The visit to the Art Museum here at UNM seemed rather routine until one of the women showing us the exhibition mentioned that there was a Sugimoto exhibition just up the stairs. I immediately followed her as she led a small group up the stairs. She flipped on the lights and voila, eight Sugimoto pieces. One of the most striking which I hadn’t seen before is pictured above. As always, Sugimoto’s concepts are incredibly solid, simple, and elegant. From Wired magazine:
“He wields a Van de Graaff generator to send up to 400,000 volts through film to a metal table. The resulting fractal branching, subtle feathering, and furry whorls call to mind vascular systems, geologic features, and trees. “I see the spark of life itself, the lightning that struck the primordial ooze,” Sugimoto says. Although some of the effects happen by chance, the artist does try to exercise control. “I have a kitchen’s worth of utensils that produce sparks with different characteristics,” he says. “But there are many variables — weather, humidity, perhaps even what I had for breakfast — I’m never sure what influences the results.””
It’s such a unique process that creates so much depth and texture. It’s abstract enough to allow the imagination to flourish but contains enough content to allow the audience to attempt to ground it in reality. This hybrid of surrealism and traditional art creates a very unique in-between that engages the viewer beyond anything I’ve ever seen.
jesseheidenfeld 