Complexions was the first ballet performance I’ve ever been to! I was really excited! I always wondered how a ballet show would be like. I was really curious how it would turn out from seeing the videos in class. I wondered if it was going to be similar to the videos. I was surprised how strict they would be that we couldn’t even take pictures. I didn’t know that they would be that strict. I really liked how I was in the front though.

As the music started, I was surprised by the outfits. It was tight clothing that I could see the muscles of the dancers. I was glad we went over some of the performances in class. I realized that as they danced, their muscles were emphasized and I realized that it was part of the dance. That was one of the main points. I was interested in the second part of the performance which was the one with no music. I felt like it was tap dancing. Also, the parts when they stomped their feet were cool. I never knew ballet could be like this.

My favorite part was the last part. I really like how they wore clothing that people would wear these days. Also, they had music with lyrics. I didn’t know if that was allowed but I was excited. The upbeat music with the dance and lyrics was perfect. I clapped along to the dance. It was fun to watch and it told a story as the dancers danced to the lyrics.

I’ve noticed or felt that the parts all had to do something with love. Maybe, I was the only one who felt like that. Also, I really loved the passion of all the dancers. They danced and acted and their face showed how much they loved what they were doing. I even felt that their sweat helped with their dancing as they showed their passion. It was a realyl interesting performance and I’m grateful that I had a chance to see it.

Last Thursday, I just wanted to take myself out, and walking up from our school, I hit tenth avenue, and discovered this art gallery called the Taglialatella Galleries. No, forget the complicated name of the place. The artwork was amazing! Take a look at the piece shown below. Its Mickey Mouse! 

This piece was done by someone called Mr. Brainwash, and is a stencil and mixed media piece on paper. There are old sections of newspaper behind MickeyMouse, and he’s standing smack in the middle of history. I thought this was really a piece of art. Mr.Brainwash is trying to tell us, the viewers, that times are changing, from an era of black and white to one with color. Not only that. Mr. Brainwash is also telling us that modern times and icons like Mickey Mouse are allowing us to forget the times of the past. Because Mickey Mouse is standing in the middle of the newspaper articles, it’s not that visible and our attention is just on Mickey. Maybe if he would get out the way, we would be able to catch up on some of that history. 

Mr. Brainwash also had this piece below exhibited at the gallery:

Mr. Brainwash calls this piece Einstein, but its stencil and mixed media on canvas. His vivid use of colors and overlapping segments in his artwork shown here suggests a message: people are constantly changing with times, and are acquiring more rights and freedoms.  Science, technology, and innovation are causes and byproducts of these constant changes and human evolution. Whether positive or negative, change has to happen, and we have to learn how to accept it and adapt to it. That is what makes the piece so cool to look at: its creative, original, and unique.

Now, as far as I understand, an artist has a meaning behind the art, because the artist starts off with an idea. I’m not sure why Mr. Brainwash is calling himself Mr. Brainwash. One reason could be that the center of his artwork ( like Mickey Mouse) or objects in his art in general (like in Einstein) are brainwashing the public. Of course, that’ll remain a mystery, like the man behind Mr. Brainwash himself.

On November 18, the Alexander String Quartet was visiting Baruch College in preparation for two upcoming concerts they were going to have. My history class was invited to watch the group perform. It was my first time going to Baruch’s performing arts centers. The performance was taking place in the Engelman Recital Hall. Though it wasn’t a very large venue, I found it to be a very comfortable place to be.

Though I’m not too big on classical music as a whole, I always found it fun to watch the performers themselves, at least on a professional level.  I found classical musicians to give a different feeling, when performing, compared to say pop or jazz. musicians There seems to be a lot more structure and formality behind classical music that works its magic on its performers as well.

The quartet was made up of two violinists, a violist, and a cellist. One of the violinist took the lead role for the majority of the performance, although each musician had his moments of glory. They played famous quartet compositions that were supposed to help us better understand the time period we were studying. After the performances, we were given time to ask questions. I was able to learn a lot about quartets in general because they were very knowledgeable on the history of quartets. Performing famous pieces and arranging/composing there own, It was a very enjoyable experience. However, I was only able to sneak one picture in because my professor did not want us to use our phones.

While walking towards a group of seats with Stella and professor Eversley, we passed by an exhibit that was limited to MoMA members. Hoping we would be able to check out this special exhibit, professor Eversley took us with her to the exhibit before we interviewed her. The exhibit was called Retrospective – Isa Getzen and focused a lot on architectural design. The placement of the different sculptures, rocks, and installments amongst many other things seemed to have undergone a great deal of thought. My favorite installment in the exhibit is shown in the picture below.

Though the picture doesn’t really do the piece justice, it was really a sight to see. It just seemed like a bunch of frames put together from the side. It might have even resembled a building in progress if you gave it some thought. However, you realize just how grand the installment is when you look up. The installment seemed to stretch out towards the building from the view above. I thought the window was randomly a part of the room, used to bring some light to the exhibit. However, I discovered that it was all planned out…the lights, the window, the design, all of it was intentionally done. I felt a little foolish only considering the art within exhibits and now how and why they were placed in the areas they were.

The installments in the room were organized by time period and was mostly made up of architectural genius or emotion. There were blocks of stone piled together from a war in the beginning while there were futuristic plastic walls that seemed to represent buildings later on in the exhibit. Most of the art in the exhibit seemed self explanatory, but I have yet to understand what the piece in the picture below represents. It was rotating really slowly, but it just seems like melted wax on a stand to me. Am I missing out on the genius behind this piece or is it just what I see it to be?