Work
Light Recordings (1998–2015) Blumenfeld's series
Light Recordings are a series of photo-based and video-based works that are recordings of natural light onto photographic film and digital sensors without the use of a traditional camera or lens. The work documents the pure phenomena of light itself across various atmospheric conditions and astronomical cycles, such as solstices, eclipses, lunar cycles, and the Sun's daily shifting light through the seasons. The exposures are often installed together in series or a grid format to visually chronicle the recorded light phenomena over time.
Albright Knox Art Gallery,
Nevada Museum of Art,
Kunstnernes Hus, In 2001, art historian and critic Sue Taylor wrote in
Art in America that Blumenfeld's
Light Recordings were "a serendipitous discovery" that could be likened to other lensless photographic processes such as the
photogram or
cliché-verre.
Op art and the
Light and Space movement, and
Carsten Holler Robert Ryman,
Bioluminescence series (2001/2011) In 2000, Blumenfeld became interested in working with the phenomena of light in other forms and was particularly inspired by light involved in biological processes. She became curious about working with
bioluminescence as a medium and creating a large-scale living installation of bioluminescent marine
dinoflagellates. Initial research led her to Marine Biologist Dr. Michael Latz at the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he runs a research laboratory and studies bioluminescent organisms in ocean environments. Blumenfeld's artworks in this series explore the bioluminescent dinoflagellate known as
Pyrocystis fusiformis which are a bright and larger species of
phytoplankton. Blumenfeld was awarded a second artist-in-residence with Latz in 2011 and worked with a flow agitation chamber, which simulates ocean dynamics, to investigate a large population of Pyrocystis fusiformis consisting of one million organisms, and a small population to attempt to also capture individual cells. Of her work, Blumenfeld states, "While not all phytoplankton are bioluminescent, the ones that are provide a beautiful way to talk about our natural environment and our relationship to it. The beauty of light captures our imagination, our sense of deep awe. That these organisms give light as part of their natural cycle is wondrous and inspiring. That these organisms are also crucial to each breath we take is quite poignant." In response to what she saw as humanity's "loss of connection with the natural world that evolved us," she initiated
The Polar Project, an ongoing effort to raise awareness of the environments of
Antarctica and the
Arctic through art. Blumenfeld posited that while melting of the
polar regions would cause unprecedented challenges to global populations, most people around the world had little opportunity to experience these regions, and therefore the poles remained out of sight and out of mind. Blumenfeld hoped The Polar Project would illuminate why "it’s so important that we understand how intrinsic to the whole ecosystem these environments are. What I’m hoping to achieve is a space in which a sensory experience of the Antarctic and the Arctic envelopes the viewer, awakening a sense of wonder and bringing to life a place that most people will never experience directly." published by the
Goethe-Institute in 2009. Blumenfeld's essay has been translated into Portuguese and German, and also appears in the book
Klima Kunst Kultur published by
Steidl in 2014. Blumenfeld produced multiple photo- and video-based works while in Antarctica, which she describes as botanical and naturalist studies of the complex natural phenomena that occur in Antarctica, and are the initial artworks in advance of the larger The Polar Project installation.
Wildfire Series (2011–2013) NASA Project: Astromaterials 3D (2013–2020) In 2013, Blumenfeld approached NASA with a proposal to create a virtual library of NASA's Apollo Lunar and Antarctic Meteorite collections to make these rare rocks from space more accessible to researchers and the general public. The artist describes her interest in initiating the collaboration with NASA as having arisen out of her research into the cosmochemical stories that are held in rocks from space, leading her to ask: "Might it be possible to hold a rock in one’s hand that told the story of the whole cosmos?" Blumenfeld says she thinks of rocks as "scrolls of knowledge, passed down through the cosmic, planetary and geologic ages, that tell the story of primordial formation" The Astromaterials 3D website and custom web-based Explorer 3D visualization application was launched to the public on December 15, 2020, with 20 rocks, 10 from each of the Apollo Lunar and Antarctic Meteorite collections with additional samples to be added ongoing. == Selected awards ==
Selected solo exhibitions
• 2018, Erika Blumenfeld: Encyclopedia of Trajectories, Rice Public Art, Rice University, Houston, TX • 2013, Water, water every where…, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX • 2010, Moving Light, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV • 2010, Moving Light: Lunation 1011, TATE Modern, London, UK (Presented by Ballroom Marfa) • 2007, Erika Blumenfeld: The Intention of Light, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Willem de Kooning Academie, BLAAK 10 Galerie, Netherlands • 2001, Moments of Light, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR == Selected public collections ==
Selected Scientific Publications
• Blumenfeld, E. H., Beaulieu, K. R., Thomas, A. B., Evans, C. A., Zeigler, R. A., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Righter, K., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2019) 3D Virtual Astromaterials Samples Collection of NASA's Apollo Lunar and Antarctic Meteorite Samples to be an Online Database to Serve Researchers and the Public. 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019. • Blumenfeld, E. H., Beaulieu, K. R., Thomas, A. B. H., Evans, C. A., Zeigler, R. A., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Righter, K., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2018) Creating a High-Resolution 3D Virtual Astromaterials Samples Collection of NASA's Apollo Lunar Samples and Antarctic Meteorite Collections for an Online Database to Serve Researchers and the Public. 100th AGU Fall Meeting 2018. • Blumenfeld, E. H., Evans, C. A., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Beaulieu, K., Zeigler, R. A., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2017) Research-Grade 3D Virtual Astromaterials Samples: Novel Visualization of NASA's Apollo Lunar Samples and Antarctic Meteorite Samples to Benefit Curation, Research, and Education. 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2017. • Beaulieu, K., Blumenfeld, E. H., Liddle, D. A., Oshel, E. R., Evans, C. A., Zeigler, R. A., Righter, K., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2017) Structure-From-Motion Photogrammetry and Micro X-Ray Computed Tomography 3-D Reconstruction Data Fusion for Non-Destructive Conservation Documentation of Lunar Samples. 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2017. • Blumenfeld, E. H., Evans, C. A., Zeigler, R. A., Righter, K., Beaulieu, K., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A., Todd, N. S. (2016) An Interdisciplinary Method for the Visualization of Novel High-Resolution Precision Photography and Micro-XCT Data Sets of NASA's Apollo Lunar Samples and Antarctic Meteorite Samples to Create Combined Research-Grade 3D Virtual Samples for the Benefit of Astromaterials Collections Conservation, Curation, Scientific Research and Education. 98th AGU Fall Meeting 2016. • Blumenfeld, E. H., Evans, C. A., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Beaulieu, K., Zeigler, R. A., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2015) Comprehensive Non-Destructive Conservation Documentation of Lunar Samples Using High-Resolution Image-Based 3D Reconstructions and X-Ray CT Data. 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2015. • Blumenfeld, E. H., Evans, C. A., Oshel, E. R., Liddle, D. A., Beaulieu, K., Zeigler, R. A., Hanna, R. D., and Ketcham, R. A. (2014) High-resolution imaged-based 3d reconstruction combined with X-Ray CT data enables comprehensive non-destructive documentation and targeted research of astromaterials. 77th Annual Meeting of The Meteoritical Society 2014. == References ==