Science and art come together in new Guggenheim Gallery exhibition
Chapman’s Guggenheim Gallery recently unveiled its most recent exhibition, “Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific,” which displays various multimedia pieces that show the forces that shape the world. Here, visitors can witness the unique and interactive merging of the contrasting ideas of both science and art.
The exhibit invites attendees to interact with different works that show how energy, light and sound vibrations and gravitational waves impact daily life. Many of the pieces have been created by both artists and scientists in the Pacific region of the country. The collection of art also ranges from the 20th century to the present day.
Energy Fields is a seminal exhibition in partnership with the collaborators, Fulcrum Arts, a Pasadena-based arts organization focusing on the intersection of art and science.
“Co-presented with Fulcrum Arts as part of Getty’s 2024 PST Art regional event and featuring the work of artists from around the world, ‘Energy Fields’ showcases installations, sculptures and multimedia displays that are connected through their association with the Pacific region, described as a zone of entanglement where these energetic forces resonate amidst the world’s most seismically active continental plates,” explained a press release from Chapman. “Each piece delves into the idea of energy as a dynamic and invisible force that influences not just nature, but human experience and perception.”
The pieces in the exhibition range from minimalist and conceptual work to experimentations in collages of meaning and room-sized installations the visitors of the museum can explore.
One of the central works in the exhibit is David Haines and Joyce Hinterding’s “Telepathy,” a sensory deprivation chamber that allows visitors to think about their physical relationship to sound and vibration.
Due to the large size of some of the parts of the exhibit, some of the bigger pieces are shown in the Packing Plant at Chapman, which is a small walk from the main entrance to the gallery.
“Fiona Shen, the director of the Escalate Permanent Collection of Art and I joined the exhibition team as researchers in 2020, and together with scientists, science historians and exhibition curators from Canada to Argentina,” Marcus Hearse, the director of the Guggenheim Gallery told The Panther. “All researchers contributed scholarly essays to the Catalog Publication accompanying the exhibition helping to shape an intellectual framework for the exhibition.”
Hearse also explained that the gallery also managed the implementation of the proposed exhibition on campus, working with faculty within Wilkinson College as well as other Chapman colleges. They have continued to offer programming around the exhibition and its topics with tours, lectures, artist-led workshops and artist talks to bring the exhibit to the Chapman community.
Many visitors of the gallery have come to ask them questions about why the gallery is highlighting the unique and science-focused exhibition. Hearse detailed why it is important for the Guggenheim Museum to display these works.
“Both art and science are fields that explore and reflect the world around us. By showcasing how creativity and analytical thinking may intersect, the exhibit fosters a deeper appreciation for both disciplines,” Hearse said. “The educational value of science-focused art is significant, as it can make complex scientific concepts more accessible and inspire curiosity in the audience.”
“Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific” can be viewed at the Guggenheim Gallery and is free to the public and Chapman community until Jan. 19, 2025, Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
