Author Archives: elyssasur

Straight White Men

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Straight White Men is Lee’s powerful social commentary on privilege and manages to address several topics all in one piece–homosexuality, race, and gender. These categories through history have all been determinants of status and privilege in society. The play itself was at times crude (the intro music) and comical (the playfulness of the brothers). Although it began as a less serious piece with the family just hanging out and acting like typical guys/brothers the play to a turn and became a very earnest portrayal of the power of privilege. While the two brothers exhibited member of society who have privilege and the advantages of being straight, white, men who abuse their privilege and take it for granted the eldest brother continues to be conflicted by the ease of privilege and his urge to earn his way in this world. It was a very interesting way to address these topics.

Zero

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When I first entered the Guggenheim and looked at the structure of the interior of the building I realized that the building itself was a work of art itself. The Zero exhibit itself was a very interesting array of pieces ranging from minimalistic paintings to complex, industrial, moving displays. There was a few common themes I noticed running through the various layers of the museum, including minimalism, bright colors, recycled materials, and clever use of light and motors. It all conveyed the ideals of the original members of Zero which was to begin anew and start from scratch so to speak in the aftermath of WWII. Though some the work may seem experimental (such as the pieces which incorporate burning) it all goes along with the effort to redefine art as it existed in that time period.

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Sebastiao Salgado-Genesis

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Genesis was such an impressive collection of photographs, there was something sort of enchanting about each one. Salgado manages to truly draw you in and examine each detail of his photographs. His landscape photography was stunning and his use of light/black and white was reminiscent of some of Ansel Adams work. Salgado captures the pure natural beauty left in the world as well as distant cultures which strike a stark contrast to much of modern society which has become very distanced from nature. The name Genesis is a very suiting name in my opinion. Genesis, meaning the beginning of something or the roots, greatly reflects on what Salgado is trying to express and accomplish with this collection. The collection is not only a reminder of the natural beauty from which the earth roots its origins, before humans transformed the planet, but it is also the possible beginning of a movement to preserve and restore the planet. Here are some of my favorites from the collection.

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Sunken City

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As some of you may know, I travelled back to California for the holiday weekend. It was very nice and I enjoyed seeing my family and friends…but most of all the weather (it reached up to 80 degrees). During my short time their my friends and I went to a semi-secret spot we used to frequent called Sunken City. It actually used to be a row of houses which due to a landslide “sunk”, the sunken part of the neighborhood was fenced off but their are little holes in the fence where you can easily walk in. While it appears to be nothing more than graffitied slabs of scattered rocks, the view is amazing and you can find quality pieces of art. Each time I visit it looks a little different because the art is constantly being repainted and transformed

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Wasteland Reaction

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When I first heard the name of the documentary “Wasteland” I was initially was expecting the film to somehow relate to the poem by T.S. Eliot “The Wasteland”. I was surprised to find out that the film was actually centered on a man who makes art out of recyclable waste. This documentary was by far one of the most emotionally charged and eye-opening films we have watched this year. Firstly, I felt extremely humbled by the fact that many of these catadores take such pride and enjoy what they are doing, sorting through trash, when there are people who grumble at throwing a trash bag down the trash shoot. Also, the lives of each catadore displayed the resilience and strength behind each of these individuals and their journey at times had me near tears of sadness and joy. Furthermore, Vik Muniz’s artistic concept with this project was not only beautiful, but the effect he had on the people he chose to involve was equally beautiful. I really respected him for making the art a collaborative effort and not treating the catadores as charity cases. It was amazing to see Muniz fuse his passion of artistic expression with a humanitarian impact. By just allowing these individuals to participate in his project he not only gave each of them a huge boost to their self-esteems and pride, but also gave them the financial stability they needed. Muniz truly helped to transform their lives and influenced them to strive for more in their lives while still carrying pride for their career as a catadore.

123rd Street Rap

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In amazing brevity Willie Perdomo is capable of illustrating this street from Spanish Harlem from the perspective of an observant and knowledgeable outsider. His use of alliteration (bullets bounce, stoop steps, bells bong) adds to the rhythm of the rap as well as quickens the pace of poem as a whole in company with the shorts stanzas. This quickened pace adds to the message of the poem in relation to having to grow up quickly in setting such as 123rd St. From the diction of the poem readers can pick up on a sense of roughness in relation to the neighborhood and fiscal struggles for the speaker. Lines such as “Sun that don’t shine”, “Trees that won’t grow”, and “Wind that won’t blow” also give off a sense of hopelessness.

This poem heavily relates to a section I recently studied in Anthropology on drug-dealing in Spanish Harlem and the social consequences/causes of this. In many ways Perdomo is trying to convey the fact that these children grow up surrounded by violence and drug-dealing and as they come of age they are struck with this internal moral conflict (“And I can’t tell what’s wrong from what’s right”). Many times stereotyping and prejudice bar these individuals from the inner city from attaining respectable jobs or being respected in the workplace which then forces them towards illegal means of income just to stay afloat. This relentless cycle traps many children, such as the ones Perdomo describes in his poem. Therefore, people are left with the question of if the illegal means of earning money which they are accustomed to or the discriminatory and degrading positions they acquire in the work force are correct. What outsiders many times fail to see is that this a social issue in which the victims are wrongly being blamed in a sense for partaking in this illegal activity, which in reality they are being forced into by societal pressures around them.

The Cabdriver’s Smile

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The initial description of the cabdriver portrays him as a tough, stern New Yorker. The speaker’s brief and matter-of-fact statements describing the situation give off a very unemotional tone as he analyzes this man. This poem is greatly a commentary on human connections and the simplicity of our relationships with people we encounter daily. Everyday we come across hundreds of people especially in a populous city such as New York. As a cabdriver you come in contact with a variety of people but are only with them from point A to point B and in reality how much do you actually get to know about the majority of those people or moreso how much effort are the majority of passengers putting in to get to know their cabdriver, sadly very little. Though the cabdriver may seem cold in his interactions with the other friendly cabdriver as well as the speaker/passenger, I think he is just aware of the sad fact that so many people are too self-concerned much of the time to get to know the people around them; in that we are limiting our own opportunities for human connection. It is very easy to feel lost and insignificant in the large group of people which constitute the population of NYC. Even interactions like that of the cabdriver who “bows like a king” may seem somewhat false and the fact that he is being aligned with a king give off the sense that his actions are self-righteous and he acts as though he is superior. And the brief glimpse of a smile which the speaker sees on the mouth of the cabdriver conveys a small ember of hope that there are still members of society who see him as more than just a mode of transportation and dehumanize him in such a way, that there is still genuine compassion left in humanity.

Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

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Although I am not a huge fan of classical music, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s was enjoyable. What struck me as the most interesting was the movement, which flowed through every aspect of the orchestra. You could trace it from the movements of the conductor which varied based on the emotion conveyed, to each individual moving with passion while playing their intruments, to each section of the orchestra as a whole, and was tied together by the movement of the music which flowed through the hall. I found myself not only listening to the music but also watching each group of instruments move with the music, in a way, from these movement I could deduce the emotion which the music conveyed without even really listening. At parts where the music would become militant I could tell by the vigorous movement of the conductor in unison with the violent stabs of violinist’s bows into the air almost like an army of soldiers saluting or when it was sad I could see the slowness and gentleness in the orchestra’s movements it was really interesting. I also was not expecting to see another opera but the last performance was great and the storyline was amazing, although I did get a bit lost while trying to read the translations. It was through and through a good experience and the hall was very beautiful.IMG_7992

BAM Harvey

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When I approached BAM Harvey expecting to see “Six Characters in Search of an Author” I was firstly struck by the modernity and light emitted from the building which set it apart from the surrounding neighborhood. I told the woman at the Box Office that my professor had left me a ticket for the play under the name Drabik and this is where things got a bit confusing. The woman handed me a ticket and said hurry they may not let you in then kindly escorted me to a door and said “once it starts you can’t leave because it’s a live recording”. As the door closed behind me and I turned around I immediately saw a small room with a band set up, many cameras, and about 8 people seated (none of them my classmates). So I awkwardly sat down and realized “oh shoot this is not the right show”. I ended up watching a live recording of a small podcast called B-Side and got a free performance from a small Brooklyn-based indie band called Empyrean Atlas. I actually really enjoyed their music although their interviews and stage presence were at times painfully awkward. The band was composed of a drummer, a bassist, and three guitars and the lead-man also switched to a saxophone for a few songs. The music was entirely instrumental and ranged from slow ambient to more upbeat afro-pop influenced sound. Overall, after I overcame my panic at the fact that I had sat through the completely wrong performance I sort of laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and was appreciative of the fact that I found a new band to listen to. Here is a link to the show if anyone is interested: http://vimeo.com/110581319 And a link to Empyrean Atlas’s bandcamp: http://empyreanatlas.bandcamp.com

Fall For Dance

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Each performance and studio brought very unique stylistic differences and each studio’s aimed impact for the audience varied greatly as well.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

I didn’t necessarily enjoy this performance as much as the others. The music was harshly, industrial which in my opinion suited the performances mechanical and uniform style. Furthermore, the unshapely black smocks which each performer wore added to this uniformity. Although the performance was very robotic and formulaic and at times seemed to be discordant due to the lack of connection between the rhythm of the music and the movements of the dancers, their was an underlying level of unity which allowed the piece to flow and come together.

 

LUCINDA CHILDS DANCE COMPANY

Of all the performances this was my favorite. The entire time I analyzed each couple and began to see each color with the differing styles of each couple as a part of a documentation of a romantic relationship. Alternately, I saw that it could be a general representation of the trials and tribulations as well as the benefits of a romantic relationship rather than the rocky relationship of one couple. With each movement the audience could see either the tension in the relationship, or a simple dip could be interpreted as the dependency on had on the other, and the red performance I remember as being implicitly sensual. This one truly amazed me because it was a perfect representation of how body language can be utilized to convey so much meaning, its truly like a language of its own.

 

SEBASTIEN RAMIREZ & HONJI WANG

From the moment Ramirez and Wang entered onto the stage I knew this performance would be different from the others. Even their casual, non costume seeming, clothing gave the performance a different energy completely. Their incorporation of modern street style dancing into traditional ballet was very fun and energetic and also portrayed a relationship between the two dancers. Some of the moves they did were very impressive and evoked verbal responses from the audience. Overall, It was very playful and I feel like it really woke up the reinvigorated and woke up the crowd.

 

SEMPEROPER BALLET DRESDEN

The final performance was also particularly interesting to me. It was a very complex intertwining of playful, silly dancing and a very serious social commentary. When it began I was confused at whether the singular man dancing was part of the performance or just a transitional skit between performances. I really liked that they were so inclusive and interacted with the audience it added a new level of entertainment and excitement to the performance. Furthermore, the music was really interesting and I like how they incorporated a sort of tribal vibe to it. It was surprising when the performers, in identical suits and ties, sat in the semi circle and the mood immediately became very serious and somber. I think the first round of the performers systematically flailing with the last man falling to the ground was a bit of a shock to the entire crowd. Aesthetically, the circular wave they created was very interesting. I feel as though the choreographer was making a commentary on the cyclic nature of a workingman’s lifestyle, which much of society believes is the norm. It conveyed this idea that we end up living to work rather than working to live and in the end some of us begin to get fed up with this systematic, mundane lifestyle and become bogged down by the tiresome cycle of life (symbolized by the man falling to the ground). Contrastingly, the silly parts of the dance were a reminder to let loose, live a little, and find some joy in the simple things in life even if it is just randomly dancing.

Let the Great World Spin Response

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I found Let the Great World Spin to be a beautifully intricated interweaving of perspectives and lives into one grand story. The perspectives served to not only provide a fuller understanding of the plot line bringing new details with each individual storyline but also demonstrated how human lives are interwoven by the experiences which touch each of us. This story which takes place in New York serves as a microcosm of the intricate metaphorical web of humanity which surrounds us, we are connected by the lives we touch and string of experiences we share sometimes unknowingly. I was also struck with a realization of how instantly and innately our judgments of others are with very little pretense. Through the varying points of views we are able to gather the storyline of each character and view how others react and jump to conclusions about those same characters which as readers we know but the others no little about. It is intriguing to think that you see people and they see you and the connection is usually restricted to just that, passing glances. They know nothing about you, you know nothing about them. Quick judgments made during the few moments of your brief encounter will soon be forgotten. Furthermore, with all the chaos which occurs in such a brief amount of time the world seems to continue on regardless reminding us of our own insignificance on the grand scale of our universal timeline.

Man on Wire Response

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Phillip Petit is quite the character to say the least. The film portrayed him as being playful, zealous, charismatic, theatrical, and an overall very likable person. Furthermore, the surprisingly unwavering loyalty of his friends surprised me especially his girlfriend who claimed she didn’t truly have a destiny of her own her destiny was to help Phillip achieve his dream. Although his relentless dream of walking between the Twin Towers was a bit far-fetched and slightly odd it was extremely admirable. There is a strange beauty in the scenes where he finally achieves this. The idea of being in this kind of surreal isolation above a beautiful city living out a dream which nobody thought feasible is absolutely astounding.

Unfortunately, the aftermath of Petit’s achievement had me frustrated and saddened. I think Petit let the adrenaline rush and overwhelming moment of fame get to his head. He seemed to have disregarded the devotion of the loved ones who helped him fulfill his aspirations and move past that era of his life. Although the interviews with his girlfriend and closest companions revealed their resignation at Petit’s negligence after his huge achievement I could see that they were still hurt.

As he breaks out into a smile with the comfort of the tightrope beneath his feet in complete certainty I was struck with a feeling of admiration and jealousy that he had found something in his life that he was so passionate about, something he was more than willing to die for. I found myself inspired to seek out something which I love that much in the world that I can utterly devote myself to so entirely and secu

Le Nozze Di Figaro Reflection

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Firstly, The Metropolitan was gorgeous and exuded elegance in every aspect. Secondly, the viewing of the opera was a very enlightening experience. Prior to seeing the Le Nozze de Figaro my expectations were based on clips from movies and television, portrayals that presented opera as being long, sleep inducing performances of loud singers reserved for the bougie and elderly. I’m glad to report that I have been proven wrong. Le Nozze de Figaro has definitely opened my eyes and opera proved itself to be one of the highest forms of art. The amalgamation of drama, orchestration, and vocalization into one cohesive performance is an entirely unique experience. Not only was I amazed at the power and beauty behind the vocalists’ voices, but also the interesting plot also pleasantly surprised me. Even from the viewing lounge I found myself captivated by the complexity of the humorous and romantic plot line set to compositions by Mozart. It was at times confusing but overall very enjoyable. I’ll admit I have discovered a newfound appreciation for opera and may be tempted to see another sometime in the future.

Elyssa Sur-Intro

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Hello everyone! I know I’m a bit late to the introduction game but here we go. I’m Elyssa as some of you may already know. I have lived in Seal Beach, California my entire life and decided to venture pretty far from home to the city that never sleeps. I guess you could say in many aspects I’m a typical Cali kid: I love the beach, I listen to reggae music, I’m finding it very hard to live without In n Out burger, and I have been spoiled with amazing weather year round. Despite this I find myself in love with the city and feeling like I definitely made the right decision in coming here. One of the main attractions which had me gravitating towards NYC was the sheer amount of culture in the city and the nightlife. Literally everyday has been a new adventure and I am in love with the music scene. I can listen to almost anything and my playlist is constantly changing but mainly composed of indie, surf rock, surf punk, trap, rap and reggae. I also love photography although I am only amateur at best but the city presents many picturesque scenes, which I am glad to take advantage of. I would love to name my favorite films and bands but being a fairly indecisive and noncommittal person I could never choose. I can list some films I am very fond of though: The Graduate, A Clockwork Orange, 500 Days of Summer, Fight Club, and any Wes Anderson film. I look forward to getting to know all of you as well as the city.

Here’s a song which I have been very into lately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnNxhP0qsnY