The Politics of Art & Authenticity

Just in case you missed it today (or would like to see them again) here are a few final projects from last year:

Sabiha Toni

Veronica Gavryushenko

Michelle Guo

Throughout the first few minutes of Carmen I was checking the time and playing with the subtitle screen. I figured if I was losing a few hours of my life at an opera, I might as well try and learn French and German simultaneously. The first thing that distracted me from my trivial pursuit was the way the lights made the background look endless. At one point it looked as if the there was a circular set and endless open blue sky behind it. I thought this was brilliant. And then I started reading the subtitles in English, which was a fantastic idea because then I was sucked into the compelling story line. What really drove the opera experience home for me was the talent of the performers. Sometimes forty of them were on stage at once, all singing in harmony! Regardless of my initial attitude, I think the opera is pretty cool.

Night At The Met
courtesy of Thomas Seubert

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Thursday night, October 18, was the first time I ever stepped foot in the Metropolitan Opera and watching an opera. I was taken back at first at how beautiful the building was. I was truly amazed at it. What I was more amazed at was the sound. Sitting up top has it perks, maybe the not the view, but what you hear. I wasn’t really intrigued with the play, probably because I don’t like to read subtitles and watch a show at the same time since I feel like my mind is being taken away by either the view or understanding the play. However, I really did like the music and how clear everything was. No microphones were used and I heard everything so clearly and precise as if I was sitting front row. I loved how everything can be heard because of the way the building was built and how the sound bounces off the walls so that everyone can hear everything without the need of microphones or speakers. I feel that microphones and speakers take away from the true sound of music and the true sound of a person’s voice and through the opera I was able to hear everything. Every pitch, every note, and every movement the characters made. I was truly taken back by the sounds. Although, the opera might not be my favorite thing, I would love to sit in that theater again and just hear an orchestra or just someone’s voice because the sound is just wonderful and amazing. The opera was definitely a new experience for me.

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I have never been to the opera and last night was my first experience of such an event. I was truly shocked at how much I enjoyed Carmen for all of its spectacular singing, dancing and wit.  This is a pretty big admission since I like to consider myself a guy who generally only enjoys football and action movies. Carmen proved to be the exception to that rule. I particularly loved how the orchestra would mimic the flow of the banter between the characters. This made the fight scenes even more suspenseful and it over dramatizing even the most basic conversations. I found that to be extremely amusing especially because I like to sing-talk myself. My siblings and parents usually make fun of me for singing about my daily activities. After going to the opera I realized that I should be laughing at them. Since  I found myself sitting in a theatre packed with thousands of people, all of whom came to watch performers sing and dramatize their conversations.  I consider my night at the opera a huge success. Not only because I was able to see such an amazing performance, but because I found it extremely satisfying to watch what I had perviously thought to be a weird quirk of mine transformed into an art form.

Walking up Broadway towards 64th street, I was thinking about how soon I could be home in my bed. But then I saw it: the fountain, the lights, the people- and I felt that thought waft away. The MET enveloped me with class, elegance, and culture. This was the first time I attended such a beautiful play, and I assure you it wont be my last.

For the the first time, I understood why it is important to do things with cultural significance. The reason is that it is the only way to truly be a part of the culture you are trying to join, to really be involved and play a part. I went to the Opera, and I witnessed New York at its finest. And it witnessed me, too. And I loved it. If you love me, I may love you. If I love you, watch out!

It’s October 11th and that means it’s time for you to take a few pictures for Macaulay’s Snapshot Day. For more detailed instructions check out the Snapshot page on our site.

If you need a little inspiration check out some of the student photos from previous years or take a look at this amazing Swedish photography project ADay.org, where curators collected a daily snapshot from one day in 165 countries!

So, don’t forget to shoot them today –-anytime until midnight!

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The documentary, The Waiting, directed and written by Peter Nicks, was one of those films that I must recommend people to see. I actually hate doctors and the hospital. I don’t like the atmosphere nor do I like the idea of needles. This documentary actually shows what it’s like to be in the waiting room. The amount of people that come in and out, the kind of sickness that walks through the doors, the wait, the type of people. This documentary just shows everything that no one really sees. In my opinion, I just thought the waiting just had family members or friends waiting for the person in the hospital to get out. However, in reality, the majority people in the waiting room are actually waiting to be checked and to get treated for their pain. People are sitting there and waiting for hour and hours.  The one thing that stood out to me was the one guy who came in multiple times for marijuana and alcohol abuse. He was checked and nothing serious was wrong, just did too much marijuana and alcohol, but when the social worker called his pastor to make sure he had a safe place to go to and the pastor said no. I was just shocked. I thought a pastor would take anyone in, in hopes to change that person, but the pastor said he will not take him. When the doctor heard that, he basically let the man stay in the hospital because he had no place to go. It’s sweet that he let him stay, but it does restrict another person being helped from the waiting room. Other than that, this documentary really opened my eyes to what really goes on in the hospital waiting room. An amazing documentary in my opinion.

I really like dance. I’m definitely a fan. I love dancing and having fun with my friends. I took a ballet class when I was five years old. I’ve seen many kinds of dance, like classical, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and modern. I thought I really knew dance; I thought I had a foundation of dance down. I thought there wasn’t really much more.

I was wrong.

What I saw opened up my mind to a whole new world of dance – skirt dancing – a dazzling, colorful, mind-blowing form of dance. I thought the costumes were fantastic, and the multimedia effects even better. Watching the skirt dancing was truly mesmerizing – the skirt dancers pulled off complicated dance moves with lavish costumes and blinding, flashing lights. I really loved watching the dancing, but I enjoyed going through the history of skirt dancing even more. It was so cool to actually go through the history of it – to see how it first started out, and how over time the costumes and style and graphics changed, to the video clips of what today’s skirt dancing looks like. So often we look at different forms of artwork and take them for face value, how people present them today, without considering the history behind it, how this art got to the form and style we see it as today.

I also gained a tremendous amount of respect for Jody Sperling. Not only do I greatly admire her and her work, but I think it was incredibly nice of her to come and present it to us. I think it’s so nice that she was willing to open up and share about her story and explain the history of this artwork. It was a great lecture and an eye-opening experience to a whole new world of dance.

Peter Nick’s The Waiting Room is a documentary about the ER waiting room in Oakland, California.  I am at a loss of words for what I witnessed in this film.  What I learned from this film is that when people without health insurance come to the hospital they are put in triage and despite how they may be feeling may be left waiting for hours on end until they are finally brought to a room.  What makes matters worse is that when a real emergency case appears, all doctors in the ER rush to try and save the person which further delays other patients.

This documentary made me feel bad for the people who were uninsured.  If they had been insured, that one family probably would have had a pediatrician for their daughter and her case of strep throat wouldn’t have arrived at such a dangerous stage.  The older gentleman could have afforded to go to a dialysis center instead of having to go to a hospital’s ER, exhausting himself waiting for hours, and then further draining his energy due to the treatment.  Half or maybe more than half of the people in that waiting room would not have been there.

The part that had the greatest impact on me was the scene where the bleeding unconscious young man was brought into the ER.  All the doctors rushed in trying to save him.  They continually pressed on his chest trying to get him to breathe, speaking quickly to communicate what to do next.  The doctors tried everything they could.  The 15-year-old boy passed and his body was brought to the freezer.  Just watching this horrific scene made me go pale.

The way they portrayed this scene in the documentary somewhat reminded me of the TV series MASH.  It reminded me of a certain quote at the end of a certain episode named “Yankee Doodle Doctor”.  Alan Alda as Hawkeye states, “Three hours ago this man was in a battle.  Two hours ago we operated on him.  He’s got a 50/50 chance.  We win some we lose some.  That’s what it’s all about.  No promises.  No guaranteed survival.  No saints in surgical garb.  Our willingness, our experience, our technique are not enough.  Guns and bombs and anti personnel mines have more power to take life than we have to preserve it.”

Despite all of this doom and gloom feel in the ER there was one ray of sunshine, the nurse.  This nurse greeted everyone politely with an optimistic smile as she took the temperature of every person who had come to see a doctor.  She made small talk, which put some at ease, and even made others, despite their sickly states, laugh.  I believe her presence was just as important as the doctors.

This film makes me think that Obama’s Health Care plan is necessary.  If it could have helped these people, and people across the nation in similar situations, then it should be enacted.

Sources
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