Category Archives: NYC Art History

The NYC Christmas Tree

Rockefeller Center is the home of New York’s very own festive holiday tree. Over the last 80 or so years they have set it up with decorations and lights for all of New York and the world to see. I got the chance to go and see it over the previous weekend and as always, it was as spectacular as ever. Lights encompassing it completely and the fact that its huge makes it a nice and iconic sight to see. I’m sure everyone has seen it in the pass but there is something about it that keeps people like me coming back. I wasn’t even going to originally stop by but, after seeing it in the side of my eye it basically drew me in and I figured I would go get a better look. For New York this tradition is in itself a way for the whole city to collectively show their festive side. Everything around you can be considered art depending on one’s perspective and the Rockefeller Center tree is just another example of how this can be done.

Botched Holiday Songs

Abraham Lincoln: Gay?

On tenth avenue, there are a whole bunch of galleries, and last week I happened to walk into a really cool gallery called the C24 Gallery. This isn’t just any normal exhibition that I saw. There was a whole built in house in that gallery, and inside, the stairs lead to the bedroom of Abraham Lincoln. There were newspapers dating back to the 1800s, and old candles, and hay in the bedroom. Skylar Fein put this bedroom together with the help from his research when he went down to Kentucky. Historians have confirmed that Abraham Lincoln shared his bed with Joshua Speed in the 1830s. Joshua Speed had his hardware store downstairs, and the bedroom was upstairs. Therefore, many speculators, like Skylar Fein, have questioned Lincoln’s sexuality. Was he actually gay? No way! I don’t believe that. Historians argue that Springfield, Illinois was a frontier town, so the two men didn’t have much choice. But when I came to know that Joshua Speed was the son of a wealthy plantation owner, so he actually didn’t have a shortage of beds, and that Lincoln rejected the offer of having his own bedroom in the house of a wealthy lawyer but still chose to have a shared bed with Speed, it scares me.

I felt really uncomfortable as I walked into the bedroom. People came and saw the bed, and walked out to see other things in the gallery. I spent some amount of time looking at the primary resources in the bedroom. I didn’t even care if I was allowed to touch things, because not only did I touch things in that room; I started smelling things, like the candles and blankets. Because these things that were displayed were 200 years old. I’m living in this time, 2013, yet I still have access to things from the 19th century. Its depressing and awesome at the same time. I was happy to be there, although the room was creeping me out, and then I just became really sad to think that people would actually think a respectable man like Abraham Lincoln could be gay. What an experience!IMG_20131205_131058[1]IMG_20131205_130856[1]IMG_20131205_131117[1]

Dyker Heights Lights Up Brooklyn

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Living in Brooklyn, we have a great variety of hidden treasures. One of them includes the Dyker Heights Lights. Dyker Heights, a neighborhood Southern Brooklyn, is known for its beautiful christmas light presentations. Almost every resident in the neighborhood participates in decorating their house and yard with christmas lights and decorations. I live and pass by said houses constantly. And the one above is an example of its extravagant decorations.

Dyker Heights gets heavy car and foot traffic closer and closer to Christmastime because of tourists and locals checking out the beautiful lights. I’ve always thought that there was an art to christmas lighting because the right lights and combinations can bring the ultimate Christmas feeling. There is also a lot of work put into lighting. As in the house above, they have lights on almost every inch of the house and you can only imagine how hard it was to put decorations on the taller areas. Also not seen in the picture, they actually put reindeer lights on the telephone lines coming out from their house and above the street to mirror a carriage like image. A lot of hard work and creativity must’ve gone into these famous lights and other houses even decorate their mini gazebo. You all should check them out!

Stained Glass Windows

Stained glass windows in The Church of the Holy Trinity

One of the first things I notice when I step into a church (albeit, rarely), are the colorful stained glass windows. In almost every church in NYC, you can bet on one or two stained glass windows. Art is very prominent in religion which is proved with keen detail in the architecture of the churches and in past paintings and sculptures based on biblical passages. Stained glass windows were considered less art and as the world’s first picture books. Since most people could not read the Bible, the church painted the biblical stories on the windows to teach and spread their message.

In the Church of the Holy Trinity, there are 17 stained glass windows and they were all designed by one man, Henry Holiday of England. This is one of the few churches in which all its windows possessed one unique style of one man. Obsessed with colorful costumes and dramatic situations, Holiday set out to give a biblical narrative through his work. With his contribution, Holiday has made the windows one of the most prominent features of the famous church.

The Art of Food

Magnolia Bakery in NYC

Presentation is key. In food, presentation could rival taste. New York bakeries around the world, specifically create beautiful pastries to lure people in. Restaurants actively engage in “plating”, the culinary term for creatively presenting food on a plate, to make their dishes seem tastier, and most importantly, bigger. There are many techniques to create edible art. Many chefs change up plates (from circular to rectangular), drizzle colorful sauces, and sprinkle herbs and spices.

This edible art is encouraged because it makes the food interesting and if it looks interesting, people will want to try it. You know how you promised yourself you wouldn’t eat another cupcake until you went back to the gym? But then you passed by that bakery with that favorite red velvet cupcake and for some reason those sprinkles and the cream cheese frosting look extra inviting and well, your resolve breaks. That’s the power of edible art. We eat with our eyes just as much as we eat with our taste buds.

5Pointz Destroyed Overnight

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By now, news of the destruction of famed graffiti mecca, 5Pointz, has been spreading through social media platforms like wildfire. As of Tuesday at 7 am, the 5Pointz that Long Island City has been known for is no longer. All through Monday night, paint crew employed by the owner of the 5Pointz building painted over more than 12 years of graffiti street art with white paint. Just like that, a long-standing New York unofficial landmark was destroyed without a trace. This paint undid the artwork of over 1,500 artists who showcased their artistic visions in arguably one of, if not the top, street art melting pot in the history of graffiti.

With that being said, when I first heard of the news a couple hours earlier, my first thought was “Wow, the owner actually did it–he destroyed 5Pointz forever.” The first and only time that I saw 5Pointz in all its glory was back in mid-October, when I went there with Karen for her research on her digital archive project. At the time, I wasn’t aware of the real impending danger that 5Pointz was facing when I walked along its colorful walls and breathed in the lively air. You may not believe me when I say this, but the atmosphere really is different over there. Graffiti artists creating massive artworks with aerosol spray cans, perfecting each and every stroke of paint–it really made me feel like a part of the creative, real, and artistic side of New York.

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The day that I was there, I had the great fortune of meeting one of the artists hard at work painting her self portrait onto her canvas. Hailing all the way from Paris, France, Doudou spoke with a heavy French accent as she tried to explain to me and Karen what she was working on and her artistic vision. She had come here to New York City to show her artwork to the world. Although we didn’t understand much of what she was saying, I could feel that she was very passionate about her art and the fact that she was painting on the famous walls of 5Pointz, months before its doom.

At the time, rumors were already circulating about the demolition of 5Pointz, so we were there right in the nick of time to catch the last of this true graffiti mecca. Still, I can’t help but feel angry about the destruction of 5Pointz. Essentially, the owner chose money and personal gain over the importance of art–especially art as monumental as those in 5Pointz. At the end of the day, I feel for those who were planning to see this landmark; I can’t imagine how they felt when they discovered freshly painted white walls instead of the imaginative and creative artworks of artists from all over the world.

This goes to show that beautiful things don’t always last forever, so we should appreciate things while we can. 🙁

New York Times Article on 5Pointz Destruction: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/nyregion/5pointz-a-graffiti-mecca-in-queens-is-wiped-clean-overnight.html?_r=0

–Joanna Huang

Coca Cola Collection

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On the way to the train from the Met, I spotted this enormous collection of Coca Cola glass bottles on display in a small deli shop. Unique glass Coca Cola bottles lined up against the window was a fascinating sight for me. It’s very rare to even see Coca Cola not being served in a can.

The collection was pretty awesome. There were glass bottles from all over the world; from Kenya to Korea. There were bottles from holidays and seasons and bottles artfully decorated with sayings such as “Congrats!”. This collection sparked my curiosity. Is collecting these bottles a popular hobby?

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It turns out it really is.

People have been collecting Coca Cola bottles for years and since it is a global company, it has impacted many people all around the world. People collect them because those bottles are intertwined with history and culture. They associate Coca Cola with happy get togethers like parties and family events. Coca Cola collector clubs (one heck of an alliteration) have been around ever since the 1960s to merge and show off impressive collections. There is also a place called World of Coke where the company showcases its giant collection in interactive exhibits.

There is no one person or group that owns the complete collection of Coca Cola bottles because the company has been around for years and has been producing different bottles including limited and commemorative ones all around the world. The collection in this small deli shop shows a small fragment of the entire Coca Cola collection but it connects history, culture, art, and most importantly, people from all over the world.