion", though it may have been pretty nerve-wracking to be present when one of the charges exploded without warning! Think of it as Schrodinger's puzzle: all seven boxes are rigged to blow, but you don't know which, if any, may explode in your presence.
Physics, physics, physics!

As you may have guessed, his art is not something designed to exist perpetually. The concept is put together, put into motion, then allowed to self-destruct into .... nothingness, wreckage, scraps.

The piece which is part of the exhibit here is titled "Slow Room". This isn't the first time he has constructed a room scene, but it's the first time he's done so here.
That makes the piece unique.

He designed the room using
furniture and objects
found locally,
as he does in every locale
in which he installs the piece.
That makes this piece
unique to Savannah.




My many thanks for expanding my horizons!
Though the weather had made for a sparse crowd, I think that may have opened the path for a two-way discussion between the artist and attendees. He had encouraged us to ask questions during the course of his talk, and we did. Quite interactive! And the questions had scientific merit, as did his responses.
Not quite what I had expected at an art museum...
Thank you!
Glad I could be at the right place at the right time!
(smile)