Dan Flavin Lights Up the World
Dan Flavin was an American minimalist artist, specializing in sculptural objects with fluorescent light.
I chose to write about Flavin’s work because honestly, it’s something I’ve never seen before in art. I think that it’s super interesting that he took a different approach in expression. I also chose his work because as an art student, I am immediately attracted to light and color. The way that Flavin placed pieces of light and the fixtures caught my eye and I was instantly attracted to it at MoMa. A lot of questions started forming in my mind as to how he placed each bulb to each other, how are they balancing? Do the lights ever die out?
I think that Flavin’s work is iconic simply for the fact that it’s something that no other artist that we know of has made sculptures out of fluorescent lighting and became successful. Not only did he use light as a focus for his work, he made different forms. Some of the sculptures only use one colorful light, while others use several white lights, so we see a lot of versatility.
As for a pop-culture impact, I feel that Flavin’s work could make a difference. It’s vibrant, bold, and unique. A lot of artists in this day and time, I feel, are craving something fresh, so Flavin’s sculptures could totally impact young people in a good way whether it’s in the beauty industry, fashion industry, and anything else that is visual.
