On September 18th, I attended the Macaulay Night at the Brooklyn Museum, a night filled with interpretations and bonding over amazing art pieces.
Memento by Christian Marclay (2008)This was one of the pieces my friends and I had difficulty understanding. It’s medium was labeled as “Cyanotype”, which I had no idea what it was at that moment. So, we tried to interpret it our own ways and thought it was bunch of strings twirled together to portray the artist’s emotion at the time he was making it. The colors seemed gloomy, which indicated maybe he was upset or in a bad mood at that time.
This painting was one of my favorites. It was an “Oil in canvas” painting. Looking at it, I felt the community vibe that was being portrayed in the painting, everyone in the painting seemed to know each other. It’s interesting to even compare this scene to a modern Brooklyn community scene. This is what I would think about if I was wondering what traditional America looked like around the time of industrial revolution.
I don’t remember the exact name of this ceramic piece, but it caught my eye. I love Middle Eastern art, especially when it involves Arabic letters, names of famous people and geometric patterns. It has some of the important figures’ names from Islam written on it including Allah(God), Prophet Muhammad and his companions.
Normally, I would go to museums for free teen nights and just look around the museum with my friends. But, this experience was different. I had five to ten minutes conversations with my group for each pieces of art instead of just walking away after taking one picture of it to post it on social media. I focused on the message or the vibe I got from the painting or the art-piece. Referring to John Berger’s article, the experience of seeing in person and analyzing is different than just looking at a photograph or a picture on social media.
Some moments:
Feel free to share pictures or experiences from the night in the comments.
