The Art of Choosing

This final assignment, The Art of Choosing, truly was a final assignment. I believe it was a great way to tie together all the experiences of the course. Our previous expeditions throughout the city required us to look at pieces of art through an acquiescent and creative eye. This skill, which evolved as we exposed ourselves to the various art forms New York City has to offer, was finally put to test as we attended exhibitions and performances of our own selection. Having attended the performances Disgraced and Tail! Spin!, and Henri Matisse’s The Cut-Outs, I could not help but notice the increase in my creative perception and cultural acceptance.

Out of the three, The Cut-Outs is what truly latched on to my creative heart. I may have been biased, with modern art being a love of mine and the MOMA being one of my favorite museums. Nevertheless, I still found myself deep in thought and revelation when exploring this exhibition. As we first walked in, we stumbled upon his earlier, and relatively smaller pieces. Their abstract portrayal of both everyday and iconic scenes truly grasped my attention. I found myself playing a game, guessing the subject of the composition before reading the title, which usually provided the answer. When we moved on to his stain glass projects, I was able to catch a glimpse into Matisse’s mind. The exhibition noted that he had an assistant actually help create these pieces of art, as he was restricted by a sickness. I feel this somehow both limited and expanded his artistic influence. Whereas it is not entirely “his” art, it does stem from only his mind. Though he was not physically creating the piece, his artistic influence seemed unhindered, if not greater. He was able to enforce full mental expression. Finally, when we arrived at his Nudes, I truly understood the extent of his artistic skill. In one of the explanations of the pieces, it stated that Matisse would manipulate paper as if it were clay. He would shape and reshape, organize then reorganize, until he arrived at a singular, satisfactory form. I initially believed his work to be easily imitated, but once recognizing the planning and skill that went behind it, my mind changed otherwise.

Completing this final project caused me to reflect on my growth and evolution as an appreciator of the arts. As we traveled the city, enduring the cold, yet beautiful nights, I could not but help but remember our first excursion to Le Nozze di Fiagaro. I somehow identified why that night felt so different than recent ones. While the exquisiteness, serenity, and culture of the arts have remained intact (as they have for many years), my mind has matured. I am now able to artistically dissect various pieces, straying away from logic and focusing on something deeper, leading to an internal praise or disparagement.