Nature and Architecture

Sometimes the best way to be introduced to something new is by accident. I arrived at the Dude early for a meeting today, and on my way to the escalators, with twenty minutes to spare, I walked past the Dude’s gallery. Seeing bright colors and walls full of pictures, I of course had to walk in. “Affinity of Form,” Stanford Lipsey’s exhibit of forty-five digital images is currently on display in the gallery at the Dude, and it is an eye catching mix of nature and architecture juxtaposed against each other to create a unique sense of the similarities between the shapes and colors found in nature and man-made constructions.

The thing that I found most fascinating about Lipsey’s photography was the way he made photographs of the natural world and architecture compliment each other so well. The way he finds similarities and highlights them in his photography is very cleverly done. One image in the gallery that particularly exhibited his eye for natural elements in architecture is entitled “Like an Eagle.” In this photo Lipsey captures an image of the Milwaukee Art Museum, which has large wing-like structures on the sides of the building. In “Like an Eagle,” Lipsey captured one of these structures from the base of the building so it looks like the wing of an eagle. He took a man-made architectural element and highlighted its similarity to natural shapes by capturing the image from a specific angle. In another image, “Spokes of a Tropical Circle,” Lipsey does the opposite – takes a natural object and makes it appear manmade. In this image, Lipsey took a picture of a palm tree from the base, and made the trees canopy look almost like some sort of ceiling. Specifically, it reminded me of a ceiling in a cathedral. Lipsey’s color combinations are very appealing to the eye as well. Some of his images are very bright, while some are lacking in color. The contrasting colors create a striking visual interest in his exhibit.

Lipsey’s “Affinity of Form” exhibit will be open through Tuesday, November 2, 2010 in the gallery in the Duderstadt Center. It’s a beautiful exhibit, and I encourage you to stop in and look around.