Nature

The theme I've decided to present is Nature. All fifteen works of art included in this exhibition have, in one way or another, incorporated nature in their content. I chose this theme for various reasons. First, I think nature is beautiful! I have always loved landscapes. It's fascinating to perceive something of such beauty through the eyes of artists. Second, in my opinion although living in New York city has its' perks, it has distanced us from nature. I hope that this exhibition will aid the viewers mentally transport to the places portrayed in most of the artworks. I'd like for each of the viewers to imagine spending a day in nature; without people calling their cellphones, without having to rush somewhere and get something done and ultimately without any stress.

One of the works I found incredibly interesting is Minor White photograph of his favorite object. What object is that, one might wonder? It's a weathered board, which to him represented the passing of time. White aimed to find eye shapes in nature. One can clearly see that he's accomplished his goal in this photograph. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's web site, the eye shape on the board symbolizes the way the photographer perceived the world around him.

Pietro Yantorny's work is unique and fun. Yantorny proclaimed himself as the most expensive shoe maker in the world. What medium did he use to create shoes? He used wood. His work is called "Shoe Trees" for a reason.

Camille Corot's painting "Ville-d'Avray" is, without a doubt, breathtaking. In my opinion, it evokes peace of mind. To me, it also represents fall. It made me think of quiet, rainy days. 

 Minor White, "Untitled," 1967
Section: Photographs

Pietro Yantorny, "Shoe Trees," 1914-1919

Section: The Costume Institute

Camille Corot, "Ville-d'Avray," 1870

Section: European Paintings

 

 Bequest of Stephen Whitney, "Case with Design of Flowering Cherry Trees Beside Winding River," 19th Century
Section: Asian Art

David Claypoole, "At the Waterfall," ca. 1850
Section: American Paintings and Sculpture

Dammas Hofdijck, "Plate," early 18th century
Section: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Eugene Boudin, "Village by a River," 1867
Section: European Paintings

Mme. Pauline, "Hat," ca. 1911
Section: The Costume Institute

Robert Adams, "Outdoor Theater," 1937
Section: Photographs

Ike Gyokuran, "Autumnal Landscape with a Waterfall," 1728-1784
Section: Asian Arts

Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, "Basket of Flowers," 17th Century
Section: Drawings and Prints

John Beasly Greene, "Waterfall," 1856
Section: Photographs

Paul Henry, "A Section of the Constellation Cygnus," 1885
Section: Photographs

Michel Bruno Bellenge, "Vase of Flowers in a Niche," 1726-1793
Section: European Paintings

Bernardo Bellotto, "Pirna: The Obertor from the South," 1722-1780
Section: European Paintings

Illustrate a Story



I chose W. Perry's and E. Gregory's story. It was quite impotant for me to illustrate an upbeat, happy narrative. The two friends have traveled to over 125 countries together. The collage I've created is composed of ten different layers. Each layer symbolizes a part of the ladies' story. The background is a photo of a beach in Fiji (one of the places the two have visited). The building in the upper left corner is the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, which was also mentioned in the narrative. The beautiful building placed on the beach, is the infamous Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. I decided to include it in the collage as a representation of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The stone on the beach is a piece of the Berlin Wall. The plane and the insane amount of luggage are self-explanatory. The piles of ice and the adorable penguins symbolize the friends' future trips, as they joke about visiting Antarctica next. Last but not least, the two little girls dressed in pink embody Perry's and Gregory's close friendship.

Brooklyn Museum Reaction

            Numerous artists' works had been featured in the exhibition Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties . However Aaron Doughlas' "Congo" caught my attention. As I was looking at the exhibition, I kept in mind its' name. Subsequently as soon as I noticed Doughlas' work, I thought of jazz. After all, the 1920s were known as the jazz age. In my opinion, "Congo" depicts cultural identity. During this time period, jazz was heavily used for entertainment purposes. Very few didn't enjoy the music and dance.
            I was quite excited to see another Sandford Biggers exhibition. Once again, the work that stuck out to me was "Cheshire". To me personally, it symbolized the toothy grin of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Taking into account the name of Biggers' exhibit however, points to the work symbolizing more than that. Sweet Funk- An Introspective might be interpreted as Sandford's view on jazz, or the state of depression/ fear; depending on how one chooses to define "funk". In my opinion, the artwork might be bringing up the stereotype of African Americans' smiles. If that's the case, Biggers' bold message could very easily bring out fear, sadness and worry amongst some people. Funk also describes a type of music that relates to jazz, which brings us right back to cultural identity.
            The Latino List definitely depicts a cultural identity. Timothy Greenfield's exhibition included over twenty photographs of celebrities from Hispanic descent. One of my favorite works was the photo of Eva Longoria. I think she's extremely beautiful as well as talented beyond belief. 
           All three works I've discussed represent, in one way or another, cultural identities. Whether it's as obvious as including photos of individuals who share the same ethnic background, or as subtle as portraying a simple dance; the similar identity between the three exhibitions cannot be denied.

Sculpture Center Reaction

As we were standing next to the Sculpture Center, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The building looked relatively small, especially compared to our previous trip to MoMA. I expected the Center to be divided into a bunch of small rooms filled with art work. I was pleasantly surprised. The Sculpture Center was unlike any other museum I had seen. Sanford Biggers' exhibition Cosmic Voodoo Circus took up one room, one extremely spacious room with a very high ceiling. In my opinion, the way the exhibition had been set up was perfect. I believe that since there weren't too many of Biggers’ works we, the viewers, were given the chance to focus our undivided attention to each piece. We had the opportunity to take our time and absorb the meaning behind each of Sanford's masterpieces.

The first work I saw the second I walked in the Center was called "A Joia Do Orixa." It had been completed earlier this year. The size of the sculpture was enormous! In comparison to it the entire building seemed much, much smaller. The predominant color was red. Being as aggressive of a color as red is, it made the figure stand out even more. In my opinion, had there been numerous other pieces of art surrounding "A Joia Do Orixa", its effect wouldn't have been as intense. Standing tall, on its own, in a large room was, without a doubt, the perfect setting for this piece.

I then noticed the stars on the floor. They were made from broken mirrors and therefore had the ability to reflect light onto the walls. The name of the piece was "Constellation." This work also required a bigger amount of space. The size of the room made it seem as though the stars spread out on the ground were smaller than they actually were.

Last but definitely not least is Biggers’ piece of art “Cheshire.” It was named so for obvious reasons. When my eyes landed on the billboard sized work, I automatically thought of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland (one of my favorite stories). I’m not sure what message the artist was trying to convey through “Cheshire” , but that grin was contagious! It made my day a bit brighter. As I mentioned before, this work was just as big as “A Joia Do Orixa” and therefore needed more space. The Sculpture Center provided that and more. Had “Cheshire” been put in an average sized room, it would’ve made it look as big as a matchbox.

Sanford Biggers

"A Joia Do Orixa"  2011

"Cheshire" 2011

"Constellation" 2011

Narrative Digital Collage

In July, my family and I were invited to a friend's beach wedding in Ocean City, NJ. We had a wonderful time, which is what I tried to portray in this collage. The wedding was beautiful and the color theme used was black and white (hence the wedding cake and the photo of the wedding couple). I also tried to demonstrate the fact that the wedding was, first and foremost, a celebration of love. One of my goals was to make the collage as fun and colorful as possible.    

Design in Our Lives Reaction

High Functionality:

"Homeless City Guide"
Emily Read and Chen Hsu
2007

I very much liked the idea of a homeless city guide. As far as I understood, it involves numerous symbols and signs (aka "hobo code") through which homeless people communicate with each other. They let each other know where good food and shelter could be found. I assume that they also use that code to warn each other of dangerous places that should be avoided at all costs. The fact that this guide is printed out in every issue of The Pavement is extremely thoughtful. I'm sure it aids many homeless people on a daily basis. Read's and Hsu's work stuck out to me because I've recently been seeing a middle aged, homeless man with his dog near the bus stop I use to get home. I wish I could buy him a magazine like The Pavement and have a peace of mind.

"Gesundheit Radio and Floppy Legs Portable Hard Drive from the Attenborough Design Group"
James Chambers, Design Interactions Department and the Royal College of Art
2010

First off, how cool would it be to have electronics acting like pets? I personally think it would be absolutely adorable. Aside from that, any type of object that has the ability to clean itself gets an A in my book!!! A desktop that occasionally sneezes to dust itself sounds like a great idea to me! Another reason this work has high functionality is because many people nowadays barely have enough time to get home and drag themselves to bed. When the weekend comes around, the last thing on most people's minds is to clean.

Low Functionality:

"Talk to Yourself Hat"
Kate Hartman, Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts and NYU
2006

Yes, that's all that it is. It's a hat that not only looks ridiculous, but also seems completely pointless to me. It's supposed to boost people's confidence and make them feel comfortable to talk to themselves (any where at any time) without anyone listening in. If I were to see a person wearing that hat, my last concern would be that he/she is talking to him/herself. The hat alone could make anyone look like a nut-job. How could this work be improved? Simply by being used as a normal hat.

"Talking Carl"
Yann Le Coroller
2010

I absolutely adore Carl!!! Without a doubt, the little guy is the cutest thing. He easily puts smiles on peoples faces. However, I think that "Talking Carl" has low functionality. He could, however be used to teach little children how to recite the alphabet, how to count to ten and so on. For now though he makes a sweet, low functionality application on people's smartphones.

Art and World Events Reaction

On September 11, 2001 I was watching a cartoon that I had highly anticipated. I was sitting comfortably on the couch in my medium sized dining room, in Bulgaria. It was about 4.30pm (there's a 7 hour time difference between New York and Bulgaria). Next thing I knew the show had been interrupted. I remember getting extremely upset. How dare they interrupt something of such vital importance!!!! I vaguely remember seeing the image of the twin towers covered in smoke on my TV screen. I flipped through the channels only to see the same disturbing image over and over again. I ran into the living room and asked my grandparents what had happened. I was only 11 years old and I had never heard of the World Trade Center. All I knew was that something really bad had happened in the infamous New York City. Since at that time I lived so far away, the 9/11 tragedy didn't really effect my life. The thought of all these innocent people being murdered in such a vicious way was extremely saddening. However, nothing in our lives really changed. Once my family and I moved to Queens (in 2003) and we spend our first September 11th in NY, the emotional intensity was overwhelming. I was now 13 years old and got to witness some footage from the tragic day. I remember seeing people jump from some of the buildings' highest floors. I couldn't imagine  how terrified they must have been to willingly choose to jump. 

Jeffrey Lohn
"Missing Flyers"
September- December 2001
Lohn's work truly touched me. It consisted of photos made of missing persons flyers. Every single poster was of a person who had disappeared on 9/11. On many of the flyers a few words has been added in using a pen. Usually those words simply stated that the person was found and he/she was dead. I was well aware of the fact that many people's lives had been taken on that day in 2001. However actually seeing these flyers, the photos of the people and the description of the outfits they wore on that day made me realize how real that tragedy had been. It had always seemed so surreal. Growing up miles away from NY had shielded me from fully grasping the impact of 9/11. It had never occurred to me that there must have been tons of missing persons flyers all over the city.

Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
2001
This was, by far, my absolute favorite piece of art at PS1. Actually, it was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced! Aside from the fact that the work had been recorded in an incredibly interesting way that gave the public the choice of either listening to each of the vocalists individually, or listening to the entire choir; it was very relaxing. I think the piece had been completed before the attacks on September 11 happened. In my opinion, the reason "The Forty Part Motet" had been included in the show was because it offered some sort of comfort. Even after the occurrence of such a terrifying attack, as 9/11 was, works as this one reminded people that beauty and harmony still did very much exist.

 George Segal
"Woman on a Park Bench"
1998
Initially, I didn't quite understand why Segal's sculpture of a woman sitting on a park bench would have anything to do with September 11th. Now I wonder whether she could possibly represent New Yorkers starting off their day as usual, when suddenly everything came crushing down? As terrible as I feel about writing this, the woman got me to envision mothers (or babysitters) taking their little ones to the park playground early in the morning. In my opinion, Segal's sculpture could be interpreted as symbolizing the beginning of a normal day, which unexpectedly took a turn for the much, much worse. 

Both of the exhibitions we visited were very powerful. They brought out very intense feelings that I'd usually rather not face. They have, in their own ways, immortalized the tragedy that profoundly effected this entire nation. They serve as painful reminders and beautiful solaces.  

Good Art/ Bad Art

Good Art:

Bad Art:

     Every individual has a different perception of what defines good art. I believe that a truly good piece of art should evoke a strong reaction. The reaction could naturally be anything from " This is absolutely breathtaking!" to "Ew! What. The. Hell?!?!?!?!?!?!". It must also reach in deep and bring out some sort of emotion. My favorite pieces of art are ones that make my day a little brighter. For example, the paintings in my apartment make me feel cozy and safe. Any painting, drawing, sculpture etc. that is pleasing to look at gets an A in my book.
     Bad art, in my opinion, has no meaning. It's made without any effort, much like the atrocious photo-shopped image above. It's only purpose is to be hurtful. It doesn't benefit anyone in any way.