Structural Patterns

Claudia Wieser – a student graphic designer’s wet dream

At Hunter College’s Film & Media Studies program, I teach an introductory production course in visual communication in which I cover graphic design basics, image and text composition, typography basics as well as an introduction to data visualization… The course is a medley of current topics related to visual communication. One of the lectures focuses on layout and the use of the golden ratio in art, design and architecture. As Euclid described the golden ratio: “A straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the less.” We look at examples dissected by Kimberly Elam in her book Geometry of Design. We apply shapes such as the pentagon, star pentagram, the Fibonacci spiral to historical graphics such as the work of the Stenberg Brothers…

Claudia Wieser

Since I cover this sort of material in teaching, I was struck by the work of Claudia Wieser upon entering her October 2013 exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea, NY. Generally, I prefer work that is socially and/or politically engaging, but these galleries presented such a beautiful twist on design elements that I found myself in a visual funhouse. Work is presented throughout the gallery on the walls and floor, not as individual pieces, but rather constellations that speak to one another. The individual elements to the exhibition are simple – geometric shapes cut into mirrors, tiles or wood, graphic elements layered on to classical Western art. She seems to effectively extract the geometric design formulas applied to traditional Western sculpture and painting and then reapply them as sculptural elements to create new visualizations.

Claudia Wieser design savvy installation

Claudia Wieser design savvy installation

Today, I attended Suzanne Lacy’s discussion regarding “Between the Door and the Street” which was interesting and would require its own post. Following the discussion, I went for a quick stroll through the museum and discovered Valerie Hegarty’s “Alternative Histories” – three installations in the period rooms. The Brooklyn Museum’s period rooms have always struck me as precious, spaces that remain intact for the visiting tourist to enjoy, so it was a real surprise to see that the museum would allow a contemporary artist to intervene upon these rooms. It’s particularly surprising as the installations are critical of the history portrayed in the period rooms. Valerie Hegarty tears away at the pristine nature of these rooms that reflect early U.S. Puritanism and a humble nobility, by presenting rooms that are in decay, crows or woodpeckers have entered the rooms and tear away at the objects. The rooms effectively bring to question the heroism of early U.S. history and remind us of the horror that early settlers brought to Native Americans and the natural landscape.