I watched segments from the videos on Lynda Benglis and ___ as they both dealt with abstract forms. For Benglis, her colorful and blobby sculptures express the technical aspects of painting in a 3D form. I enjoy how her pieces interact with the physical space, as their position in the gallery space molds how the works look. Seeing gravity have an effect on an artwork is always interesting, as an artist typically must choose between accepting their work is impermanent as tautologically essential to the use of material, or lean into the fact that they’re working with that impermanent material. Some of Lynda’s work rides the line: holding the form of something organic, moving, and ultimately impermanent while using a tough material like bronze.
Keltie Ferris’s abstract spray paintings are also very entrancing for me as the blurry edges make interesting plays into perspective and foreground/background differentiation. However, I found most interesting their commentary on what it means to be an artist in the modern era. They express the isolation and guilt they experience sometimes, spending time doing art instead of doing something more “proactively positive directly in the world.” I understand this fear of indulgence and narcissism when creating art; they state, “It’s hard to do something that’s not justified by anything.”