A few weeks ago, I visited the body exhibit near Times Square. It was so much more interesting that I ever thought it would be! When I was little I was disgusted by dead bodies, blood, and dead things in general. As I got older, I grew more and more curious about what was in my body. The simplest muscles and body parts play an essential part of our everyday lives, and most people don’t seem to appreciate it as much. For example, we need our legs to walk, but once we twist our ankle, we are prohibited from doing the simplest task of walking.

When I went to the exhibit, the bodies were positioned in such an art-sy way on display. For instance, a man was holding his own skin in his hand; or a man holding his own organs in one hand. It was very interesting to see an actual organ in the exhibit. The picture above was the only picture I was allowed to take in the exhibit. It was amazing how each organ in our bodies play such an important role.

I absolutely loved how they positioned the bodies. This exhibit wasn’t just to learn but to experience what is in our bodies. I wonder what inspired the creator, Gunther von Hagen, of the exhibit to make such an exhibit. It was very interesting to see what’s in our bodies in 3D rather than in a book. I’m curious to who plans out the positions for the bodies. I’m also wondering about the physics behind holding the cadaver in place. For example, some models have the cadavers standing on one foot.

One day I went to Pace University to meet up with my boyfriend. I got there a little early so I decided to take a little walk through City Hall Park. While walking, I stumbled upon this humongous sculpture. It looked like a totem pole, but not like the traditional, Native American totem poles. No, this totem pole featured four segments, each segment being a different color. This sculpture is part of a series of artworks featured in the park called Lightness of Being by Gary Webb. However, despite there being other sculptures in the series, this sculpture caught my eye because it reminded me of pop art in a sense with its bright colors. Also, it seems like some of the paint was trying to move away from the totem pole, since some of the paint extends out of the sculpture. Rather than having the paint stay on the artwork, the paint seems to be coming off, which is completely against traditional ways of painting (hence why I thought of pop art!) I looked online and saw that this will be in City Hall Park until December 13^th, so if you are interested make sure to check it out before its gone! A, C, J, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 trains to Fulton Street!

Admittedly, I have never really known about the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before getting there, I even confused it with the Museum of Modern Art (which I now can’t imagine how I got to that conclusion). But upon entering the Met, I was blown away by the size and the grandeur of the museum. It was definitely a memorable and distinctive museum.

There was always one section of art that really had a large impression on me: Greek and Roman art. It’s hard to describe it when you first walk into a room with architecture from that time period. It’s grand, it’s bold, and it’s something so monumental it leaves you in awe.

Take this column featured prominently, for example:

Upon learning from a classmate, the column was originally too tall to be placed into the room, so it had to be cut down in order for it to be displayed. T most interesting part to me was the way the column was presented. I’m used to seeing the long, sleek, and white columns usually found in Greek architecture, but the broken up column found here really was in stark contrast to what I’ve assumed all Greek columns to be. Digging into the column’s history, it was apparently made during in the Hellenistic period and made out of marble. It originally came out of the Temple of Artemis, a temple that honored the goddess of hunt. I certainly got the impression that it was and exquisite and grand column. Looking at the top and bottom closely, it looked like a meticulous work of art, rivaling to that found in paintings. It seemed really strange that so much work was put into a column, but seeing as it came from a temple dedicated to a goddess, I understand why it was important to really make sure each contribution to the temple was finely crafted.

As I walked through the towering pillars and wide open spaces, I decided to finally look at the various artifacts the museum presented.  I was pleasantly surprised that these artifacts are just as interesting as the architecture. One object that really caught my eye looked like an upside down chandelier:

Apparently it was a vase made for offerings, called the Terracotta kernos. It was from the Cycladic culture, which is a culture that began in the early Bronze Age around the region of Greece. I was awestruck about how this vase’s purpose was to house offerings. It seemed like a rustic piece of furniture; I would have never imagined it to be a sacred artifact. The brown lines that streak across the vase seemed really well done in an era where technology was significantly absent.

These were only a few artifacts I decided to highlight, and even the fewer of artifacts that exist in the Met. It’s certainly an impressive museum; it houses so many exhibitions that if I were to go through them in one day, I’d probably have my mind blown.

All in all, this was a wonderful detour of a trip!