Hammer Museum: Jeannie Oleson (Event 2 or Extra Credit 2)

From her beginning in the suburbs of Oregon, Jeanine Oleson’s art work has come to capture more than her humble background. She as an artist relishes in creating tangible props that symbolize the subject material she is working with. It’s a combination of both research and video and photography to bring to live these artifacts, usually through sculptures. Conduct Matters, the work at display at the Hammer museum, is a look at copper and its intensive use during the boom of capitalism and afterwards. It combines the resource with art while at the same having a human touch. The instruments and objects, the art, serve functional purposes for humans. The rug which sits plainly in the middle of the room is a reference to modernist abstract painting with its unique design. The videos that were playing on the small televisions were also a product of her creativity. It was an ensemble performance based on copper-related processes. To take something that most people would find boring, copper, and to intertwine it with art to make something with added value points to the capabilities of Oleson. The simplicity of the room added to the overall ambience of the work. And while it was not the first time I visited the museum, it was definitely one of the most informative. 




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