Brothers Ryan and Trevor Oakes are wrapping up a nearly three-week residency at the Getty Center, finishing work on one of the large and technically marvelous on-site drawings they are known for. They have developed a unique technology and process for rendering sweeping vistas according to the rules of optical science rather than the conventions of art history. Involving mathematical precision and a heavy plaster helmet to steady the artist's perspective, the method is painstaking and time-consuming. Working in the garden from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, as they trade off sessions at the easel, the brother on break is happy to explain to any gathered onlookers just exactly what the other brother is doing. Part performance, part art, part science, the magnificent works of art made in this fashion will include a view of the already trippy Getty Center garden and the view to the sea beyond. Like Escher remixing classical antiquity, the Oakes' latest creation has unfolded in slow motion to reveal the scene in front of them in crisp, lifelike detail in a strangely unsettling origami of the eye and the mind. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood; Fri.-Sat., Dec. 23-24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; free. (310) 440-7300, getty.edu.

Dec. 6-24, 2011

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