ATHENS, Ga - "I am now sensitive to light because I work with it daily," Spencer Finch said after speaking at the Lamar Dodd School of Arts, Tuesday. Finch, an American artist whose work has been exhibited in museums world wide, said he gets his artistic influence from the sun.
More than 100 people, including art students, professors, and local Athen's residents, gathered Tuesday night to hear Finch's explanations of his unusual works of art. Notebooks in hand, the crowd was prepared to marvel over the artists work. Finch presented a number of his works from past years, and explained how the masterpieces were created and the meanings behind them.
"Of course it makes sense to me, but I have some thought you all might need some help," Finch said as he presented his first piece.
Finch explained that artists should ask themselves, "What is the point and why am I doing this?" For Finch, the questions were easy to answer. Light is his primary focus in his art. Finch is interested in the conscious and the way viewers see his work. Finch uses different mediums but his favorite is light.
The audience gasped as Finch showed a picture of his 2003 work titled, Paris/Texas. The sculpture consisted of stained glass, which filtered the summer light of Texas at midday to recreate the exact light of Paris. While in France, Finch had to measure the exact wavelengths within the light by using a "fancy art tool," then recreating that same light in the studio. Finch's big projects focus mainly on measuring light by using different mediums to portray the light in his exhibits. For example, Finch set up nine synchronized TV monitors facing a blank wall. These monitors were set to resemble the sunset in Finch's hotel room in Monument Valley. The audience was amazed at his creations.
"I feel so lucky because the range I have with my art. Some ideas good and some not so good," Finch explains as he flipped to another instillation.
Color was another point Finch discussed in his lecture. An instillation titled, Colors from My Dreams, portrayed the many colors Finch saw in dreams. "I began to keep a dream book of all the colors I saw. Sometimes I would even wake myself up during a dream because I saw a cool color," Finch said. A main point Finch focused on was how color always comes from the brain. Finch wanted to see how the conscious life could interfere with the unconscious life by trying to interpret why he saw the colors. Finch wanted the viewers to have their own interpretation of the colors.
Sky, Finch's 2004 instillation at Miami Beach, took the aspect of color even farther by using balloons to precisely match the color of the sky over Coney Island. "I bet nobody knew you could blow up one balloon inside another to get a different color," Finch laughed. That was exactly what he did. Finch used violet balloons inflated inside cobalt balloons to create the color of the sky over Coney Island. "I was amazed this is even possible," senior art student Abby Jones said after Finch's explanation.
"I like his (Finch) work because I think I might understand it," Jones explained. "I can not wait to see what he is going to come up with next."
Finch's ongoing project is with the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. With a crew of architects, Finch is currently building a stain glass design, which covers the entire side of the hospital. "My fear is getting sick in Baltimore and the doctors won't treat me because they hate my work," Finch jokes.
As soon as Finch was done discussing his art, students were eagerly waiting to ask questions. "Have you always worn glasses and does it effect the light," Laura Mason, a freshman art student asked. Finch laughed and responded by saying he sees better with his glasses on.
Finch concluded the lecture by saying, "my dream is for people to be as sensitive to color of light like they are to images."
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