Author: Enrique Nunez

My collage (named “Is It a Sexual Revolution Now?” or just “Sexual Revolution”) is heavily inspired by Gen Z’s romantic and sexual expression and how it is being impacted by AI, causing us to lose touch with reality and struggle with maintaining human connection. I initially did not have an article to bring to class and was working purely with the materials provided the day of, so I am pretty proud of how the final collage ended up looking, since I was kind of just making up the composition as I went along and looked through the different magazines that day. I primarily used magazine images and articles with the occasional zine, comic and newspaper. I’m pretty passionate about this cause because I feel like with the rise of AI, a lot of the people in our generation are becoming more and more antisocial. I understand that COVID-19 has likely set a lot of us back developmentally, but I still feel like half of the people in this generation are seriously lacking in self sufficiency and still want to be coddled like teenagers, too afraid to pursue adult things; the other half wants to grow up too fast and are very ignorant, making the same mistakes as their parents and grandparents. Generally, I feel like both of these groups are immature at the core and I think AI is making it worse because now these people have an excuse to be ignorant and coddled and turn themselves away from human connection. AI is actively making us lose our critical thinking skills and the internet as a whole is warping both our perceptions of ourselves and what is fake vs reality.

I’m happy with the final result but I really wish I had some more robot or technology imagery as I feel like it’s primarily human based, especially on human emotions like anxiety, love, and sexuality. I included some of my favorite details from the collage as well, such as the “Finding and Sustaining Pleasure” woman wrapped around a vibrator, the “crossword” sentences (Do you love?/Robot replaces love?), and the “17” girl. I’d love to go more into detail about all the intentional design choices for those interested, but I’ll leave it off here for now :]

For this week, I took some photos of graffiti I see daily on my commute to John Jay. I take the QM2 which goes from Bay Terrace to Midtown (and vice versa) via the Whitestone Expressway, as well as the M57/M31, which takes me crosstown to campus. The first picture was taken from my commute back home on the QM2, which goes along Northern Boulevard. This graffiti is on the side of a corner store in Jackson Heights (where I grew up), and was created in such a way to where it acts as both a mural and piece of graffiti at the same time. The colors as well as the magnitude of the wall art really stood out to me, which prompted me to capture it for this week’s post. The second picture was also taken from my commute back home, this time in Whitestone. This, I believe, is a creative rendition of an artist’s tag; what really interested me was the funny face inside of what I believe is the letter O. I can’t provide much insight as to why I felt the need to capture this art for this week, other than the fact that the face looks a little bit like Mario and I thought it was funny. The last picture is on my commute to campus, on the Jackie Robinson Parkway. This one sticks out to me the most visually because of the placement; it was created in such a way to where you are left wondering how the artist even pulled it off (suspension cord? rope and harness?) and I think that’s the beauty of it, as well as the artist’s intention. One of the whole points of tagging is to get your name and your art out there in circulation, and especially get people talking about it, because if they’re talking about it, they’re recognizing you. The location does a lot of heavy lifting because it gets people talking about the art and spreads that knowledge around. I think the act of creation is the most important thing about public art, and the most important thing for us as the audience is to share the love and passion that comes with creating art with each other by sharing art and their artists alike with one another, and bonding over creating art in general as a community.

I’m choosing to reflect on Julio Anta’s guest visit rather than Queer Van Kult’s guest visit because I felt more connected to his work and what he talked about in comparison to Queer Van Kult’s art. Although I did appreciate their visit, I just couldn’t really connect with what they were showing; I feel like they have a set target audience-slash-demographic in mind when it comes to the pieces they create, and I don’t really fit that demographic, and that’s okay. With Julio Anta, I related a lot more to him on a cultural level, and even though I had never read any of his work prior to his visit, I greatly enjoyed reading some of the comics that were provided to us and being exposed to that he makes, as well as being granted the opportunity to personally ask him questions. I didn’t write down the questions beforehand, so I don’t remember what I had specifically asked, as I found it easier to think of the questions as he talked about his work and his experiences. I was then able to use what he was talking about as a foundation to build questions off of. Some of the things I recalled asking him was his position on banned books, and if that censorship makes him more cautious as a writer or if it emboldens him; another question I recall is that if he’d be comfortable branching out of Latino culture and covering other marginalized cultures that shared similar histories of colonization as Latino cultures, such as Hawai’ians & Pacific Islanders and Puerto Ricans. I didn’t receive the answer I necessarily wanted, as he said he’d be interested but also doesn’t want to speak for anyone. I was a little confused since he is Colombian and Cuban, yet writes stories about other latino cultures outside of his own by doing extensive research and interviewing/bringing in people and colleagues from those cultures to get their input; I figured that, if he could do those with other latino cultures, what would be the hesitation with branching out? I didn’t believe that he had to speak on anyone’s behalf, and that he could conduct the same research and bring in outside sources and people from those cultures to aid him. Then again, he suggested that I as an individual could do the same, and I immediately felt some discomfort, so I understand his hesitation, as that would be a lot of responsibility and requires a lot of attention and care that may feel too daunting or out of place. I’m very glad that he came to visit and that I was able to be exposed to his work, as it did feel cathartic hearing him talk about his cultural experiences and his relationship with social justice qualms and politics. It definitely gave me more respect for the writing side of comics, as everyone is quick to latch on to the visuals and illustrations and have that be the forefront of the comicbook industry, but in the end, those illustrations are only half of the story, and someone has to write it for them to fully come to life.

I went to the Society of Illustrators Museum on Saturday, July 11th with my dad. We took the Q47 from Jackson Heights and the R train. I was actually pleasantly surprised once we went inside, because I ended up realizing that I have actually been there before! I went to the Society of Illustrators Museum in my junior year of high school in Spring 2023 with my art class. They had circular tables and we were there for character design exercises, then went up to the third floor to eat lunch at the bar/dining area. I didn’t remember the name of the museum at the time, but I distinctly remembered the basement gallery and the main hall having elevated steps in the back of the room. However, I remembered the museum being a lot larger (especially the basement), and while I enjoyed what was on display, I was surprised that there wasn’t that much to see, and all in all, it felt more like an art gallery than a museum. The illustrations and paintings had small little white cards hanging up or next to each one and provided the creator’s name, the art’s creation date, what mediums it uses and either a little description about the artist’s creation process or where it was originally showcased/what event it was showcased for (if applicable). It was a little bit of a let down, because the cards were small and didn’t provide much to chew on, and some walls were completely empty and didn’t showcase anything at all, especially in the basement. The stairwells had more artworks on the walls, but the stairs were so narrow and personally made it very difficult for me to be able to take in each individual piece of work due to them just hanging on the walls like family portraits in a house, which mainly serve as decorative pieces. If I’m going to a museum to see artwork, I don’t want to have a difficult time accessing and being able to appreciate what’s “on display” (they were hung in a way that didn’t even make them feel on display!)

The second floor were more individual artist exhibits, which I also found difficult to appreciate fully, because again, it was a narrow hallway with the art printed on the walls. It was rather claustrophobic and although I took pictures, I again couldn’t fully grasp the pieces of work due to the physical retrains of the building. The third floor was the bar and dining area, which included historical portraits and descriptions of the timeline of the museum. The descriptions were printed onto canvases in really small writing, and yet again, I faced the issue of having a hard time being able to take in my surroundings. I really wanted to be able to read each canvas, but they were plastered on the walls of the dining area and some were very high up, so it was almost uncomfortable because I was unsure if this was something I as the musuem-goer was meant to read, or if it was simply decorative pieces for people to glance at while they eat. I ended up just doing a quick stroll around the room before leaving.

I think I enjoyed the Alice Austen Museum a lot more, mainly due to the location and overall feeling more immersed and connected to her photographs. Although there was lovely art on display at this museum, I struggled to form a connection with it on a personal level due to the museum’s general presentation of the art they showcased and the lack of information that surrounded each piece. If I had to pick a piece that resonate with me, it would have to be “Seize The Moment” by Gary Kelley. The blank palette and the cool colors resonated with me and my relationship with art, which is something that people around me all my life have tried to push me into pursuing despite my wishes. They want me to have a career in art because it’s a hobby I enjoy in my free time, which is my exact reasoning for not wanting to go into art, because I don’t want to commercialize my enjoyment of it and turn it into a chore or obligation. I enjoy the way the figure hugs the palette solemnly, and it reads to me as “I still have a place for you, despite everything”.

This photo I took at the Alice Austen House is a recreation of her partner, Gertrude Tate, and an unidentified man standing on steps out in the yard of Austen’s property. They are overlooking the waters of the New York Harbor and watching a ship, both being out of frame (but the posing making it obvious that they are looking in that direction).

I believe that the photo I took captures community, for we as a collective group had to remove ourselves from our comfort zones and get a little silly AND creative with the posing and angles. We were provided a polaroid camera and had to locate areas around the property that aligned with locations of Austen’s own photographs that she took at the time. I chose to showcase the photo I took for this week’s post because I’m really proud of my ability to nearly match the composition to that of the original. For me, it was difficult to use the polaroid camera because you’re going based off the little hole in the corner to align the shot, and similar to a disposable camera, you aren’t able to confirm its accuracy until after it develops. I’m also proud of the group I worked with for posing as good as they did! It was a little funny and awkward delegating who would take Gertrude’s place (aka “the girl”) for the shot, and I had to go full photographer mode and be somewhat  overbearing by asking them to move their body slightly to the left, to lift their head, etc. I’m glad I was as nitpicky as I was, because the picture ended up coming out nearly 1 to 1, and helped serve as a more effective icebreaker, since this activity required a lot of physicality in recreating poses and moving from place to place around the property. I’m happy I got to know the guys in my group better and that we were able to bond over photography as an art form, even though it was likely more impersonal and casual to us compared to what Alice Austen’s work meant to her.

For my museum of choice, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, June 27th. Despite being born in NYC, this was my first time actually visiting or seeing the Met in person. Growing up, I associated institutions like the Met with prestigious, upper class individuals, tourists, or FIT undergraduates (likely due to the annual Met Gala). I never considered it a place a “native New Yorker” would visit, despite the very generous pay-what-you-want entry fee they offer to New York State residents. Although it would’ve been easy to cheap out and pay only a dollar, I paid $5 and stayed for only 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours.

Going in, it was rather intimidating, to put it simply. Regarding architecture, the outside of the museum is very grandiose (much akin to other places in the city, like the New York Public Library for example), and has these grand pillars and staircase leading to the entrance. I visited the museum alone, so it was very daunting to me. I had looked at the website beforehand during class time, so I had a general idea about what exhibits the museum contained and what I’d be interested the most in seeing, but I still didn’t really have many expectations set going in, and mainly just let my mind be open to many possibilities. However, reflecting back, I am glad I did look at the website even if not thoroughly, so that I wasn’t going in completely blind.

I was the most excited to see Claude Monet’s work, as I really like his style of painting and usage of colors in nature. The exhibit that I was delighted the most by, however, was the P.S. Art exhibit, which showcases artwork from children K-12 in public schools across New York City, which ended up resonating with me the most. Some of the artists featured were as young as four years old, which really made me emotional because it goes to show that art doesn’t need to be this scientific or procedural thought out process, and that the ability and act of creation as well as the joy that stems from it is a form of art in its own right.

I will be honest and admit that I did not go into the museum with the lens of a Critical Museum Visitor, and went in with the average museum visitor mindset, despite that mainly being the whole point of going to one of the city museums. Despite that, I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would, and would definitely dedicate a whole day to exploring more in depth what the Met has to offer.