The Politics of Art & Authenticity

I can’t believe I’m at the end of my first semester of college. Time flew. I know I have grown a lot as a person. Better yet I’ve matured. When I first looked at my schedule, I was a bit unhappy with the classes I had gotten stuck with. But I guess in the end it was worth it. I know that I’ve created some lasting relationships and I am content with that.
Moving on with IDC, what can I say?
I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed it or how it was fundamental to me becoming more aware of my surroundings.
But I think I would rather begin with the latter. Moving to NYC was a big shock to my suburban self. I mean there wasn’t a big shock to living on my own but rather the shock of being in this metropolis so unlike what I was used to. In the first weeks I visited all the touristy places. Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Central Park.

I feel that for many of you guys, college hasn’t really changed your way of life that much. I mean there’s the class twice a week, the papers and all of that.

For me it was different. I mean I moved here from Denver, it’s not the same. Living on my own wasn’t really an issue, but rather finding the motivation to continue on with each craptastic day.

IDC was my favorite class.  I got to explore the city and become more cultured.

In the process of doing so, I think I learned a bit about myself.

I mean, it’s not the typical oh yes, I found myself. But more of a ‘I’m a bit more grown up.’

This is probably the most sentimental post I’ve had to write yet. So here goes.

Arts Seminar 1 has been the best class of my entire college career so far. I know that’s not saying much because I’ve only had six classes.. but I do believe that when it’s time to graduate, I’ll look back on Professor Davis’s class and remember so many things because it was just that impressionable.

I was exposed to many mediums and styles of art that I never would have even given a shot if it weren’t for the curriculum of this class (Ahem, “Swim.”). Thanks to Macaulay, it didn’t even cost me that much. We frequented the MoMa, the film festival, the Metropolita Opera, and so many other events. It’s hard to even recall the first one. I was given the opportunity to visit the Public Theater, BAM, and even our own Baruch Theater that I would probably never have tried exploring. Arts Seminar 1 put my foot in the door in many different ways. I am proud to say that I am going to have a cultured life.

The class itself always  fostered a positive environment. As you all know, I love to talk in class. I don’t think I have ever held back on anything and that was due to two things: our great class dynamic and Professor Davis. I believe that everyone’s opinion counted and listened to and I think that was what reinforced the attention and interest that we had in the art that we were seeing at the time.

Stevie and I in a library study room attempting to do the Spike Jonze project. As you can see, we were very productive.

Aside from the obvious (Oh boy, here comes the cheesy parts..) like the curriculum and how much I enjoyed class, I am happy to say that being in Arts Seminar helped me grow in relationships and friendships with people, in independence in exploring new things, and in creativity. I cannot even lie, I loved making that last project. “The Secret” was my baby, my shining moment. Even though I know I started a bit late (as always…ugh) I think that even the rush of it all contributed to how proud I am to have accomplished it.

It surprised me to find out how easily people would open up to if prodded just a tiny bit. (Not everyone, of course, I was shut down and rejected A Lot). But honestly, I am proud to have met the people who did. First came Alan. He was the hipster photographer in his 40’s to 50’s who only agreed to the interview in exchange for a portrait shot of me with  his incredibly large Nikon. He has been married twice and had a lot to say. He was the best motivator. I hadn’t had the best of luck before I talked to him but he said that I could do it. I had a, “friendly face,” he assured me.

I visited more tourist spots thinking that people would be relaxed and on vacation. Everywhere else people were always rushing to work. And in Bryant Park, I found the best vacationing couple. I first saw Mack and Sandy (53 years married) comparing and examining little gift trinkets from some shelf. I hurried over to the store since they had not gone in all the way yet and quickly asked them if they could answer a question for a school project. (Saying “hello, how are you’s, and are you busy’s” led to my demise earlier so I changed my strategies so that people would not have time to brush me off). Anyway, back to Mack and Sandy. They just finished watching the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (which they thought was fantastic) and were just shopping around before they headed back on a bus to good l’ Pennsylvania. When Mack told me how much his marriage, family, and wife meant to him he began to tear up. For some reason I wanted to as well. (hehe cheeseball.) The two were eager to ask about who I was and where I went to school and what the project was all about. Then they urged me to go to Rockefeller Center because they saw many old couples getting off of buses from elsewhere like themselves who would be in a great mood after watching that show. Later on in the day, they saw me again on the other side and hurried to check up on me. Was I alright, they asked. Did I get any more interviews? Right after that I laughed when I found the local park cops, Elijah and Raj, and how all the answers of the young ones were so much different than the honest ones of the older people. H.K.’s answers (62 years married) were funny and long. He seemed at ease with me because I reminded him of his granddaughter. He thought I went to Stuyvesant High School with the granddaughter too.

Rockefeller Center lead me to Jodie and Steve, the enthusiastic couple from Jersey. I hooked those two because I approached them asking if they wanted me to take a picture of the both of them together since I observed them taking each other’s. When I was giving back the camera, I asked them The Question. And I think I basically pinned them to doing it since I did them a favor. (hehe, slick.)  Those two ended up being so accommodating and they took so much time out of their schedule to talk to me about their blended family. They even elaborated on problems like how Jodie’s biological son Todd is seven years older than her step-daughter Molly and so she gives Todd more lenience and independence. Molly thought this as ridiculous and blamed it on the fact that she was the step-daughter. “You treat your son differently.” They then proceeded to talk to me for a good twenty-minutes about their marriage. I raised the camera three times because they had so much to say. “Turn the camera here because the sun’s facing this way. It’s better exposure.” Hah, Steve was very funny. They each hugged me saying that I was the highlight of their visit when I had to leave.

Doing that last project pushed me into doing things I normally would not have. I have Arts Seminar 1 to thank for that and everything else I’ve previously mentioned.

I’d take this class again in a heartbeat.

For some New York may be the center for finance or cultural diversity. But for me, it is ART. It is the first image I would think of and the whole reason why I chose Macaulay Honors College. In that sense, IDC : Arts in New York City has been such a precious and wonderful opportunity to take a first step towards further appreciating art and even getting to take a sneak peak of the details of the world I had never known prior to this semester.

Thanks to Professor Davis’s carefully set out guideline within the curriculum : from films to opera to theatre to modern art and photography, I was able to experience various aspects of art industry and performances. They were indeed very enriching and thought provoking in so many ways. I cannot think of a better way to have set foot in the world of Arts in New York City if it weren’t for this opportunity and professor Davis’s guide.

Having a very low self-esteem in writing, I was reluctant to blog posting at first. However, thanks to everyone’s understanding and patience (I do understand it would have been painful to read through my awkward phrases, I apologize.) I was able to gradually express my ideas with more ease and excitement. I’ve always had difficulty portraying my thoughts so even though I would have a presumably original idea or a valid point, I would shrink due to the fright of misdelivering my ideas and wasting other’s time and energy to endure through my filtering process. As I continued to write more about the experiences and my thoughts, I gained confidence in expressing my ideas. I also loved the commenting process and really appreciated others comments. It would have been good if the whole feedback and discussion process was able without making it a requirement. But so far, I think a little push did no harm yet it improved the process of sharing ideas in a more balanced way.

Arts Seminar not only allowed me to open up but it also allowed me to discover more about myself especially in terms of using different technology to create my own art piece and my thought process in approaching art. I have met such unique personalities and overall, it was a treasurable experience to get to know each other especially through art.

Though the idea of not being able to meet each other in this class saddens me, I would like to think of this as a beginning. The first step towards a broader experience to what New York has to offer and what I can contribute to the world.

“THIS is how you APPRECIATE ART”
I’m sorry for stalking, but I had to take this picture. It was too awe-inspiring to overlook. 🙂

I’m always hesitant about things that I’m forced to do. I dislike feeling like I have to do something. So of course, finding out that I had to take this class because it was a Macaulay requirement made me walk into the class with a negative attitude. I thought, “Well, I’m not an artist. And now they’re going to make me go to crazy events and make me draw things and grade me on it. Spectacular. This is going to be a fantastic semester.” Little did I know that this would turn out to my favorite class of the semester. Most of you can tell by the majority of my posts that I was always skeptical about these cultural events. Some of them were things that I would never have attended on my own. In fact, I probably never would have visited any of these places on my own. Although my experiences weren’t always positive, and sometimes I didn’t enjoy myself, I’m glad that I was forcibly put out of my comfort zone to try something new. I found myself talking about attending this opera, and that museum to my friends. I felt like a cultured member of society. These are all places that as New Yorkers, we should all visit at least once in our lifetimes. I can’t reiterate the fact that I probably wouldn’t have had these experiences without the existence of this class.

Although I had my fair share of freak-outs throughout the semester with the all the multimedia projects, again, I learned to enjoy something I was absolutely unfamiliar with before this class. I’ve always considered myself technologically handicapped. And as many of you know, that final multimedia presentation was one of the scariest assignments I’ve ever faced. But that feeling after I finalized my project on iMovie and played it to see the final outcome, was one of the greatest feelings ever. It took me days to write up my script, way too many YouTube tutorials to learn how to work iMovie, and a lot of effort to put together what I presented. What I did wasn’t much, but knowing that I did it on my own and that I was so nervous to do it in the fist place, made the feeling of accomplishment feel that much better. Now that the semester has come to a close, not only do I feel like a real New Yorker, but I also learned that if I can use iMovie, anyone can.

I still can’t believe that I’m finished with my first semester of college. I can definitely say that I wasn’t prepared for some of my experiences and I didn’t think I would meet such unique people.  This class was by far my favorite.  From the first day I found out Professor Davis was a part of the Journalism department I knew that this would be a class to remember.  It catered to all my interests; writing, art, film, and blogging.  And I also learned so many other things while being in the class that I didn’t expect to.  I was opened to all types of art, but in different forms than I have ever seen them in the past.  If it weren’t for this class I probably would’ve never went to the public theatre, seen a crazy hipster dance performance, or watched crazy short films that made absolutely no sense to me.  But after having all of these experiences it has only made me go out of my comfort zone and explore more of these areas.  I have discovered more short films, watched tons of documentaries, read more blogs, and kept an open mind to other’s opinions.

The one thing that I really have to appreciate from this class were all the people I met.  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that we had to best people in our IDC class.  The class dynamic was fantastic and I loved sharing all these amazing experiences with people who also shared a love of art, even if they didn’t realize it before.  Yes I will admit that I almost caused myself and others to be late to many of the events, but we still made it to all of them, and you will all probably remember me as the girl who causes everyone to be late.  But I will always remember this class and all the great friendships I’ve made because of it.  It is a little upsetting that next year we are all spread apart into different IDC classes, but I hope everyone remembers that first seminar class we took together and takes that great experience with them throughout the rest of their college lives.

So for anyone who reads this post:

Thanks for making my first semester one to remember. Also thanks for not thinking I’m too crazy.  Thank you to Professor Davis for being one of the best professors ever.  Thank you Brian for not killing me after all the times I’ve caused you stress.  Thanks to everyone who made me laugh and encouraged me to pursue my goals.

I wish you all the best with the rest of your college careers, and I hope that you will never forget this class.

Congrats guys! We made it through our first semester of college. (Don’t judge my awkward thumbs)

If I had to sum up my time in this class  in four words, they’d be: “Post comments on time.” If I had another four words, they’d be: “No really, don’t wait.”

I was terribly skeptical coming into “The Arts of New York City,” mostly because of the emotionally-scarring evening that was the “Night at the Brooklyn Museum.” Dear Macaulay, No. Just no. But then I thought better of it, and decided to go into the class with an open mind, and I was pretty excited when I learned about the events and artsy things we’d be doing. I think my inner-thoughts transcript went something like this that first class:

Lights go up. Cue me, scanning the syllabus.

Me: So this is basically a class where we watch movies and go to museums? I can work with th-OH MY GOD BROADWAY THIS IS GOI-

Suddenly, the course’s theme is announced: “The Politics of Art and Authenticity.” The lights go down to an ominous glow.

Me: No, this can’t be happening. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? DON’T YOU DARE MAKE BROADWAY BORING FOR ME.

End Scene.

Looking back now, I’m realizing that the whole theme played a huge role in the events we experienced, and even in my choice of a final project. WASP was Andrea Arnold’s way to reach some catharsis of her own childhood through a visual medium. All the photographs we saw at MoMA brought new and striking perspectives to the objects that were photographed. The Barnard Fall Project just wanted to piss us all off with that tape. Katherine Vaz read an unfinished novel to us. Wild With Happy did the taboo and made us laugh at death. It was all original, and it was all risky. One false step for any of these projects and it would have been a disaster. And yet they all persevered–because it was their artistic integrity and insight on the line.

This course has helped me grow as an artist, in some awkward, understated way. I think the “politics” of art is unrelenting fearlessness, and the drive to bring honesty and purpose to the piece of work you wish to present. I hope that’s what I achieved with my final project: that I can’t be afraid to hide anything. After all, if I’m afraid to let people in on the whole truth in a classroom environment, how would I ever be able to achieve the same thing on a stage?

I could gush over this class forever, truly, and I probably would if I wasn’t busy starting my new schedule of doing nothing for a month. I had fun, and I learned. Success.

P.S. I still want to know what that tape was for.

My favorite class this semester had to be IDC.  It was one of the only classes I enjoyed attending considering it never put me to sleep and something interesting was always happening.  I remember my friend telling me, before the semester started, that IDC was a class where our professor took us to a couple art performances around New York City, but she made it sound like we were only going to one or two.  Despite sometimes being busy with work for other classes I was thrilled to be able to attend so many performances and exhibits, including my favorite opera Carmen.

Together, every performance or work of art we saw this semester had some sort of impact on my final project.  I feel that project summed up how I felt in the beginning, completely lost.  I got lost going to almost every class event, I never knew which train to take or which way to go.  At times I’d think I was lost when I was actually right in front of the theatre or museum.  Though going around the city in an Alice costume taught me two things.  First, though I already knew this, I don’t have to care about public opinion.  Second, never go to the Alice statue in Central Park dressed as Alice.

I’m really going to miss going to the fourth floor every Tuesday and Thursday.  The one thing I became sure of while taking this class is that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.  While there were some performances that I enjoyed, such as the opera, there were some I didn’t quite like such as the Barnard Project.  However I’m sure there were those who found the opera boring and some who might have found the Barnard Project enjoyable.  Also, we survived.  We survived this class, the first semester, Sandy, and 2012.  This can only be a sign to keep going, that there will be other classes as fun as this one along the way.  Thank you Professor Davis.

It’s sad to think that this will be my last post in this course but we had a good run. A surprisingly good run. Honestly at the beginning of this course I thought that it was going to be disaster. I thought “I’m not artsy and don’t know how to blog.” And yet I surprised myself despite all my doubts. Who knew I had feelings, emotions and opinions about art,music and dance. Also I was shocked that I put together a coherent five minute video. I didn’t even have a video camera!

Overall this class has helped me grow as an individual. I now respect the arts and no longer consider myself a stranger to museums and broadway plays. I also had a great time attending the events and becoming closer with everyone in the class. It was really an unbelievable opportunity, one that I will never take for granted.

To be perfectly honest, this was the only class was the only one that I looked forward to attending. Even though it was still a required class, Professor Davis presented the art forms, chose the shows, and assigned projects that were enjoyable. Also, this was the first time I experienced many of these art forms and I can say that I’m glad I did. The opera was something that I was unsure of initially but then figured I’d like it since I enjoy listening to music and when I finally saw Carmen it was better than I expected. Our class environment also played a prominent role in my enjoyment of the class. As the semester progressed the class became very comfortable with one another and this led to a few laughs to say the least. If there was one thing that was disappointing it would be that I won’t have the same thing next semester but…it was nice while it lasted.

Of course, this picture does no justice and I’m missing people but I’ve met the greatest people in this class. And this is horrible picture of us, FAIL ATTEMPT.

Coming into this class on the first day of the semester, I was completely horrified. I am stuck in a class where I have to use my artistic talent, go to operas, be “cultural”. Practically be everything I’m not. I am a boring person. I like to sit in a lecture hall and take notes, I like to use powerpoint to make presentations.

This class went against everything that I did.

I never went to shows, broadway plays, to operas. I didn’t plan on it and I didn’t want to. But this class really opened my eyes to so much. I learned to actually like to use prezi rather than a boring old powerpoint presentation. I learned to actually be openminded about things like going to watch a documentary, going to weird dances (omg I am scared but really opened my eyes to what goes on in the world), and to actually go against what I normally do and do something outside of my comfort zone. I love it and I thank you so much.

The one thing that I will always love and remember about this class was going to watch that documentary and going to the New York Film Festival. Those were my favorite events and will forever LOVE. The documentary was just beautiful and it actually made me happy that I get to experience this class. The New York Film Festival was just amazing and I loved it.

Thanks to Professor Davis, I actually found something I’m good at. Expressing how I feel about things. Because of this blog, I was able to be completely honest. Honest about how I felt about events, or simply how I felt about the things I gained out of the events. Such as going to the Barnard Fall Project, people should just be open minded and the word modern can be interpreted loosely. The fact that I realized I rather read a book than have someone read it to me. The fact that I want to pursue music again. And that I can actually make a film production using Final Cut Pro and make still-motion pictures pretty nicely (Not perfect, but at least to my satisfaction).

This class actually made me realize, I’m not artistic, but I do have some creative things in this little noodle I have. Maybe I’m not the most cultured person in this world, but at least I’m more open to what is to come because of the opportunities I was given from this class.

This class has given great friends, great experiences, and the ability to put myself in a position that I am uncomfortable with and I was okay with it. Thank you Professor Davis.