Author: Illan

In my collage I chose to depict the recent changes to legislation surrounding small business in New York City. The new changes put in place by Mayor Mandani made it so small businesses didn’t have to do excess fillings and paper work. This made it so these businesses can prosper without the extra hassle. In my collage I have four main sections. The first is a large photo of Mandani, below him is a runner breaking through a red finish line. I chose to include this element due to the recurring phrase in my article “slash red tape for small business.” I also include this phrase in this section. In the next three sections I put together images of three of the sectors that benefited from this change in legislation, retail shops, child care, and foodservice. Additionally at the top i have the title for my article “open for small business.” The message I wanted to share to the audience was the importance small businesses have on New York City. To convey this message I used pictures with vibrant colors and smiling people. But the most important part is the runner crossing the finish line breaking the red tape to show how this is an accomplishment for the city. If I had more time and additional resources I would love to have depicted all the sectors that benefited from the legislation. Additionally, I would have added a few more key words or quotes from the article to make my message clear about what was actually done for small business. These additional quotes would solidify the meaning by giving clear evidence of how big this accomplishment was for both the city and small businesses. 

The piece of art I chose is located on 35 Allen street between Hester and Canal. It is a small hole in the wall approximately 3 feet by 5 feet that has a rotating exhibit behind a pane of glass. This “gallery” and the art it showcases has been a part of my life for the past couple of years. I have a friend in the neighborhood that I visit often, and my walk to their apartment always goes by this gallery. Every time I’ve walked by I always take a second to see what’s on display. The art forms vary from sculptures to paintings to decorative clothing. What I love about it the most is not knowing what to expect each time I pass by, what new colors or new form the art will take. This time, the gallery had a chair with a bag hanging from the back with a vase of flowers on the floor beside it. The only info about the showcase is that it is presented by American Standard CO. for Art and Design. However, I believe it is no longer owned by them and now under the name Wish Done Gallery. But I’m still uncertain if it is still occupied by Wish Bone, my best guess would be that different studios and galleries rent out the space and display all types of work. I feel that public art really brightens the mood of our daily lives. Similar to my experience, public art gives us a break from the monotony of our daily lives. When we pass art in the street we pause, even if just for a moment, and see what’s on display. Even if you have seen it a hundred times you can discover something new. Through this interaction with public and street art shows the value the art has on a city and a neighborhood.

When Queer Van Kult visited I got the opportunity to ask them what they wanted to grow the collective into/what their goals were for the group. They responded saying that they were unsure of what they want to accomplish in the future, or how the organization will look. Although their response didn’t fully answer my question, it opened my mind to what being in charge of an organization is like. I had hoped for an answer along the lines of “we want to do x and work with y,” but the fact that they didn’t really have a full picture of what they wanted for the collective sheds light to the struggles they face. This was further backed up by the fact that throughout their time they talked about how much work they had to put in, and how difficult it is to continuously do everything, especially with the fact that all have full time jobs. Hearing them I wanted to ask them another question, but I wasn’t able to. I wanted to ask if they got any financial return from their efforts. I don’t know what they would have said but I have a feeling they would have answered no. I feel that money is the barrier that blocks people from being able to express themselves. I felt they also saw money as a barrier as they answered my question. They didn’t know the future because funding the future is extremely hard. I could also see this through how they got materials for art and how much of their own time and effort they had to put in to get their shows out. Although they may have a hard time financially with the collective, they are still pushing for what they want. This is extremely impressive. But hearing them speak made me realize how many voices are repressed due to financial barriers.  

I really enjoyed the Society of Illustrators. I came into the museum with no knowledge of what it was. I didn’t prepare how I would normally prepare, looking at the museum’s website, seeing what’s on display, and any other information so I don’t feel out of place. But I went in blind. Indemnity I felt the difference from when I went to Whitney. The Society of Illustrators is extremely small, with only three rooms. The first two galleries had a wide variety of illustration, a lot of which I either recognized from my favorite children’s books or to the New York Times comics. The third “room” ,that was more of a hallway, had an exhibit from Anna and Elena Balbusso. When I first walked into the museum it felt closer to the Alice Austen house but as I moved through the connection faded. The galleries are packed with illustrations. The way the art was displayed made me overwhelmed from a distance so I was forced to be up close to the art. Due to being so close to the art I was able to see and really appreciate the detail that was put into each piece.

My favorite illustration in the museum is a piece by Maurice Sendak. The piece is an illustration of a character from Where the Wild Things Are. Where the Wild Things Are is my favorite book from my childhood. However, prior to the visit I had forgotten about my connection to this book, so when I saw the drawing I immediately was reminded of when I used to flip though the pages looking at the picture. Being reminded of my childhood was a nice change of pace. Usually at museums I have to sit with the art and dig deep to find the connection. But with this piece I had already found the connection from my many rereads of the book, and seeing this piece brought that connection back out. 

When I visited the Society of Illustrators it was mid day on Friday. I was alone and was one of 3 people in the museum. For the majority of my visit i was alone with the art.

During our walk through of the Alice Austen house we recreated some of the photos Alice took. The photo I chose is of Clear Comfort’s exterior and grounds. I chose this particular photo because it really shows the differences in the physical world that would have surrounded Alice, and that surrounds us. The differences between the original photo from 1891 and the one I took in 2026 appear both immediately and on a deeper level. In my picture the bushes and trees are overgrown and are slightly unkempt compared to the original photo. But what stands out the most to me are the paths and the implementation of a sewer cover. The paths in my picture are beaten and trampled, in Alice’s they are perfect. This stands out to me because it shows the amount of people who have visited the park and her home. The paths are there but, because of all the foot traffic, people veered off the path creating beaten patches on the grass. Comparing this new landscape to Alice’s time, we can see how so few people came to her home that the grass could stay pristine. I feel this is especially powerful because it shows how her art only became appreciated after she had to leave her home and died. So although the landscape now is not as “beautiful” as it used to be, the community that surrounds Alice’s work has flourished larger than I’m sure she could have imagined. Additionally the sewer cover really shows the scientific differences we have that Alice didn’t have. This can even be seen in the equipment we use to take each picture. Mine was taken with a hand held camera that dispensed a photo in seconds. And Alice used a large heavy camera and needed to develop her photos by hand.

 

For this assignment I visited the Whitney Museum. I have been to the Whitney prior to this visit. However, I haven’t been in such a long time that it felt as if I were experiencing everything for the first time. Although the Whitney is on the smaller side and it is easy to see everything on display in a few horses, the collection of art on display had a nice range of contemporary and modern art. The experience solidified my ideas of the Whitney I already had. To prepare for my visit I had researched what was on display. I was most excited for the Whitney Biennial which is their eighty-second edition of the exhibit. The Whitney Biennial is a survey of American art showcasing the shifting current of art in the United States. Due to the frequency of this exhibit it was special to attend. Additionally, the exhibit “Untitled” was another exhibit that I was excited to view. I was mainly eager to see this exhibit due to the Basquiat and Warhol paintings. Due to the Whitny being smaller I was able to see all of the museum spending about 30 to 45 minutes on each exhibit/floor totalling about a two and a half hour visit. 

After reading The Critical Museum Visitor I tried to incorporate some of the techniques suggested. This time during my walkthrough of the Whitney I tried to be observant of the influence of why the art I was seeing was there. Especially being observant of the outside sponsors of the exhibits. I noticed that there were big corporate sponsors for most of the exhibits. Specifically, for the Whitney Biennial is presented by Hyundai along with other sponsors. This surprised me as I’ve never observed the sponsors of museum exhibits and I would not think a car brand would be the controlling sponsor of a museum exhibit IMG_5284 IMG_5282