While working on this mask, I was able to reflect on the things that I really like and are important to me. I decided to paint the base of my mask pink as it is my favorite color. Then I added the tree to show my background and how I am American, but my roots are Italian. Next, I added a cross that represents my faith and added the verse “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
I also added my interests like computers, dance, and math. The computer represents my major and how I like to code. I included math and numbers because ever since I was little I math and numbers always came easy to me and just made sense. I then added music notes becuase I really enjoy listening to music. Then I added a dancer becuse dance has always been apart of my life.
Lastly, to finish off my mask I added words that are important to me and other things I enjoy. Some words I added that are important to me are my family, friends, strength, and belief.
After watching both Le Boheme and Rent my overall opinion is that were both really good, but I like Rent more. Seeing Le Boheme was a great experience and the sets were amazing. However, it was very hard follow and to understand, not only because it was in Italian but because since we were so high up I couldn’t see there lips moving so most of the time I didn’t even know which character was speaking. The movie Rent was very enjoyable to watch. I was able to understand and see the relationships between the characters better. I think this is partly because the setting takes place in NYC in the 80s. I also really like the songs in movie becuase they really help me follow the story.
Both the movie and opera had similaries to each other. Starting from the beginning when Mimi went to the man’s room with a candle. She went in needing her candle to be lit but then blew it out and “lost” something so that she can build a relationship with him. The background of the characters are also similar because they are both very poor and were behind on their rent. There were also a lot of differences. Since they were in a different time period, Mimi’s sickness were different. In the movie, Mimi was an addict and was dying from AIDS, while in the opera Mimi was dying from TB. Another difference was that in the movie Mimi was very close to death but then didn’t die, while she actually died in the opera.
While both were very good to watch, I would watch the movie Rent again and not the opera. The movie was easier to follow and I was able to following the meaning of the story, while watching the opera I was lost majority of the time.
On Friday November 7th, we had a zoom call with Rich Stremme. I found this call really interesting. We learned a lot about the history of tattooing and Rich’s experience in the industry. I liked hearing about his experience working the in Underground and the connections he has in the industry. I also really like hearing about the different things he had tattooed on people and the stories about why the certain tattoos were refused.
On Tuesday, October 22nd, I went to the Brooklyn Museum with the rest of the Macaulay class. We went to the museum on a coach bus and it was really nice. The seats were really comfortable, and we played scribbl.io to pass the time. When we got there, we sat in a very nice theater and listened to the dean speak about what the night was going to bring.
After all the announcements, we were off to look at the art. We were the only ones in the museum, and we were only able to look at the art on the fifth floor. I thought we were going to be able to explore and look at more, but there was a lot on that one floor. Each room had its own theme, and they were filled with incredible art. I really like looking at the paintings in the first room and the landscape art in the third room. I thought it was really cool to see a piece of artwork from Robert on display. It was two of his flower photographs on ceramic plates.
We were also able to go into a storage room where they hold lots of pieces of art, from sculptures and paintings in, to random objects from everyday life, like a toaster and a hairbrush from 2007, that one day will probably be on display to show what we would use in everyday life, the same way we look at objects from the past to see how they would’ve lived.
Besides looking at the art, I really enjoyed being able to spend time with my friends and meeting other Macaulay students from other campuses.
On Sunday, October 12th, we took a trip to the Joyce Theatre to see a ballet performance. I had gotten to the theatre by ferry and train with a group from the class, including Lisa. The commute was enjoyable, and the weather wasn’t too bad.
When we arrived at the theater, we were given our tickets and proceeded directly to our seats. I had gotten a seat in the middle of the second row. I would say I had a really good seat, but I would have enjoyed sitting two rows back. Even though I knew we were going to see a ballet, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show.I loved seeing the talent of the dancers on the stage and watching the stories they told. I would say that each show was better than the last.
While watching, my favorite performance was the third one. In this performance, the dancers looked like a mermaid and a merman. The description of the dance says that it was an “ode to Ondine – a young man on the beach, enamored with a shadow from the sea in the guise of a beautiful creature.” The dancers did an amazing job portraying it. I also really enjoyed the second performance because it was very funny, from the way they acted during the piece to the general size difference between the dancers. The leads in the second and third performances had incredible strength and amazing lines. Overall, all the dancers were incredible and had such amazing talent.
I also have to mention the last performance because, just like the others, it was incredible. This performance had a lot more dancers, and they seemed to have more experience. This number was centered around a female dancer who had so much talent. Her lines were amazing, you could tell she is very strong, and from lots of the moves she did, you could tell she is very flexible as well. Everyone in this dance did an amazing job moving with the beats of the music and staying with each other.
At the end of the show, we had left the theatre and were able to talk to the female dancer from the third performance. She was so nice and humble about her talent; she looked surprised that we even went up to her, but I told her how incredible I thought she was, and how her lines were amazing, and I could tell how strong she was. I even told her how I am also a dancer, and she was interested to know where and what style I was into, and even recommended a place that holds great classes.
Then, before heading home, a group of us went to grab food and got Dave’s hot chicken, and that was really good. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, and I would love to go again.
This piece belongs to street artist Shepard Fairey. The name of the piece is Guns and Roses and was used to protest gun violence. The artwork was created in 2006-2007 and shows two types of guns with flowers in their barrels to show that we should be choosing peace over violence.
I feel that this piece is still relevant today because of the problem of gun violence and the need for gun control. There have been lots of mass shootings that have happened, and this poster can be used to show that we should choose peace over violence and turn instruments of harm into symbols of life and beauty.
On Saturday, September 13th, Snug Harbor hosted a fence show and open house for their Art Lab. The open house had many different demo classes that were open to the public and free to take. They had a class for you to paint still-life, sculpt ceramics, learn about dark room photography, and lots more.
When I got there, I saw many others from my group. We all walked in together, signed up, and went to take our first class, ceramics. The teacher was really nice. He walked us through every step that we needed to do. He taught us how to work with clay and create a base which can be used for many different projects. I really enjoyed this becuase it was fun molding the clay and creating something from my hands. It didn’t turn out the best but I didn’t care. Below is a picture of a bowl I made.
After ceramics, I went into a class that taught us about dark room photography. The room seemed empty whenever I passed it but then when me and a couple others from our group went in another group entered and it was crowded. The instructor taught us that the photo is created by exposure to light so you create a negative which is a film with the photo inverted and expose it to light, the time that the photo is exposed to the light varies from photo. Then you put the photo in a chemical bath and stop solution that will develop the photo. At the end, we were able to create our own photos with wooden sencil of butterflies.
After the open house was over, I walked around the fence show. I was amazed seeing all of the art hanging up and the different pieces and styles that people had created.
On Sunday, September 7th, a group of friends and I took a trip to the Whitney Museum. We had gotten tickets beforehand, so we didn’t have to wait in line since the tickets were free for anyone 25 years old or younger. When we arrived, they had checked our bags and scanned our tickets, and then we were able to enjoy all the art. But before we did that, we had grabbed something from the cafe attached. I had gotten a mocha latte, and it was really good.
The first went to the 8th floor. This floor has lots of art related to hearing and the perspective of a deaf person. The artwork here inspired a wide range of emotions in me. They had a type of audio art that we could listen to through headphones. They had some audio pieces that were calming, like birds chirping, and some that were disturbing, like a man aggressively snoring. In addition, they had several pieces showing how it feels to be a deaf person and how rude hearing people can be just by the things they say.
The next floor we went to was the 7th floor. This floor was called “Untitled” (America). There were many pieces on this floor that caught my attention. I really enjoyed the pieces that had a lot going on, whether it was textured or had many things in the painting. I appreciated the pictures with many things in the painting because wherever I looked, I saw something new. I also enjoyed the textured photos because I really liked seeing the art come off the canvas.
The last floor we went to was the 6th floor, and it was my favorite. Many of the pieces were based on nature and were very colourful. They had one piece that reminded me of Te Fiti from Moana, another piece was just logs on the floor, and when I saw those, all I wanted to do was hop on them from log to log. They also had a piece of video art that was so mesmerizing, I would be able to sit in front of it all day if I could.
Right before we left, there was a small vending machine that dispensed mini drawings, so each one of us got one to remember the trip. I got an ice cream truck and a hot dog food truck. Before going home, we grabbed food from K-town, and I got a chicken teriyaki bowl. It was delicious. Also, thank you so much, Khadijah, for being our guide through it all, leading us from the ferry to the museum and from the museum to food.
