cosplaying a cosplayer, COSPLAYCEPTION

Hey, I’m MJ. No, that does not stand for Mary Jane — thanks, Spiderman. It’s for Mary Julienne. Like Julianne, but with an e. Yes? Okay. My parents thought it would be nice to name me after my paternal great-grandmother Juliana, but with a modern twist. How they managed to skip over the “a” in the middle and turn it into an “e” is beyond me. But it’s quite fun, seeing your name in the dictionary and knowing you share a namesake with those julienned carrots in your salad.

I was born in the Philippines, living in the province with my grandparents while my parents worked a hundred miles away in the city. My mom shoved me into school at the age of two and a half, and I still have my ID card from then. Eventually my little brother and I moved down to the city, too, where I attended an all-girls Catholic school (it’s worth mentioning that I’m an atheist now, but that’s another story). My family moved to the United States when I was 8, and I’ve lived in New York City since.

I enjoy eating, knitting, taking walks, photography, geeky discussions, role-playing video games, teaching myself Latin, worshipping Nobuo Uematsu and all his kind, and singing Asian pop at the top of my lungs without understanding a thing I’m saying.

I’m personally not much of an art person in the traditional sense; I’m more crafty than artsy, if you will. I am not a huge museum-goer as I’m one of the hundreds of thousands who reads the plaque, looks at the painting/sculpture/what have you in question, snaps a photo with my camera, and moves on. That said, what I enjoy as “art” is music — which, yes, probably seems counterintuitive, but being able to weave together melodies and rhythms across instruments (and perhaps your life story, too) into a four-minute masterpiece is my kind of art. I will likely enjoy a two-hour orchestral performance more than a perfunctory museum tour, but that’s just me. To each their own!

I’m Sara, yes Sara without the H. I was born in an anonymous town in the middle of nowhere, in the industrial Northern Italy. I grew up with my fingers sticky from pasta dough and my face powdered with flour, helping my grandmother to make the most loved meals in the world. I was tossed in my grandma’s arms at age 4—when my parents divorced—and I lived a spoon-fed life until I was 8, when I moved with my father and his new wife to what would have become my hometown. Bosisio Parini—a name that barely appears on any map—was the place I spent most of my life in: two-thousand people, three churches, and the lake, puddle of memories. But despite its stunning beauty, that limiting environment granted no future for us. So I had to jump, take the biggest leap of my life: on the 22nd of December 2009 I moved to the Big Apple with my mother and sister, leaving my dad to Italy to support us financially. I was thrown in the illogical world of slang and French fries, but somehow—fantastically—I managed to become part of it without gaining fifty pounds. I may speak with my hands, but I swear one can barely hear my accent. I feel more American than ever, although I’ll never forget my origins; that little village—to me—is that one place where you feel like you left your anchor. I mean—would have been a pretty heavy load to carry overseas, all the way to New York city.

I believe art is anything that serves as a medium to transmit emotions for someone to perceive them through their own filter on the other side. I like art that has strong messages and that challenges the standards, the accepted values and the conventions. When I go to museums I tend to drift away on my own and look for minor pieces–sort of like a treasure hunt… I always imagine there is a hidden piece, a painting everybody passes by, an ignored masterpiece that only I could truly appreciate and decode. I’m not a big fan of paintings with huge lines across them, but I do think that they are art and they are good art too. My favorite painter isAlbert Bierstadt, and I was so excited when we went to the Brooklyn museum and I got to see “A Storm in the Rocky Mountains” again (it was a huge painting that took up the whole wall and had a valley and the sun cutting through the clouds).

I am an Astronomy intern at the Museum of Natural History, I play guitar, sing, play volleyball, model, and I love going to concerts. My biggest dream is to become an astronaut!

Hi, guys. I’m not entirely sure if I am supposed to do this post, but here it is. I am Joshua Salazar, but I’d prefer it if you call me Josh– not even my mom calls me Joshua. I am eighteen years old, Filipino/Chinese, and the middle of three kids; I have an older sister Sarah, who is 22, and I have a younger brother, who is a junior in high school. I was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, but we lived in Jersey City at the time. I was never too detached from the city– just a PATH ride away! Anyway, when I was about five years old, my family decided to move to West Orange, New Jersey, which is where I live.

Throughout my childhood I was always active. I started playing soccer in the first grade, and during middle school I joined the track team. This doesn’t mean that I wasn’t I nerd, though. I loved Pokemon and other video games, and I would play for days on end.( I challenge anyone to a Pokemon bottle). For more academic interests, I found solace in writing and biology. I dislike history and hate chemistry, which sucks because I am currently failing the chem course!

As for art, I always found art to be interesting and eye-opening. I used to and still love going to the the Museum of Natural History, MOMA, and the MET. During high school, I took an art course and found out that I am actually not too bad at drawing, haha. I also find music to be an amazing source of art. I’m sure everyone has an artist, song, or genre that connects to them in a special way. In this course, I hope to open my eyes more to the different art forms. I also aim to grow deeper appreciations for the ones I already have been exposed to.

Hi! My name is Stella Chin and I grew up in Queens, New York. I am the eldest child of three. I have a sister who’s two years younger and a brother who’s three years younger. I have never owned any TV game console, so as a child I loved to read, swim and play the piano.I enjoy listening to all types of music and taking pictures with my camera.

I am a Burmese American and I know how to speak Burmese, English and a little bit of Spanish (took Spanish all 4 years of high school). People would usually describe me as a quiet person who’s always smiling.

To me, art is the expression of oneself. Art can be anything as long as the artist is creating something that they want to express. Art can sometimes confuse me because the way I perceive things may differ from the ways others perceive things. There would be times when I would just stare at a pice of art and think ‘I dont get it’, but that’s what makes art unique. There is no universal way to perceive art and create art which is why I find art fascinating.

Hi!  My name is Lisa Torre.  I’m from Staten Island, NY, and I’ve lived there my whole life.  I grew up in a two-family house with my parents and two younger siblings as well as my cousins and my aunt.  As of now I want to be a doctor and possibly major in math.  Growing up I’ve done multiple sports from dance to basketball, but eventually I settled on cheerleading which I did for about nine years.  Music and dance are two components of cheerleading, so technically cheering was a way that art filled my life for a long time.

I find art very interesting, especially music.  I’ve loved listening to music my whole life.  I probably annoyed everyone in the house with all of the dancing and singing I would do, and sometimes still do.  I like different types of music and artists from the Beatles to boy bands to Lady Gaga.  I also enjoy travelling and seeing the art and architecture of places around the world.  One of my favorite places is Paris, France, because I love the buildings and the atmosphere, especially the Eiffel Tower.  Although I’m not too good at it, I also like photography and drawing.

What I like most about music and art in general is the different emotions they can create.  I love how different paintings, photos, sculptures, and songs can almost take you to another place and make you feel different things.

My name is Linda Wong and I have an undying love for fluffy animals. Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits… as long as they’re fluffy, they have all my attention and love. It may be weird, but I think I communicate better with animals than I do with people.

I grew up in in Brooklyn, and I’ve lived there ever since. I have two older sisters; one five years older and the other, seven years older. Reading books became more than a hobby for me; it was almost like breathing, as corny as that sounds. My mom used to drop me off at the public library, and didn’t come to pick me up until closing time. There, I spent hours reading those books that could become so magical. Back then, I thought that I could also became a person who could create magic with words.

Art, to me, is everything. A water bottle can be art, the magnets on a refrigerator can be art, and even garbage can become art. I think it’s about how and what you perceive art to be, not what others claim and label it to be. Although I’m not as artistic as I’d like to be, I still appreciate art. I’m not too crazy about paintings, but I do love exotic and unique architecture.

Hi, my name is Erica. Everyone knows me as the girl with the unpronounceable last name. I’m from Long Island and I grew up in multiple towns, moving around due to schooling for most of my life. The city has always been a backyard to me, what with my dad working here for most of my life and living here for the better half of his. He’s been my unofficial tour guide and role model, drawing me into the cultural experience of the city. From the age of 6 until I was 11, I was a full-time gymnast. I also played piano and soccer.Though I spent much of my life learning to sew and salivating over fashion design and runway models, it is more of a hobby to me now. My time growing up was spent between plays, musicals, and films. As I got older I discovered opera and concerts, both of which I’m a frequent attendee. I grew up around books and poetry, so I love to write poetry, prose, and even essays. I’m the most argumentative person you’ll ever meet; not that I’m contrary, but I love well-developed discussions on larger-than-life subjects from philosophy to psychology.

I hope to be an English major and possible Philosophy minor. I love to listen to music and go to concerts, especially alternative music. However, I enjoy nearly all types of music and I’m always open to new musical exploration. I hope to travel a lot in my life and learn a new language since I have incredible wanderlust for all the beautiful places I’ve yet to see. I enjoy British television and good film and spend a good majority of my free time watching these and picking apart every moment. There’s nothing more exciting to me than being surrounded by the sounds of the city; it’s an insistent hum that I’m slowly tuning my ears to.

What I like most about art is that it surrounds us. Anything could be art. The way someone walks is art, the spacing of the trees is art, the swaying of the people on public transportation is art. Looking around, we don’t often see how beautiful everything here is, how everything around us is conducive to a life filled with art.  We live in a world that is so perfectly and artistically designed. The city is art. Life is art.

Jessica is Instructional Technology Fellow at Macaulay Honors College and Hunter College. Contact her with any questions about projects or about this site. Jesshamm@gmail.com