Category: Uncategorized

During this week, I was able to find time to take a visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Traveling to the museum wasn’t as bad of a travel with only having to take the Sim bus to the train. All in all I really liked the actual environment of the museum itself with its modern architecture and design compared to being like a more antique. Don’t get me wrong, I do like museums and their environment, however I like it when the whole “modern” look and sense of art is done right. Nowadays it doesn’t seem like that’s the case. I feel like when artists or museum are trying to be modernized, it’s almost like they lose the whole sense of what art is. People are too figurative and use the term “modern” very loosely when it is associated with something. This was very apparent with some of the art pieces on display. With some of them it reminded me of the infamous “Big Yellow Square” that keeps getting brought up. I would look at certain pieces that reminds me of that lackluster display and think to myself just “why?”. This question of “why?” from the outside might just be judgmental (which to an extent is true) but it’s a genuine question also. Most of the time when I look at art I like to get my own interpretation of it before I take a look at the description to see how it makes me feel, or if it answers that question of “why?”. I ask that question like I’m talking to the painting and asking it why are you here? What makes you considered art? What is the point?

I want to highlight this work of art since I didn’t get its name yet had the longest and most meaningful conversation with this piece when asking it “why?”. Initially, I took this piece as another one of those pieces that are considered “modern art” and are just works of art that mean nothing. But something inside of me decided to just try to analyze it. I looked for how it made me feel rather than try to look at it from a literal approach. What I discovered what that I felt a sense of indifference. Like the white almost outshines the bold and abstractness of the paint strokes. This only left me filled with more questions towards the painters purpose. It was only until recently where I looked up the painting and found out about the actual subject matter. Apparently this piece it called “Massacre at Wounded Knee II” by Fritz Scholder. Doing more research it talks about the significance of the color pallet and the strokes and everything else, but I struggle to understand how to truly feel. My indifference feeling doesn’t correspond to the actual piece’s purpose. If I miss the intent that it was supposed to show does that make the piece wrong, or the viewer. My analysis just made me fall more and more into my head and everything so I just finally stopped and decided to give up. This piece can define my trip to the Whitney I guess, on my mindset when viewing the art pieces at least. Despite that, it was cool I liked it.

Starting off my day bright and early, waking up to feed kittens and taking a long commute to the Metropolitan Museum. When I told my mother about this assignment, She was very interested in attending the MET with me purely because her art history class in the 1900’s had a similar task. I personally have never been, farthest museum I’ve ever been to was the museum of natural history and that was like ages ago. (P.S. The kitties did not wish to attend such outing, having a strong preference of staying in MY BED whilst I had to leave)

Taking the bright orange Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan, riding the 4 train and speed walking up to this huge historic white building. Spending I think $30 per person to get in, technically free for me cause of my lovely mother, The first thing that really drew my attention was purely the beautiful architecture. My mom informed me that it was a victorian gothic style from the 1800’s. Following my guide through this museum, she led me to her favorite section; the European paintings. The first one to catch my eye was George Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. I really liked seeing the dogs in that painting. My mom said something about the brushstrokes being different than his usual style, making each paint stroke a dab of paint which blends into one work of art from afar.

After wandering aimlessly through this huge building, my other most memorable work of arts is a pair of Vases. Designed by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, they are these two large vases with swan figures perched on top. At first, I only saw the first vase, the deep midnight blue one. Upon further notice, I saw the second matching vase, this teal and brown version. It was memorable purely because it reminded me of my brother and I, being fraternal twins and all. The differences in colors, or in our case personalities, but with the same supports of the swans and the main swan perched atop reminded me of how different yet the same my brother really are. Not only that, the vases also were stunning in their own ways, the blue matching my favorite color and the teal browns matching my brother’s stink yet mixed personality.

After leaving the museum and commuting back home, my mom pulled out her old photos from when she went to the MET 30 years before. Ironically, the ones I picked as my favorites were also ones she chose to focus on for her art history class. Attached, are my poorly taken Canon edition of these famous works of art in contrast to my mothers edition from 1998, See if you can spot the difference.

Plus a picture of my newest kitties, Mars and Comet looking at the camera and Astro about to attack mars

I went to a museum with my classmates. First we wanted to go to the Met, but it wasn’t free, so we went to the closest one, which was Guggenheim.

We started from the highest floor as was suggested by Daniel. First impression was that there’s at least a pleasant view of museum from the top. It’s pretty different from most museums, but I appreciate the idea.

The art, on the other hand, was mostly pointless and effortless.

The image above that has the same pattern repeating appeared several times at the museum. It seems they really like it there.

There also were a couple screens with video compilations of random things.

There also was a chair, on which you can’t really sit on.

I liked the repeating pattern of the phrases on mirrors or plain canvas. I wouldn’t say it’s very creative or significant, but at least it talks to the viewer.

The “no mas” picture gives off Breaking Bad vibes. I just recently finished the series, so it makes sense.

There also were more classical art exhibits.

Upon exiting the museum, at the first floor there was a nice view of the museum.

Overall, it was an experience. I think this type of art is made for people that want to feel smart and good about themselves, and it doesn’t really have any meaningful value. However, it was still interesting to visit a modern art museum and see what it has to offer.

On Sunday I went to the Whitney with my friends. It was kind of a hassle to get there, as I walked to the train station only to find that the train was closed on Sunday. This wasn’t ideal but I carried on and walked to the bus stop instead. After walking I had to wait at the stop for 20 minutes. At this point I was starting to get worried as It was around 11:30 and I was supposed to meet everyone at the ferry for 12. Once I knew I would never make it on time, I called my friend and told him I would take the next ferry. However the bus took a little longer than anticipated, and I ended up boarding the ferry at 1 instead. From here on out my travels were more steady and without delay.

The Whitney itself was interesting. I had never been so it was fun to see something new. We started at the top floor and I didn’t really get a lot of the art up there. This happened with a lot of the pieces. I understand that most of them had meaning behind them but they just did not resonate with me the way they might with other people. While this held true for most of the art, I still enjoyed walking around and looking at all the different pieces. I did really like one painting I saw (I cannot remember what floor it was on) and when I did see it I thought to myself “This kind of looks like one of those Edward Hopper paintings.” It turned out to actually be one of his paintings, “Second Story Sunlight.” I really liked this painting and I liked his other ones displayed. I’m not exactly sure why, but I have always really liked Edward Hopper’s paintings. If I had to give a reason it would probably be the way he uses light and shadow in his pieces. He was definitely the highlight of the Whitney for me.

The same day we went to the MET, we decided to knock out the art gallery visit as well. I went to”SALON ZURCHER: 100 WOMEN OF SPIRIT+, PART 3” off of Bleecker Street, which is a satellite fair of The Armory Show, and it was free which was a nice factor (the affordable art fair wasn’t looking so affordable). When we went, the only thing I could seriously focus on was how hot it was inside. The building. Mind you, it was raining all day and kinda chilly, so we were in pants and raincoats. But an, this building was an instant sauna. We didn’t last that long inside purely because of how hot it was, but there also wasn’t much artwork left, but what was was amazing.

This piece’s artists as actually in the building, and I got to speak with her. All of the pieces are herself as I am my most reliable model” she says. Even though each expression is identical, I think each portrait tells a different story. A bonus was that she was really nice and answered all of my questions.

This was another piece in the corner of the gallery that caught my eye. I love sculpture, so this was one that I immediately felt drawn to. I love the dynamic, almost moving nature of it, and I was sad I didn’t get to meet the artist like I did the others. The black and green contrast of living and dead also tells a story of life, and I think that’s so beautiful. I also can’t help but think ”ain’t no way I could make something like that”, because I was so in awe of how complicated it looked in person. I had a really fun trip this day between the MET, Midtown, and the gallery, so I’m glad it ended with something more niche and cool.

I think the first sign that this trip was going to be crazy was the fact that I spent 7 DOLLARS on a one-way bus into Manhattan. But I went to not only the MET on Sunday, but the art exhibit as well, and our day ( Mia, me, and our friend Bella )started bright and early when we met at 8:30am in the lobby of Dolphin cove south. We then walked the obscene amount to the SIM33C stop outside the school, and I then paid the stupid $7, and we got on our way. We got off in battery park to take the 4 up from Bowling Green and the station was way too hot. The train was smooth, but we then walked a long time to the met, and that also should’ve been foreshadowing to the 20,000 steps I was going to walk that day. We get to the met, and they conned me into spending $15 for a ticket when I didn’t have to pay (mia only a paid a dollar, lucky). But, once we were in, I was havinga great time. I saw Van Gogh, Monet, but my favorite exhibit was the superfine exhibit inspired by the met gala. The ambiance was unreal to start with, and I know you said we should focus solely on the art (which we did because couldn’t find the ancient Egyptian section), but this fashion section could only be described as highly curated art. The mannequins were flawless, depicting the African American story in America. And not only the clothing from the met gala, but old history clothing from the wars or slavery were in the exhibit, and amazingly preserved and shown. After this exhibit, it was about time for lunch ( meaning we all were complaining about being hungry) so we stopped at the Mediterranean place, didn’t like what we saw, went all the way across the floor to the American Cafe only to find out it was the same exact food (This led us to wait to eat and we ended up going to Ellen’s Stardust Diner in Midtown which was a blast!).

Now, back to what I’m supposed to be talking about. Art has never really spoken to me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good painting or exhibit (as seen through my herding out over Superfine), but my favorite of the bunch was this one by Claude Monet.

I absolutely love sunflowers, which is why this one caught my eye. I don’t know if there’s a deeper meaning to this artwork, but I know I appreciate it and the hard work that went into making it. Looking up close, each brush stroke is so meticulous, and honestly I think that’s the real meaning of art—not some “deeper meaning”, but recognizing and appreciating the labor and time it took to create a piece. I think that’s why sculptures are so appreciated by people, but everyone can’t help but think “There’s no way I could’ve made that”. And that is the core of art—The disbelief in a creation. And awe it leaves you in from its beauty, rather than searching for a deeper meaning or secret message. Overall I had a great time looking at all of the work, and my legs hurt the rest of the day from all of the walking we did. Shout out to the MTA app for giving us directions to everywhere we went!

This is about my visit to the Met was supposed to be about my visit to the Met, but because of the condescending clerk who SHOULD have given us our tickets for free, and a classmate I traveled with’s strong sense of financial justice, we ended up leaving the Met without having even bought a ticket, but, seeing as I’m writing this, I did end up at a museum, if you could even call it that.

New York may be a crazy place to live where you have to exercise extreme caution, with a transit system that paradoxically is the best in the world while simultaneously being a nightmare for both commuters and employees alike; however, its vast size and desirability for status lends to the city’s appeal for businesses/attractions to set up, and conveniently, this meant that right down the block from the Met was the museum I ended up going to: The Guggenheim.

The clerk in the Guggenheim was eager to help us and made sure our tickets were free, while also explaining what our Cuny ids entitled us to at the museum, being free entry(very helpful, personable, and understanding, unlike the Met). Once inside, I was glad our entry was free as the works on display reminded of the works of a child a parent may put on the fridge, or take pictures of while saying, “Wow, you’re such an artist” despite the work being the same scribble done 5 dozen times on one canvas, or just a pile of rocks(both being actual works at the museum).

The museum’s shape itself, both outside and inside, was a jarring sight, a cork screw rising into the air, looking worse on the inside somehow. There were I think 6 labeled floors inside, and the floors were continuous in one giant spiral. The works were… abstract and very unique. None of them really spoke to me, unsurprisingly, and I felt no real connection to most of them as I couldn’t even begin to attempt to interpret them due to how random they were and how each work seemed to juxtapose the other works and even itself.

There at least was an elevator to save you the torture of having to go up and down the cork screw in the same trip, so thankfully after getting to the top floor I only had to walk it once.

The cork screw does however force you to walk down and see the multiple works painted on to glass and other mediums displaying alarming messages, so in this regard the architecture does add to one of the works.

Beyond the cork screw, there were side exhibits each showcasing works that apparently did not fit the general theme of the museum(no clue what the theme could have been in all honesty), and these side exhibits were more enjoyable as they were all tangible and unique works that seemed to take more effort than just a fleeting impulse to bring to life. 

Many of these side works were paintings, and one was a knitted work that wasn’t a blanket, but instead a large design. The paintings especially were full of effort and love as they were painted in various eras and areas, while also portraying a variety of topics and history.

Despite my liking of these paintings, overall, I was left disappointed in the art that the museum chose to put in its main exhibit, with much of it being too elaborate or scatter brained to for any sort of narrative beyond, ”elaborate and scatter brained”, which, if that were the narrative, would be a rather poor and uninspired narrative. I did like the spiral itself because it was something I hadn’t experienced before, but beyond the initial introduction to it, it quickly lost its luster as I had to descend its singular floor.

My trip to the Guggenheim wasn’t exactly planned, and was not the worst, but it makes me question whether I can get a refund for my time, or sue for psychological damages caused by the art. I will definitely not return again of my own free will. It will ;however, always be thought of by me as better than the Met because the Guggenheim seemed to welcome my entry, likely desperate for someone to see their vision(whoever’s vision that museum was made in needs to see an ophthalmologist).

My visits to the Guggenheim were…an experience, to say the least. They ended up being far more draining, confusing, and, in a strange way, uncanny than I ever would have anticipated. My first journey began with a crammed bus ride directly from CSI’s campus that left me exhausted before I even made it into Manhattan, coupled with a ride in an old “6” train car with barely any functioning air conditioning. Notwithstanding, I made it and was shocked by how small and unimposing the museum’s building was compared to what I had pictured in my head, albeit its architecture was every bit as stunning. Upon my entry, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my ticket was free per the words of my vendor (I’m happy to say that the entire admission process went smoothly and felt more like stepping into a 5-star hotel than a half-baked mega sized seashell), and, on that note, I rode the elevator to the 6th floor and began my journey.

On my first visit, to be perfectly honest, the art didn’t particularly resonate with me on any level, and it immediately struck me as very abstract, with an extremely limited amount of people on all level outside the one closest to the ground floor, which features a figure staring (judgmentally) at the viewer. It’s completely unchronological to mention the bottom floor before where I originally started, in the same way the building’s immediate beauty stands juxtaposed with its deeply underwhelming artwork. However, there were a few works that stood out to me amidst the sea of cryptic or outright nonsensical works in the Guggenheim, one of which seemed to be a kind of Paleolithic leather hide or mud-like surface. Whereas most works were eerie messages or displaced furniture, the hide deeply resonated with me as, thanks largely to its littered human-like remains, I was instantly able to clock it as a kind of graveyard, perhaps symbolizing the dirty nature of death. The museum also happened to have plenty of distorted paintings that, for some reason, vaguely reminded me of traditional African works. That’s about where the human and “living” aspect of the museum ended; whatever was left felt sterile, or, at most, unsettling, including the various array of vandalized mirrors with cryptic messages like “RUN”. There also happened to be a variety of desecrated furniture such as flipped tables or outright ruined shelves. Whatever furniture wasn’t destroyed felt deeply unhuman (such as the 3d diamond-shaped cabinet with copies of the same book stacked on top of each other), but there was very little room for interpretation besides “You don’t belong here”, and that message seemed to be a constant theme throughout my first visit. The only artwork in the entire museum that I could say I enjoyed with conviction would be the section littered with a vast array of Futurist artwork, but that’s only out of a deep fascination for the context in which it was developed (Italian Futurism in the prelude to WW1 and Russian Futurism in the 1910s-20s). If not previously alluded to already, I didn’t care much for the Guggenheim’s artwork, as it seemed to be in constant revolt against my very being, with its vindictiveness against my humanity being ever-present and facing me through the building’s circular, inward-facing design. Although I could forgive that vindictiveness if it felt readily applicable directly towards me, it more so just felt like the museum was being spiteful against anyone who dared to enter its doors and looked inside of it past its elaborate outside design. I struggled to find any deeper meaning besides a collective ugly rage against the visitor, shown in the copy-and-pasted spray paints of words on mirrors trying to signal urgency.

My second visit wasn’t much better, and mainly just felt the same, except my lazy confusion was mixed in with that of the two classmates who I had gone with. Originally, we planned on going to the Met under the presumption that it, like the Guggenheim, was free for CUNY students or even anyone living in the Tri-State area. I also personally felt unfulfilled after my first visit to the Guggenheim and was looking towards a fresh start. That quickly evaporated once we met one of the vendors, who seemed deeply uninterested in explaining the museum’s policy towards visitors and would much rather fan us out of his presence like a collective of annoying fruit flies. Out of what I got to see in the Met before ushering myself out, the architecture seemed rather elaborate and much more pleasant to the eyes as opposed to the Guggenheim’s sterile insides, though I wouldn’t get to know that architecture’s connection to the Met’s real artwork…because I didn’t bring 17 bucks. We walked roughly 4-5 blocks uptown and went to the Guggenheim, and, although my classmates initially cheered due to the lack of an admissions fee for us as CUNY students, those cheers of excitement quickly evaporated and were replaced by grumbles and confusion. If you were expecting an awakening in which I discovered what the Guggenheim really wanted me to know about it and the work inside of it, you’re wrong. I did get to uncover a few new rooms I hadn’t previously gotten to witness, but nothing about them could be tied back to the broader uncanny feeling I got in the main 6-floor circular structure. Those works weren’t really in sync with that broader unwelcome/unnatural theme and felt largely like filler, so I can’t say I’m able to tie them back to what I principally felt in that museum. Were they appealing to the eyes? Sure. Did I manage to uncover a broader theme that woke me up from my near slumber derived from my second commute? Nope. Overall, my second experience wasn’t anything to gloat about to friends or even mention in casual conversation, much like my first.

As much as I’d like to say I found something remarkable about the Guggenheim, I can’t really say that. The cryptic messages and hastily desecrated pieces of furniture were….alright, I guess? They made sense in contrast to the outer beauty and spiraling warmth of the Guggenheim’s design, but outside of that, I didn’t find anything that had a “wow” factor. I can’t say I outright hated it, but the collections were limited, unremarkable, and often out of sync with the central message I got from the museum. I probably would have had more to write about if I wasn’t cheap and paid for the Met.

On Sunday, September 7th we headed to the city to explore the Whitney Museum. The commute to the museum went very smoothly where we took the ferry and right after hopped on the 1 train to the museum. The city is a foreign place for me and I’ve only been to the city twice without my parents so being able to go with friends was a fun experience. The weather was gloomy and rainy but that didn’t stop us from walking 12 minutes to the museum. Once we got there me and a couple others got some overpriced food and drinks and waited for the rest of group to come. The tickets were free for people 18 and under so that was a bonus so once everyone came we entered this magical oceanic elevator to the top floor.

The 8th floor was Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night exhibit that was drawings, paintings, and visual representations of the deaf community. The floor was filled with paintings and drawings that represented ASL and different perspectives of how deaf people view the world around them. This piece specifically spoke to me because it encapsulates what deaf people have to go through in their day to day lives.

The 7th floor was named “Untitled” America. This floor spoke to me a lot because there was a lot of beautiful pieces that were just amazing to look at whether or not I saw the true meaning within them. Many of the paintings had a lot going on within them with different textures and colors that made them mesmerizing to look at. These ones below really caught my eye with the designs and their colors.

The last floor we really explored was the 6th floor that had so many more physical sculptures and more visual pieces that were based around nature. There was this one sculpture that reminded me of Moana that was just so beautiful and like nothing I’ve ever seen.

At the end of our museum tour, we headed to the first floor where there was this vending machine with mini paintings where we got our keepsakes for the trip. I got the green central park bench and I felt like it was perfect for me because I love green so much. After that thanks to Khadijah, we went to koreatown for some goood food and we did karaoke. After that we parted ways and I was able to take the SIM bus home all the way to the front of my house which was just the perfect way to end the day. Overall the day was such a success as the museum was actually interesting where each floor had a different theme trying to convey different messages and we were able to bond as a group in NYC.

No one could notice you in the Museum of Modern Art. It was crowded and noisy, filled mostly with tourists. Be prepared to look online for a map because there are five floors of art with endless rooms. It was a shame there were no physical maps. 

Like a tourist, I was most excited to take a picture next to Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. I have always connected with Vincent van Gogh because I enjoyed learning about his paintings in elementary school. To my surprise, Starry Night was much smaller than I imagined, yet seeing it in person was still meaningful. I can finally check seeing it off my bucket list.

Furthermore, it was interesting to see how “basic” some art pieces could be. For instance, Mark Rothko’s paintings often consisted of stacked rectangles of colors. In his painting, No. 10, there is a small rectangle of blue on the top, a large rectangle of yellow in the middle, and a large grey on the bottom. I didn’t really understand it, but I was drawn by its simplicity. In another untitled painting of his, the top half was black, and the bottom was grey. Looking at this painting, I felt cold and dark vibes. After reading a biography of the painting, the dark emotion made more sense because Rothko painted this piece a year before his death by suicide. 

The most shocking part of the museum were the modern objects presented. For instance, a pair of post-it notes, Bic Cristal ballpoint pens, and a monobloc chair were on display. I felt it was silly, but I recognize that their impact is timeless.

Overall, I am glad I made the trip to the city and spent the day at the MoMA. I was immersed by the iconic paintings of Vincent van Gogh, Picasso, and Claude Monet, but I was also inspired by the creativity of lesser known artists. Everything in the museum is art and I can’t deny I felt at least something toward every piece, including the monobloc chair.