There are very few words to describe the experience of walking into a home that is brilliant, thoughtful and incredibly well-designed. I can’t express enough gratitude towards the people who have made it possible for me to see some of John Lautner’s homes in person – two of them on my first day here. Out of respect for the privacy of the owners I won’t go into detail here or post the photos I was lucky enough to take. It was at time overwhelming to walk into these homes and see the breathtaking view first hand, to feel the warmth of the interior, and fully understand the experience of the indoor/outdoor connection Lautner believed in. As I wandered around these homes I felt like I was in a museum, and the owners were so kind to let me wander like I was in a museums. I think I said the word “incredible” a million times today. For some reason that was what kept coming out of my vocal chords.
I also spent the morning/afternoon at the Getty Center viewing the wonderful Julius Shulman photo archive while narrowing down the focus of my research. Since I’m hoping to depend heavily on photography for the exhibition, seeing what is available first hand was immensely helpful. I’ve narrowed it down to about 8-9 structures, spanning Lautner’s entire career. Tomorrow I’ll view the drawings, etc. from the specific structures. I’m sure it will prove to be even more helpful.
I got so caught up at the research library with the photographs that I ran out of time, sadly missing the Irving Penn exhibition. We were lucky enough to have a Penn photograph on loan from the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College in a 2008 show, UNITED in Art. I am very interested in his non-fashion work – I find fashion photography akin to eating ice cream. Enjoyable, but in small doses. The Getty exhibition focuses on a series of images Penn did in the 1950s, which are portraits of people (everyday working folk) holding tools of their trade. They are photographed as typologies, almost scientific portraits documenting working class labor. The more I think about this, the more I may just have to go back and see it.
