Author: Anastasiya Chabotska

New York Aquarium Mural Competition

Anastasiya Chabotska 0 Comment Public Art

As I take a walk with my dog every evening on the Coney Island Boardwalk, I always focus on enjoining the sounds of the waves of the ocean. I move from Brighton Beach to Coney Island, and when I get closer to West 8th street, my focus of attention switches to the New York Aquarium. The architecture and design of the New York Aquarium itself represent the topic of wildlife and its preservation. At this moment every day, my flow of thoughts goes from enjoining the beauty of the ocean to thinking about how to preserve its beauty. I elaborate on that topic even more in my mind when I see three pieces of art on the walls of the Education Hall of theNew York Aquarium.

These three pieces of graffiti are relatively new. They appeared on the walls of Education Center in the summer of 2017 on the World Ocean’s Day. Before that, there was also a graffiti on the wall. It was an extension of the last piece that you see on the right. It depicted the Coney Island neighborhood and the New York Aquarium before. Then, the Aquarium decided to renovate its walls and make a new design. The goal they were trying to achieve was to attract public attention to the issue of water pollution with plastic and to inspire people to protect our waters. The New York Aquarium organized a contest and three winners got a chance to install their designs on the walls. The winners and the authors of the art on the walls are Sheena Wong Shue, Danielle Mastrion, and Thomas Manco. You can see each artist’s statement about their work and artist’s bio on small posters by each of the paintings.

My favorite out of all three is the one on the left by Danielle Mastrion. It shows a body of the fish divided into two parts. One part of the fish is colorful and attractive in light blue water. The second part consists of a skeleton filled with plastic bottles and other garbage in dark water tones. For me, it represents how all the waste pollutes the water, turns it from nice, bright, and blue to ugly, dark, and dirty. Every day more and more plastic fills the ocean and brings the marine life to extinction. When I read the artist’s statement, I realized that my understanding of it was wrong. The author was using the idea of a phoenix and how it revives from the ashes. From the dirty water, a bright colorful fish comes back to life. My view of the picture turned out to be more pessimistic because I saw how everything is getting worse. The author, on the contrary, tried to show the possibility to change the situation for the better if we take the action and become more involved and attentive. The other two picture represent the same theme. They show us the ocean water and its inhabitants, dealing with plastic, and other waste in it.

From all the author’s statements, I realized that these artists are people greatly concerned about the issue of pollution of the sea and that they care about trying to change the existing situation. The location of the murals is perfect for attracting peoples attention to that topic. You can see them from the boardwalk when entering the beach. It takes the whole side of the Education Center so it’s impossible to not notice it. The murals are better seen during the daytime when the sun shines. It is great because at this time everybody is coming to the beach, to sunbathe, swim, relax… People come to have fun and enjoy their time, and the wall is here to remind them about the consequences of their potential irresponsible actions. Before entering the beach, people get a chance to glance at the walls, that might change their view on the time they are going to spend on the beach. The deeper meaning of the murals reminds them that they have to be careful and caring to nature, to the ocean. Maybe people will get affected by it and think before leaving an empty plastic bottle on the beach. Personally, for me, it did its job perfectly. I look at the walls every day for more than a year, and every day I get a reminder of how important it is to care for nature, and for the ocean.

by Anastasiya Chabotska 

Shutter Island (2010)

Anastasiya Chabotska 2 Comments Film Reviews

“Shutter Island” is a screen version of a novel Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (2003). The psychological thriller was released in 2010, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley. It is the first thriller by Scorsese, so no one was expecting the movie to be so intense, twisted and tense, and keep the attention of the viewers until the very last scene. The “Shutter Island” leaves you with a feeling that your brain was turned inside out. The movie itself is very complicated. It is both hard to watch and hard to understand. There are some moments and things that the mind couldn’t simply explain or understand. At this moment your senses come into play. The sensual power of the movie is unbelievable. It opens new horizons in cinematography and creates an extreme realism that has never been known before.

“Shutter Island” tells us a story about federal Marshall Teddy Daniels and his partner, who travel to an island located somewhere near Boston in 1954. This island was used as a fort during times of the Civil War, but later it became a psychiatric hospital named Ashecliffe. It is a home for the most dangerous criminals and psychos from all over the country. Teddy and his partner are out to investigate a mysterious disappearance of an extremely dangerous patient named Rachel Solando who killed three of her children. The hospital is surrounded by an electrical fence, and the prisoners are under control all the time, which leaves them with no possible way to escape. Our heroes are here to find the missing patient while revealing some of the scariest secrets of the dark island. But whether the island will let the uninvited guests get away with all that secrets so easily is the question…

The features of the movie that were the most appealing to my particular cinematic experience, and stood out the most and contributed to the mood and the tone, were the music and colors. From the first scene, we feel drowning in dark tones that create the eerie and dangerous atmosphere. We are affected by the dark-grey-blue palette until the very last moment, that does not let us relax and get rid of that tension and confusion. It contributes to the complexity of the plot, by keeping the viewer in a state of suspense throughout the whole movie. The dark tones of the colors chosen by Scorsese, accompanied by the disturbing sound effects, create a feeling of presence inside the scene, making the viewer experience the same type of emotions as the main character, such as fear, hopelessness, and distrust.

It’s worthy of mentioning, that the music itself creates an indelible impression on the viewer. It is not melodic at all; it is a bunch of noise, sounds of different volume and tonality. All the sound and motion effects combined did not simply make me jump out of my seat and feel stupidly scared, as it happens a lot of times with the poorly thought-out “screamer” based horror movies. It did not only make me shudder quite often while I was watching the film, but it also brought awareness into my comprehension of the story. Adding up to that, it intensified the effects on viewers’ perception of the picture on the screen, assured full immersion into the atmosphere and concentrated viewers’ attention on the main turning points in the movie. Even during scenes that are quite bright, with not that much melancholy and low-spiritedness, the sounds were able to place emphasis on the dramatizing of the events. Also, the positioning of the camera and using slow motion to highlight the importance and tension of key moments creates a different form of approach, which helps the viewer to develop compassion and connection to an adversity faced by the main character.

Putting aside the fact that I was not watching the film in a theater, but on my laptop at home, it still impacted my sensual comprehension, connected with my interpretation of the plot. The soundtrack accommodating the tragic incidences, that Teddy has to endure, contributed to the realization of us losing our sense of reality vs. illusion alongside with the main character. At this point, we can no longer distinguish what is real, and what is not. It feels like not that the plot is not thought-out well, or that there are blanks in it, but that we ourselves were deceived and lost.

The psychological thriller pressures our brain, attracting our attention to the actions on the screen, making us stay completely focused on, and involved in unfolding events that happen in the movie. Insanely complicated, dynamic and unpredictable plot unveils sweepingly; impeccable work and inimitable style of Martin Scorsese, and the excellent acting performed will not leave you unsatisfied or indifferent if you decide to dedicate your time to watch this movie.