Gettysburg National Military Park invites art lovers to resident artist Lathan Mastellar's talk at the park's Museum and Visitor Center on Saturday, March 11, from 5 until 8 p. m.
Mr. Mastellar has accepted a month-long residency at Gettysburg and lives on the battlefield itself at the beautiful Klingel farmhouse, where on July 2, 1863, Union soldiers once entrenched themselves to withstand Confederate General Longstreet's advance.
The staff at the Park is excited to host Mr. Mastellar, a Kansas-born artist and graduate of Kansas State University whose recent work features virtual reality arenas constructed by scanning monuments and sculptures from historic sites. His renditions bring intimacy and immediacy to what was once inert, and the great fields of Gettysburg should prove ample grist for Mr. Mastellar's explorations of form and space.
Mr. Mastellar hopes to address some of his ideas about myth and language, as well as the techniques he uses to help those who use his work immerse themselves in his art rather than simply gazing at it. He has recently considered using the beautiful William Saunders design of Gettysburg's National Cemetery as an entre into an interactive reimagining of the grounds. A viewer in a virtual reality space of that kind might find that upon reaching a certain monument or gravestone, a three-dimensional rendition of an actual fallen soldier appears above his grave. The soldier would have voice, and movement, and for the moment, the long-dead would spring to life.
The talk promises to be an interesting one, with much to learn about the changing features of art as technological advancement expands the scope of an artist's technical vocabulary. Mr. Mastellar's primary medium, virtual reality, marches in a kind of vanguard, and has influenced his philosophy as much as his art.
The staff and rangers of Gettysburg National Military Park hope to welcome you to the talk at the Museum and Visitor Center, due south of the National Cemetery, and east of Washington Street.
Gettysburg National Military Parkis a unit of the National Park Service that preserves, protects and interprets for this and future generations the resources associated with the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the Soldiers' National Cemetery, ...
