The Art of Choosing

The  best aspect of the class was that it has urged me to experience New York and not take this amazing city for granted by spending all my time in the dorms -Elyssa

Below you will find a word cloud, composed of highlights from each student’s “Best of” blog post. The largest words are those most recurring throughout the responses and therefore are indicative of what the class as a whole enjoyed most from this semester. Enjoy!

“In short, the best for me was you.”   – Professor Drabik  

** For the highest quality image, please click on the word cloud below, and the photo will open separately from the text.

 Here are the highlights, from each post, used to create the diagram:

“We dressed classy, we thought classy, we were classy.”  – Manjekar

“The opera itself exceeded all my expectations; I didn’t think it would be so funny and engaging!”

– Nabila

“On top of the wonderful forms of art we had the chance to experience, the opportunity to go in search of art on our own was amazing.”   – Sophia

“I loved how we, as a class, was given so many possibilities to experience the different types of art. Going to such places such as the Metropolitan Opera and seeing such documentaries like Waste Land by Vik Muniz gave the class different perspectives on art. I feel that because of these opportunities, we now look at art in a new and brighter light.”   – Tony

“The documentary The Wasteland showed me an environment completely different from the one I am in, where workers don’t have many options, most either becoming physically degraded through their work as a prostitute or enduring the odors of a landfill as they recover recyclables.
After watching this documentary, I understand the wonderful position I am in with a myriad of opportunities everywhere I look.” – Joshua

“Vik Muniz’s story had been inspirational and he made his art in a way that benefitted many people.” – Kevin

“I felt that the variety of art that we experienced (Opera, Dance, Play, Concert) was definitely the best part of this class. We got to experience a little bit of everything and figure out what appealed to us. We found our artsy sides.”  – Sharouk

“However, the “Best” thing that happened to me in this class was my gradual change in the perception of art. This internal change was the best thing that happened in this class and it would have an everlasting effect on me.” – Daniel

“I really enjoyed my first time watching an opera and now I no longer have misconceptions about what watching an opera is like.”   – Erica

“Overall, I really enjoyed reading the poems; I feel like they helped us to view each of the performances and exhibits from different perspectives and with a deeper understanding as we applied the same critical analysis skills to everything that we took part in this semester.” – Jillian

“What was most memorable about this performance were the dances by the Alvin Ailey Am. Dance Co. Their fun interactive dances with grooving music, contrasted with their darker dances and made it the most diverse performance of that night.”  – Chloe

“I think for me, attending this performance with the class was by far my favorite, not only because of how great the play and the production itself was, but also how in many ways I walked out of the BAM Harvey Theater COMPLETELY CONFUSED and with a new perspective on art.   – Chris Pun (regarding Six Characters in Search of an Author)

“The Best of Arts in NYC was the opportunity to join the art world of New York at least at several occasions, such as Fall of Dance. I am sure that this course will further stimulate us to involve ourselves in the world of creative expression more.”  – Angelika

“The music made for a very relaxing experience, in which it felt like I could just sit back and ponder the world’s problems and, of course, their solutions. Unfortunately, once the music ended, I forgot all my revelations, so we are stuck with the world as it is.”    – Anthony (regarding Carnegie Hall)

“This image, created by Dos Santos on a whim and immortalized in Muniz’s final product, was incredibly powerful to me because of what it said about Dos Santos and the catadores he fought for. They were bright, intelligent people with aspirations and potential–but too many of them were martyred for an industry of excess and waste.” – Sam

“Fictional or real, it does not matter. The best part about New York is the people. . . In this manner, they are New York: a gigantic mosaic of different people–many peoples becoming one and one people becoming many.”   – Lucius

“Watching the documentary about Philippe Petit made me aware of such a crazy, unique, and incredible event. I can hardly believe that someone would have the courage to walk on a tightrope so high in the air, while knowing the police will arrest him.”   – Adrian

Like Anthony, I am also a classical music fan. I suppose the orchestral performance by St. Luke at Carnegie Hall is my favorite performance that we saw, not that the others weren’t. They were all magnificent! I especially like our night at Carnegie Hall because in addition to the wonderful music we heard (which I really had a lot to say) and besides the crazy, presumably drunk guy walked past and talked to me, many people in our class went diner-hunting after the performance, searching for one that was “suitable” for us. I really enjoyed sitting around and grabbing dinner with the class, and it made me realize what a great group we are. We are not just classmates. We are part of the Drabik family, the Macaulay family.

 

~Christopher Chong

I loved how your very cautious and polite stance at the beginning of the course changed into questioning, disagreeing, talking about poems and about everything. I loved how you tackled your confusion at Six Characters in Search of the Author, how proud you were of your discoveries and presentations in “Art in Public Space,” how warmly and with interest you welcomed our visitors… In short, the best for me was you.
Gracias. Obrigada. Dziękuję. Merci beaucoup. Thanks. And keep on exploring!

The most memorable part of the course had to be seeing everyone dressed incredibly dapper for our first excursion, Le Nozze di Figaro.It was an incredible experience: meeting by the elegant water fountain, under the daze of twilight hours, everybody dressed in their formal attire. It was our first night experiencing the arts, and I felt that dressing outside of our comfort zone somehow placed us in a different state of mind. For most of us, it was our first opera (or even major artistic experience) ever. We did not truly know what to expect. Yet, we were somehow able to open up ourselves to the grand culture of art. We dressed classy, we thought classy, we were classy.

On top of the wonderful forms of art we had the chance to experience, the opportunity to go in search of art on our own was amazing. I enjoyed the ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-60s exhibition (although I relatively dislike museums) and the Disgraced theater performance. Oh yeah, and I got to see the The Christmas Spectacular with Rockettes for the first time ever! A dream come true!

I loved how we, as a class, was given so many possibilities to experience the different types of art. Going to such places such as the Metropolitan Opera and seeing such documentaries like Waste Land by Vik Muniz gave the class different perspectives on art. I feel that because of these opportunities, we now look at art in a new and brighter light.

The two best parts of this class were a movie (documentary, really) and a musician.

The documentary The Wasteland showed me an environment completely different from the one I am in, where workers don’t have many options, most either becoming physically degraded through their work as a prostitute or enduring the odors of a landfill as they recover recyclables.
After watching this documentary, I understand the wonderful position I am in with a myriad of opportunities everywhere I look.

A jazz pianist came to visit our class late in the semester. His name is Daniel Kelly and he gave some great advice for the improvement of life and music—both of which I heartily desire.

Job advice: “Your job will have bullshit, but if you do what you love, you can deal with it.”
Jazz advice: “Start with two notes and play jazz for just two minutes.”
Apparently I can learn a lot by restricting myself to the basics for a bit. It worked for him!

My favorite part about this class had been the documentaries (or at least most of them).  I had never found interest in watching documentaries myself, I thought they all would be boring and tedious to get through so I had been surprised to find myself enjoying many of the features we had seen in class.  The one that had struck me the most had been the Wasteland.  Vik Muniz’s story had been inspirational and he made his art in a way that benefitted many people.

There was not a particular exhibition or a performance that I could pick that would be considered a “Best of!” since every one of the places was a new experience and had a unique memory. However, the “Best” thing that happened to me in this class was my gradual change in the perception of art. My initial perception was closed, rigid, and strict. I refused to be in the “open-to-interpretation” realm of art and had a one-dimensional observation. As time went by, my perspectives became deeper and considerate. This internal change was the best thing that happened in this class and it would have an everlasting effect on me.