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| Image 1: Waiting Laptops, 2016 |
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| Image 2: Waiting Laptops, 2016 |
I attended Judith Hopf's exhibition at the Hammer Museum on Thursday, June 1st. Before attending, I researched her work and was intrigued by the notion she was particularly interested in the influence of technology on our behavior [2]. Throughout many of the units in this course, we have observed this phenomenon, which drew me to visit her exhibit.
Judith Hopf is a German artist whose art work aims to challenge her viewers to "consider current political and economic contexts within which the international contemporary art world operates"[1]. Much of her work also aims to bring liveliness of inanimate objects. She is a keen observer of how humans operate, especially in modern day, and she expresses her views in her artwork. She brings inanimate objects and materials to life and presents them in a relatable form. "She encourages us to slow down, look, and revel in the absurd and the beautiful"[1].
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| Image 3: Waiting Laptops, 2016 |
In her exhibit, there were three paintings of laptops in a series she refers to as
Waiting Laptops. Our modern society runs on technology and most people are lost and are unable to function without it. Through this series of paintings, Hopf emphasizes the immense impact technology has on us, and how it has severely decreased the amount of human interaction. Technology in a sense has made us lazy. Modern technology is an incredible advancement and certainly facilitates communication, however not all for good reasons. People now prioritize using technology for interaction, over face to face interactions. The laptops are "anthropomorphized, sporting faces, hair, legs, arms, and personalized accessories such as shoes, sunglasses, and hats. She painted the laptops in a form to express a "human-machine" hybrids with the laptop representing the curve of the human body and adding other human appendages.
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| Image 4: Myself with 'Hand 1, 2016' |
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| Image 5: Brick-foot, 2016 |
Included in this exhibit were a number of sculptures made from brick which I found to be very impressive. There were two
Brick-foot sculptures, one ball of brick sculpture entitled,
Ball in Remembrance of Annette Wehrmann, and one brick piece entitled,
Personification of a Problem. I've never seen brick in forms other than on a building. Hopf's inspiration behind her brick sculptures stemmed from a known American Minimalist sculptor, Donald Judd. He was known to sculpt with industrial materials in patterns with straight, flat, repeating lines. However, Hopf differs from Judd in that she decided to "carve the material, creating objects that are representational rather than geometric and abstract" [1]. I found that it is this inherent quality that brings vitality to her artwork.
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| Image 6: Ball in Remembrance of Annette Wehrmann |
Image 6, shown to the left, is the
Ball in Remembrance of Annette Wehrmann. Annette Wehrmann (deceased) was a friend and colleague of Hopf's. Wehrmann sculpted soccer balls out of brick and would kick them around a room. Hopf's brick ball on the other hand is completely stationary. After reading and learning about Hopf's style of work, I took this as a message to be reflective of our modern age in a certain sense. Hopf has argued that we as a society have become more machine-like, as revealed through her
Waiting Laptops series. We may be advancing technologically, but this also dehumanizes us in my opinion. We have become robotic and static.
There was a lot I took away from her exhibit with the message she aimed to convey. Growing up in this vast age of technology, I understood the dehumanizing nature she was portraying. I took a step back to reflect, and I realized I often cannot go through a day without technology, so much so that technology, in a sense has become a part of me. The more I use it, the more static I become. In the back of my mind I've known this deep down, but have never acted on it or done anything to change it. I enjoyed the way she sent her message in a comedic, yet realistic form in her art. She made me think about how much of an influence technology has on our behavior and not all for good reasons. She made me think of life before technology and wish I could experience it. What worries me, is we are only going to become more dependent and more static, despite incredible advancements in technology.
Below, are more photographs I took at Hopf's exhibit at the Hammer Museum.
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| Image 7: Brick-Foot, 2016 |
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| Image 8: Personification of a Problem, 2016 |
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| Image 9: Untitled, 2013 |
References:
[1] Ellegood, Anne, and MacKenzie Stevens. Judith Hopf. Los Angeles: Hammer Musuem, 2017. Print.
[2] "Hammer Projects: Judith Hopf - Hammer Museum." The Hammer Museum. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 May 2017. <http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2017/hammer-projects-judith- hopf/#gallery_5c1d7123c5b084e0b43f1039ab4e2dd1259f137f>.
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