Penny Arcade’s studio was a different learning experience. I found her very interesting and the way she views the world opened my mind. From the start, her enthusiastic personality put a smile to my face and she was very funny. What I was more interested however was her story about running away from home to New York City, the center of art and culture of the world. At the time, she learned more about other cultures through different foods and more importantly learned about herself as a person and her role.
In her show entitled Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! she uses strippers to express her ideas instead of regular hip hop star dancers. However, one topic she covered is gentrification and her words were powerful because it surrounds me today. Cultural amnesia is radiating the history of New York for the past 200 years. Many of us came here for the culturalism and to see people of different ethnicities. New York City is not the same as it is as it was 20 years ago and it will not be the same 20 years from now.
Penny Arcade’s assistant was also a very funny guy who played with the sound affects as she was speaking to us to build suspense. I felt a vibe that he loved his job and what he was doing. The whole studio was inspirational. At the end of class Penny Arcade mentioned the word synchronicity which is that everything happens at the same time for a reason. She believed that the connection between our IDC class and she met at this time for a reason.
In addition, Penny mentioned that universities and colleges used to promote free thinking. However, that has been bounded due to implementation of trigger warnings and safe spaces we notice a stop in the dissemination of ideas. Although I was not alive 20 years ago, I am noticing that in today’s world ideas are being suppressed. Mainly due to technology because people are constantly being watched and judged. There are cameras on every block, people are always recording every event of their lives on their phones, and everyone seems to be in a world of their own. New York City is not the New York City that people decades ago came here for. The cultural diversity, interaction, and exchange of complex ideas is the New York City I am searching for.
