Situated in Soho is the Leica Gallery, a gallery “Dedicated to the fascination of photography.” Thanks to Professor Eversley, Our IDC class has been privileged to go on so many trips year, allowing us to learn so much about all different types of art. We have experienced sculptures, paintings, drawings and multimedia. However, one form art we did not explore was photography.
Photography is a unique form of art. It takes a special skill to be able to capture a moment in time and generate life, emotion and energy onto a piece of paper. Personally, I find photography very fascinating.
Currently, the Leica gallery is hosting an exhibit called LIFE Across America, which features photos from a number of times, places and memories of 20th century America. I found myself walking around the gallery with mixed emotions. Some pictures were sad, some were funny, and many were just so easy to connect to—this artwork will speak to everyone
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Some people think art is only what sells for a million dollars at an exclusive white-collar auction. Because this art is valued for a higher material price, no one really notices the art that is around them everyday.
I was probably one of those people. But now I’ve come to a new reckoning and that is that art is everywhere if only one looks.
Something that any p
erson can see no matter what is the art that fills cities and towns. Art made up of objects that are already there—art made up ON objects that are already there. For some, this art will be on a trashcan, for others, on a wall, on a sidewalk, on stairs, on a random pipe poking out; the list really goes on and on. Who’s to say that street art is any less valuable than art in an auction? To the artists, their creations are masterpieces because everywhere around them, there are people that will see, that will love—that will be inspired! Who’s to say that street art has no meaning, no message? To the artists, everything they create is a little part of them—a little part of their message.
And for those who can’t afford expensive tools and canvases for their paintings, the world IS their canvas.
I thought Wang Jianwei’s installation was extremely thought-provoking. Knowing that it was meant to play with the idea of time forced me at least try to associate each piece with “time.” In an interview, Jianwei said that he wanted the audience to feel raw emotion when looking at the art rather than trying to interpret everything, but that was not always easy.
With the auction scene painting, I could clearly see the blurring of time. It is not a traditional painting. I like how it has a three dimensional quality, which can only be noticed from some perspectives. I also noticed that the area within two yellow slashes is a repetition of the figures. I specifically liked this work because it seems completely different based on the the point of view. From a distance, it looks like a normal conference table, but it turns into a time-lapse as you move closer and look at the details.
If there was any part of the exhibition that I was not supposed to understand, it was this set of three-dimensional sculptures. Rafael, our guide, told us to think of each piece individually, and then as an entire set. However, this was impossible for me. It seems like chaos to me. Maybe, Jianwei was attempting to create this feeling of chaos as a representation of time—that time was chaos, and not as orderly as it may seem to us. I found myself reacting to these pieces solely by thinking of how Jianwei created them out of mostly recycled material. They seem irregular, clearly indicating that they were hand-crafted. This made me think most about the process in which they were made.
The trip to the Guggenheim was enlightening. I found myself capable of organizing my thoughts about the art well, as opposed to the beginning of the semester. Even in an exhibition that was supposed to blur time and cause some sort of confusion, I found myself able to make some interpretations and come up with clear thoughts.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet at The Joyce Theatre was the first modern dance performance I’ve seen. I found contemporary dance to be interesting because it doesn’t follow the normal forms and rules like other forms of dance, like ballet. What surprised me was what the article said about how contemporary dance sometimes ignores the music altogether, so I paid special attention to how music played in a role in the performance.
At the beginning, during the performance of Head Space, I felt slightly uncomfortable because of the dissonance in the music that was playing. At one time the dancers were in pairs and each pair danced their own routine. This goes with the dissonance in the music in that it seemed messy and uncontrolled. I found this especially interesting because it was unlike other dance performances I’ve seen in which they were usually in unison. I didn’t know which pair to look at since there were so many different things happening on stage. There were a lot of push and pull in their dance between the pairs that made them complement each other.
I was able to see how they emphasized the use of different muscles. I noticed many times the use of the Martha Graham stance, which we tried in class. While it looked simple, we realized that it was actually quite difficult. It takes a lot of strength to dance while staying in that position and the dancers even did it on tiptoes!
My favorite part of the performance was the final dance, The Groove. It was different from the rest of the dances in that the music was upbeat and energetic, making it lively and exciting. The lights were also brighter and moved around the stage adding to the overall effect of the mood that was portrayed.
Throughout the whole dance, I was constantly thinking about how talented the dancers were and how much practice and effort they must have put in the performance. Overall, I definitely enjoyed the experience.
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