The Johnson Museum’s opening reception for its new exhibitions had a really impressive array of art, but what stood out to me the most was definitely Matthew Schreiber’s Crossbow. The exhibit was of a geometrical design created with lasers that occupied the space of an entire room, which was completely dark to enhance the effect of the lights. The moment I stepped into that room, my jaw just dropped, and I could tell that the people coming in behind me had the same reaction. Although I have seen light shows before, like the one we have at Cornell at Homecoming, and artwork done with lasers, there was something about it that was just indescribably captivating. Standing amongst all those lights, I felt I was part of a scene from the movie Tron, or inside of a diagram from a multivariable calculus textbook. Whichever the more accurate analogy, the work of art ultimately inspired a feeling of being in a hidden world of technology, and it was a really cool experience.

After seeing this incredible exhibit I almost had to attend the follow speech by Mr. Schreiber himself, which a really amazing opportunity, after just having seen his artwork. It turned out that Schreiber had been interested in the intersection of art and technology from an early age, and was inspired by the introduction of the laser effects in movies from the 1970’s, including a mention of Star Wars, one of my personal favorites. The amazement generated by new technology and science seemed to be a theme of his career from then on. Currently, Mr. Schreiber said, he has developed a fascination for theoretical physics and philosophy, which often refer to concepts and ideas that are real, but only explainable in abstract terms. Mr. Schreiber commented that one of his artistic goals is to try to capture that paradox and make the theoretical visible in his artwork. I, for one, definitely felt like his artwork evoked the exact ideas, and I am so glad I was able to both see the exhibit and hear his talk.

I took some photos of the exhibit while I was there, but honestly they don’t do it any justice, so if anyone is interested in the exhibit, you have to go see it in person!