The Green Room

Here’s another image or two that I captured for you of the very large and dramatic pieces of Dan Flavin. This is from my July visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA’s) retrospective of his work. You’ll recall the two earlier posts here and here. (Click them to enlarge.)

It is easy to dismiss these as very simple coloured baubles writ large, and that would be a mistake. I’m sure that the artist was very aware of one hugely striking thing that one cannot convey in the photographs, and that is the powerful effect the presence of one single striking colour can have on one’s feelings. The intense blue from a previous work I spoke of was remarkable, and then shortly afterward you come to this giant room, and it is simply… green. Green, green, green, green, green…..

…Green…

…And everything is dominated by the green. My companion on the visit was wearing a shirt of a colour that was mostly red-based, and of course this was now completely a different hue (very dark, but not quite black – these are not quite primary colours being emitted, I think, nor worn – also it was not clear what black really was, in that room) – that alone is striking, seeing the person you’re with suddenly have a change of costume, but it runs deeper than that. The strong colour seeps in through the pores, and begins to infect the thoughts. I’m hoping that as you view this post and the two photos fill the browser/screen and maybe dominate your field of view, you might get some sense of it already. I used to do this when I was young – take a colour and fill your field of view and feel it almost take over part of your mind. It is one of the striking aspects achieved by the purest of some of the expressionist painters (to my mind anyway) and these Flavin works, by producing light instead of simply reflecting and absorbing it, help amplify that quality.

It is a powerful effect indeed, and I am sorry that these photographs cannot convey that most important aspect of these sculptures. All the more reason for you to take the opportunity to see one of his pieces when you next get the chance. And hope that the curators have done as fine a job as the LACMA ones did for this retrospective.

-cvj