Art & Authenticy

The main character's eyes burn with intensity yet have a singe of immaturity that drives the theme of the film.

There is a short story in Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man that spoke of astronauts landing on Mars and trying to spread Christianity there.  The gentle martians at the end of the story kindly shook their heads and pointed at their 100% energy efficient Hydrogen generators, their streets empty of crime, their civilizations free of war and their schools full of eagerly-learning offspring.

“We do not need your religion here, we are perfect beings.  Perhaps you are better off solving problems back on your own planet.”

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I’m not even going to pretend.  Michelanglo maybe is better known for his sculptures than his artwork, and maybe its true that he was young.  But the fact of the matter is, this painting disappointed me and certainly many others.

We are ignoring the fact that Michelanglo forgot a crucial step.

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I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.

Falling for Dance was an interesting experience, not interesting meaning “oh it was quite lovely” but more on “holy crap, what just happened?” kind of feeling.

It was a kind of baptism, sort of like how Tyler Durden poured lye all over the main character of Fight Club’s hand and clutching him to make him feel his hand being eaten away slowly. Continue Reading »

The Fall for Dance festival is a series of dance performances by various companies in the fall and the goal of the festival is to make the audience “fall for dance.” Even though I did not fall in love with dance after watching the four performances, I enjoyed following most of the dance movements although struggled trying to figure out the essence of the performances. Continue Reading »

Looking at the events of the short movie Wasp it can be easily assumed that Zoe is an irresponsible mother. But is this assumption really justified? In my opinion she is a victim of her poor circumstances and bad choices. As can be inferred from some her action in the movie (the fight in the beginning of the move for the sake of her daughter or when in the bar the way she uses all her money to buy soda for her children in the bar), Zoe is trying hard to be a caring mother for her kids. Her poor state and her incapability to cope with the pressure of raising four small kids single handedly has led to her becoming a frustrated woman who longs for some personal, carefree time of her own.

They dance and dance to the music and never stop. In Ben Brantley’s review of Fela!, he emphasized on the Broadway dancers’ energetic and vibrant motions on the spectacular stage.

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To look at music is to look at how it has evolved over the span of decades. Music is an element in our mainstream culture that has been evolving through several centuries in the U.S. The biggest change, however, was witnessed during the 1970s and was well chronicled by Looking At Music Side: 2. From the moment you walk into the exhibit, the large, yellow mural with those words “Looking at Music: Side 2” creates a bold and significant impression on the exhibit in general. The font they used is also cleverly designed–as if scribbling the words “Looking At Music: Side 2” is in a sense, implying that music is still a work-in-progress and will continue to evolve as time goes on. Patti Smith’s collection of her self-portrait and her early works is a reflection of these “changing times”. I am also particularly glad that she came into the punk-rock genre because of how intriguing this genre of music has become. The fast paced melody, tempo and electric guitar rhythms is just like musical paradise and to get a first hand feel of how it came to existence is sensational. Another breathtaking aspect of the exhibit was the collage on the wall. By blending in the myriad of photos into a whole symbolizes how music in America is very diverse, culturally influenced and yet, it is very broad in general.

After reading Brantley’s review of “West Side Story,” I expected harsh criticism of Bill T. Jones’s “Fela!” But I was surprised to see that many of his views were similar to mines. He was able to capture a combination of all of our presentations in reviewing “Fela!”

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An interesting point that Ben Brantley brought up was the fact that he was surprised at how the audience members weren’t in such a groove after the show. It was quite obvious to me that the show was all the rage and everyone was talking about it afterwards. Although Brantley’s comment on how people should have left the show swinging their hips was an exaggeration, the powerful aura of the Shrine and the theater itself was enough to give people a subconscious urge to rotate their “clocks”. Ben Brantley’s review touched upon a lot of the aspects that we covered in class: the political activism of Fela Kuti, the height of his career in Nigera when he was all the rage and of course, his powerful, aggressive demeanor both on and off the stage. FELA! was also a means of revival, according to Ben Brantley. Much of Broadway has focused on the theme of revival of classical works such as West Side Story and FELA! was no exception. Bill T. Jones was determined to capture the essence of the production as it was in the 1970s and that style is still relevant in today’s theater. Although he had the help of some elaborate collaborators such as Shawn Carter, Bill T. Jones drew and conceived FELA! as an original and authentic piece of work. If we didn’t know that we were living in NY, we would’ve left the show thinking that we were taking a trip in a time machine back into Fela Kuti’s prime.

After a tour through the International Center of Photography, nothing was more striking than the group of European young men showing off their “expensive” clothing. Little did I know about the significance of clothes in European fashion and culture. What was amazing about this video clip was that they were showcasing random young adults off the streets and into a private hotel room. Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a serious commitment to undertake. Nonetheless, these “youngsters” were more than eager to showcase their stylish, expensive and bizarre wardrobes to the international audience. They discussed how “important” one’s appearance was in Europe. Basically, what you wore defined your social status and therefore, they more than willing to spend that extra money to “look good”. You would think that these boys were rich in order to wear these types of apparel-WRONG! Contrary to what I had thought, they were struggling to make a living. Their measly salary is barely enough to support them in terms of food and rent, however, they do not let that obstacle deter them from heavy spending. To give you an idea of their budgets, most of these young men make around 800 euros a month. Factor in rent, food and other living expenses and they barely have anything left over. The next thing you know, one of them pulls out a 2,000 Euro suit right in front of the camera! It amazes me how much the clothes matter to the European culture-especially the younger age group. Nonetheless, these desires show just how much these values mean to them.