Event 1: Moment of Reflection

 On April 19th, I attended the event "Moment of Reflection" in the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA. Chancellor Gene Block explained the space to be a space that one can come to reflect on rough past couple of years and be able to be hopeful for the future years to come. 

The start of the ceremony.

At the event, Refik Anadol's "Machine Simulations: Nature" was presented (pictured below). This is a multi-sensory experience that uses 300 million photos of nature from over the course of the pandemic and sounds to match the movement of the pictures to hopefully create a space for healing during the hard times of the pandemic. The 300 million pictures are set up in data sets to make the photographs come to life. Meaning, it looked like the photos were moving in a wave-like motion. 

The one of multiple multi-sensory experiences. 

Before the ceremony, all attendees were given small, blue and felt bags that we were not allowed to open until directed by the speakers. When it finally came time to open the bags, there were individual light balls in every single one of the them (pictured below). The balls of light were suppose to signify light in our challenging day-to-day lives that helps connect our mind to our soul. 

Balls of light in blue bag.
Overall, I enjoyed attending "Moment of Reflection" and would recommend experiencing it, as it is only open until April 24th, 2022. I enjoyed how one's inner strengths and battles were portrayed and honored in the art. The piece was also very interpretative, meaning that different people could take different meanings away from it, but that is exactly what it was created to do. It was created so that you could take away a message from it that you needed, if it had to do with gratitude, anger, sorrow, etc. 


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