Dan Flavin

I wanted to do my research paper on Dan Flavin, an artist whose work I got to see this summer at the Los Angeles County Muesum of Art.

His art was composed of flourescent lights, and he used entire rooms for it. Sometimes there would be only a few haphazard lights in the corner of the room, but some of the rooms were filled with lines of mesmerising lights.

This art is nothing I'd compare to the art of Leonardo or Michelangelo, but it was interesting, and walking through art is an interesting feeling.

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/reviews/lawrence/Images/lawrence11-16-1.jpg

http://grammarpolice.net/archives/images/flavin_mcgovern.jpg

http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu/images/pageGraphics/whatsnew/flavin.jpg

http://www.swo.de/bilder/2/11042.flavinsmall.jpg

Those were just some of the exhibits I encountered at the LACMA last summer, and at first I was annoyed. With classics like Monet just a building over, why was I bothering with flourescent lights? I don't think that all art can be compared. The types of art differ as much as types of music, and comparing the two would be as difficult as comparing and choosing the better of classical and rap, though I think that argument would have an obvious winner depending on the age group questioned.

Anyway, the reason I didn't end up choosing Dan Flavin as my topic was that there's really not much to be found about him. This is what I did find:

He was born in Jamaica, New York in 1933. He studied priesthood for a time, but ended up studying art while in the military. He attended Hans Hoffman School of Fine Arts and went to Columbia for some art classes.
He was working as a guard at the American Museum of Natural History in 1961 when he started the sketches of his lightbulb art. He spent the rest of his life refining his art and doing lighting commissions, such as Grand Central Station in 1976.

I couldn't find much else about him. Sounds like he stayed out of the spotlight (no pun intended) mostly. Possibly because his art was interesting, a little out of the ordinary, but not absolutely phenomenal. After all, it's lightbulbs.

Anyway, I still find it interesting. The best part was the first picture; the room with the boxes of green lights. The whole room glowed this crazy martian color, and everyone was silent as we shuffled through. It was really eerie, and I think that's why I was interested in him--- his art made me stop and think, even though it was just about how awesome it would be to have a party with lighting like his.