Staff Show 2017: Ann Lipscombe

In this series, Manager of Visitor and Family Engagement Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2017 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 17, 2017.

Ann Lipscombe, Pure Looking At (2017)

Ann Lipscombe

Ann Lipscombe

What do you do at The Phillips Collection? Are there any unique or interesting parts about your job that most people might not know about?

I’m the Digital Associate! I do a lot of videography and graphic design, but my job mostly consists of producing motion graphics for our social media.

Who is your favorite artist in the collection?

Piet Mondrian, Phillip Guston and Alex Katz.

What is your favorite space within The Phillips Collection?

My favorite spot in the Phillips is the main stairway in the museum. I think the curators are always really clever with what they do in such a tiny and often overlooked space. Sometimes they have our small works by Calder there, which is my favorite spot for them.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2017 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

My work is exploring the relationship between Western and alternative medicine. The drawing itself conflates medical and natural imagery to form an almost ouroboros shape. I’m encouraging the piece to be interpreted through the Hegelian Method, which is referenced in the title of the work.

The 2017 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 3 through September 17, 2017.

Shrinking Giants

Image of Edward Burtynsky's Oil Spill #2

Can it translate? Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #2, Discoverer Enterprise, May 12, 2010, 2010. Chromogenic print.

According to Wired.com’s Raw File blog, Edward Burtynsky‘s massive photos from his Oil series, often overwhelming in scale, will now be available in an (itty bitty by comparison) iPad version. Raw File’s Jakob Schiller asks a good question: “How would these prints translate to a backlit viewing platform smaller than a sheet of office paper?”

The answer, at least according to Schiller, is mixed. Though the iPad version may lose some of the drama and awe, interviews, videos, and maps enhance the experience in a way that might be missed on a gallery wall.

But isn’t Schiller’s question just a variation on the same one we’ve been asking ourselves since works of art started populating digital platforms? It’s my personal opinion that, rather than something being taken away, online versions of any work of art make the face-to-face interaction with the piece all the more compelling and meaningful.

You don’t have to agree with me. Examples of Burtynsky’s giant photos will be featured in Picturing the Sublime: Photographs from the Joseph and Charlotte Lichtenberg Collection, on view at the Phillips Oct. 11, 2012–Jan. 13, 2013. Bring your iPad and make the comparison.

Amy Wike, Publicity & Marketing Coordinator