Andrew Deitrick 4/21

Visual Sound
I had not been to the Peninsula Fine Arts Center before our class took a trip there. While I really enjoyed the Ansel Adams pictures and the constructed environments, the thing that caught my eye the most were the R.G. Brown photos. As we walked up the exhibit, I couldn't help but realize how everyone noted their confusion or lack of understanding in the pieces of art. After reading a little about Brown, I've come to the conclusion that his art isn't meant to be understood or logical, its purpose is served by illustrating an abstract thought. While this may go unsaid about much of art as a whole, it is difficult to see Brown's work for what it truly is, which ultimately makes it difficult to see it as art.
Brown is more of less painting a picture with sound waves. He uses computers and machines to construct his graphs and pictures, but we are ultimately seeing sound. The object Brown builds to embed is a huge part of the final product. When he is planning his construction, Brown is trying to keep in mind what the object is going to "look" like to his machines. His construction is focused mainly on the visual appearance of sound waves. A list of a few things Brown is currently working on can be found here.