The Buffalo AKG Museum right now has an exhibit dedicated to “Op Art”. The museum describes the exhibit thusly:
In the 1960s, electronic media began reformatting the nature of images and how we see. Unlike static paintings or sculptures, video and digital images are dynamic and interactive, made of abstract patterns of information that are manipulated, stored, and shared as electronic signals or numerical bits of data.
At the very same moment, an emerging movement called “Op” (short for “Optical”) took art and popular culture by storm. Op artists use abstract patterns to create optical illusions that are dynamic and interactive, much like the electronic images of the time. Could it be more than coincidental that the curves of Op art resemble electronic video signals, or that its grids suggest pixilated digital pictures? In fact, Op art emerged at the same time as video and digital art, and many Op artists would turn to using these technologies, just as many pioneering video and digital artists turned to Op art for inspiration.
I walked through this exhibit the other day, and it was absolutely fascinating, not just for the art itself, but because it is in many ways representative of the popular art that was culturally prominent when I was a kid. A lot of this stuff was like a time capsule. I already plan to return to that exhibit again. (I took a bunch of photos, but I haven’t edited any of them yet.)
One item was a film by John Whitney Sr. called Matrix III. This was projected on a large screen that was overhanging one of the exhibit rooms. It’s an abstract animation of geometic figures moving around a confined area. Whitney is viewed as one of the pioneers of computer animation, and I have to admit a certain nostalgic feeling for the days of early computer animation, when realism wasn’t even a goal and the whole mechanistic nature of the art was what made it art in the first place.
If you’re local, I strongly recommend this exhibit! It runs until January 27.
