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.