With yellow hues, mystic aluminum fragments and specular shapes, the otherworldly exhibition “Open Sky” at the Benton Museum of Art compelled students and residents in Claremont into an existential reckoning within our rapidly advancing scientific world.
Illuminated by glowing letters that read “Seeing through the eyes of gods, you have mistaken yourself for him,” the cosmic installations of featured artists stand in conversation with each other, acting as the gateway to the immersive experience of “Open Sky.” As put by curator Kris Kuramitsu PO ’93, the works beg the question: what happens when we look up?
“Open Sky” debuted on Aug. 15 and will last through Jan. 15. Kuramitsu’s curation centers around the intersection of art and science.
“[It is an] alignment between human and celestial,” Kuramitsu said during the exhibit’s opening reception panel on Sept. 7.
The exhibit displays a series of installations, video art and sculptural pieces by Xin Liu, Agnieszka Polska, Marcus Zúñiga, Alexandro Segade and Malik Gaines. Each artist has unique relationships to aspects of our world like nature, light and the universe, which are highlighted in their individual pieces. Some offer nods to the climate crisis and others display spiritual devotion.
Liu said her background as an engineer heavily influences her art. She explained in the opening reception panel that her initial interest with the celestial came partially from tracking satellite images and orbital photography, which require both equipment and expertise.
“I started as an engineer basically because I was a student who was good at math and physics. Art later came into my life because the pure pleasure of creating got me quite addicted,” Liu explained in an interview with Art21.
Zúñiga, also an engineer and artist, used astronomical theories as the foundations of his sculptures. He took inspiration from the structure of an optical telescope for his piece “Seeing Environment.”
Simultaneously, he embedded his own spirituality and sense of place.
“My focus … has been mirrors and the primary mirrors of [the] major [observer] and telescopes … which has produced a lot of … work that’s using sunlight as an important material in the work to create alignments in the earth and the sky,” Zúñiga said in an interview with 516 Arts.
He structured this observatory-like installation so that the piece changes depending on where the viewer is positioned. One questions not only how their environment impacts them, but how they impact their environment. He described the objects he chose as the focal point of his telescopic or mirrored installations as “sacred objects.”
“[It is an] alignment between human and celestial.”
Especially within the realm of academia, art and science can often be thought of as polar opposites, and at the 5Cs it can be difficult to look past this dichotomy. The exhibit shows that an artistic approach to a scientific experiment can help strengthen findings; similarly, applying scientific theories such as climate change to artwork may help viewers resonate more closely.
Liu explained how her artistic vision for her recent pieces emerged after she developed an intimacy with her scientific pursuits during COVID-19. Liu found beauty in her fascination with rocket debris in China. After the rocket fragments disperse in open land, they are quickly cleaned up within 24 hours, which makes it very difficult to locate them quickly enough.
However, the process was rewarding. After being acid-washed and reconfigured, the sculptural rocket debris are now displayed atop a mirrored surface, reflecting new dimensions back to the viewer. This exemplifies a larger theme in Liu’s work: a yet-to-be-revealed story that requires the viewer to alter their perspective, just as Liu did when instead of looking to the rockets in the sky, she looked down at its disemboweled remnants.
Everything can be found, produced and rendered within minutes thanks to today’s advanced technology. The artists’ works encourage audiences to embrace the unknown and extract meaning from things that may initially be confusing and disorienting.
This message is reminiscent of Liu’s journey finding these scattered rocket debris. By slowing down, amidst classes, clubs and obligations, one can derive a more meaningful explanation for where they belong in the world around them and how one can make conscious choices to uncover non-dominant narratives.
One of the first installations questions individuals by presenting a person who mistakenly believes they are a god – convinced that they are responsible for the creation of everything around them. The person reorients themselves, recognizing their place as a being in harmony with all that is and all that will be.
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