Intern Review: Langley Spurlock's Secrets of the Elements 3

Denise Valdez, one of Studio Gallery's interns, wrote this review of Langley Spurlock's newest exhibition at Studio Gallery. The show comes down November 19th! Be sure to come by and see it. We have two receptions left; one this Saturday at 4 and a closing reception on the 19th at 4.


Langley Spurlock's "Californium 98"

Secrets of elements 3: Dark Matters by chemist-turned-artist, Langley Spurlock, is an exhibition of the periodic table turned to art with history behind each piece. This show is an exhibition made for everyone to enjoy and learn something as they see the piece. Pieces such as Tungsten 74 is a light bulb piece that is lit with the lines written by poet and partner John Martin Tarrat, "That's it last flicker end of light as we know it hanging from a thread you gave such a lovely glow nightly night Tungsten sweet dreams". This piece with its beautiful lines flowing down gives the viewer a sense of why we needed this element; without it we would not have incandescent light bulbs. What better way to show off this element with a lit piece such as this.

On the other side of the spectrum we have the Thallium 81 piece in which gives the back story of how Thallium is a toxic element that caused death. This element is tasteless and odorless which made killers favorite it as a form to kill people. Spurlock uses this story and incorporates it in his piece by using the color blue in his piece because the only antidote to this deadly element was Prussian Blue (a type of blue) and writes on top of the pieces that it was poison. Pieces like Californium 98 and Xenon 54 are both pieces that are fun to look at. The Californium piece made with a skateboard and the Californian flag makes it an interesting piece to look at. The Xenon piece made to look like a rocket in purple lighted form is another fun piece to look at because of its unique forms. This gives the viewer a way to automatically know that this element is used in rockets that propel through deep space.

The exhibition is a fun way of learning what each element does and can do while looking at it through Spurlock's perspective. These pieces are educational, bright, fun and well thought out. For all age groups this is also a fun way to teach the younger audience about the periodic table without being in chemistry, or just remind yourself a little about science.