Bruce Munro is a modern British artist best known for his enormous three-dimensional light installations. The works of art created by Munro are heavily inspired by human experiences through the senses. For the past thirty years, Munro has been recording images and ideas that capture his reactions to stimuli such as music, literature, science, and nature. With the combination of vibrant imagination along with a knack at light construction, Munro has produced large beautiful fixtures of light that are both reminiscent of past experiences as well as intimate in surrounding. Munro arranges his work into three categories: installations, sculptures and commissions.
[Moon Harvest]
The Moon Harvest is an installation assembled by twenty cylindrical bales of hay placed all around Aviary Glade at Waddesdon Manor that serve as canvases for light. Munro set up fixed lights that illuminate the moon on the bales of hay. I personally love this installation because I have always been obsessed with the moon. I just think its one of the most beautiful things in the world. And it is amazing how Munro was able to make the moons look so realistic while creating a very soft romantic fairytale like mood.
[Restless Fakir]
Restless Fakir is a piece of work made with a timber board, halogen lights, and glass tubes. The sharp cone lights give off an intimidating appearance while the board of timber gives it an old look. I really like the contrast between the neatly arranged bright lights against the dull piece of wood. It seems as though it represents the disunity between the manmade artificial world and the natural world.
[Brass Monkeys]
Located at the Bath Royal United Hospital, Brass Monkeys is a large commission made by blown glass, stainless steal, and halide light source. The bubble like structures piled on top of one another is so unique and refreshing in style, especially because of the electric blue lights. According to psychologist, the color blue brings about feelings of calmness and serenity therefore, Brass Monkeys may also serve as a therapeutic tool.
[SOHO]
One of the greatest perks of living in the city of Manhattan is the availability of art all around the city. Graffiti, often regarded as vandalism by authority, is a style of art that significantly characterizes New York. I find that this particular form of art focuses on expression of rebellion, individuality, and having a voice. The culture of graffiti has been around since the 1970’s and grew due to competition amongst artists who aimed to spray their names citywide. Even though graffiti art is not as prevalent as it once was, you can still admire them all around the city almost as if you are walking around a gallery. I love how you can see the history and some sort of identity behind each spray: names of artists, group symbols, revolutionary statements and just cool splashes of color. The style and colors used in graffiti art are also elements that really capture me. It’s as if each word or picture is crying out for attention through neon paint, thick boarders and eccentric fonts. I had always thought that the style of graffiti was cool because unlike traditional art the places in which you find these works are not usually upscale galleries or museums. So I found it more relatable in a lot of ways. But because I had grown up in the suburbs, I was rarely exposed to the graffiti scene. Since moving out into the city, I have experienced so many beautiful works of graffiti art that looks so much cooler in person. I really like this one building that’s entirely covered in color by Williamsburg and this other graffiti board in St. Marks but my favorite piece of graffiti is at the top of a rooftop in Soho. You can over look the buildings and the combination of colors on the wall gives off a lively atmosphere. These little things about New York are what make this city so rich in culture.
[5 Pointz NYC]
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is the first performance I have ever seen at the Joyce Theatre and although it was smaller in size compared to the Lincoln Center the atmosphere of this particular theatre was extremely cozy and exciting. I think the closely-knit seating, dimmed lights, and soft background music had a lot to do with making the place seem so inviting. When the curtains first opened, I did not know what to expect or how to feel about this show despite the research we did for class because this style of art just seemed so strange and confusing. Unlike most shows that I have been where there was some type of story line that flowed throughout the performance, Complexions was arranged in fragments of choreographs that did not correspond with one another.
The first dance of the show had me feeling a bit uncomfortable and uncertain about the rest of the performance but it did make me realize the distinctiveness of contemporary dance as an art. This form of dance is expressed through movements borrowed from classical, modern, and jazz styles. Despite the movements it is comprised of, contemporary dance itself is completely different. The focus and also the most impressive component of the dance is the strength these performers possess. As the show went on, the performance progressively became more upbeat and exciting. It was amazing to see how much skill and strength these contemporary dancers have in controlling their muscle movements so precisely. The last dance of the show was absolutely exhilarating, a bang worth the build. And even though some of their body language along with their skin-tight attire did make me feel somewhat uncomfortable in the beginning, I let go my understanding of what should be into what it actually was; contemporary dance is an art the same way ballet or any other dance is an art. It embodies multiple styles in order to accentuate the strength of the human body and its essence.
I was scrolling through Tumblr, an Internet blog network, the other day and I stumbled upon these paintings by Picasso. What intrigued me was how drastic the change between his earlier paintings and his later paintings were. To me it seemed as if his skill to create art diminished because the paintings he drew before his twenties looked more realistic. Then I realized that it wasn’t a factor of ability that had changed the way he painted but rather a change in the style of his art. Yes, the paintings that Picasso made during his earlier years seem more difficult to create, well it does to me at least, but it does not have that peculiarity of abstractedness that makes a Picasso a Picasso. As we have learned in class, Picasso’s style is to develop an abstract representation of an image in order to create movement within the painting. It is evident that he built onto his style of work from when he first began creating these images by looking at the complexity of the “pieces” of the image. I mean, look at the one he drew when he was ninety years old! I particularly enjoy the painting he made at the age of 60 because it reminds me of the drawing Professor Eversely had put up back in the beginning of the year. From that class, I’ve learned that not everything has to be done perfectly from point A to point B. In fact, I enjoy Picasso’s notion of flux within his paintings now that they don’t seem so beyond-me and daunting.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had a love for performance productions whether it’d be on the streets or a show on Broadway. However, I never had the opportunity to watch an opera and so I had great expectations for the production of Carmen. I wasn’t sure what to expect but as soon as I laid eyes on the beautiful building of the Lincoln Center and attire of the people there, I got the sense that this was a lot more sophisticated than the shows that I have seen before.
As I took my seat, I noticed that the curtain was filled black with one striking red line running up it. Thankfully, because of the research we did prior to the show, I was able to understand that the red line exemplified Carmen herself. Red, the color of sexuality and desire, represents Carmen’s promiscuity.
The setting of the stage was absolutely stunning. The two brick walls that had to be at least two stories high broke apart and aligned with ease and smoothness. The costumes worn by the performers were beautiful as well, even the ones worn by the lower class. I really liked how the costumes easily defined the social status of every character. The cigarette factory workers wore duller colors whereas the high standing characters, more specifically, Escamillio, wore bright colors with expensive accessories like fur and feather.
Music played a huge role throughout the entire opera, well, obviously. The way in which soprano and tenor were assigned to Carmen and Don Jose, respectively, musically illustrated their relationship has woman and man. The soprano part that was sung by Micaela showed competition between her and Carmen as women who both desired Don Jose’s love. My favorite part musically was how they utilized the flute to represent delicateness and femininity of Mercedes and Frasquita.
I thoroughly enjoyed Bizet’s production of Carmen and I’m glad that this was my first experience watching an opera.
When I first walked through the doors of the gallery I felt this wave of serenity despite the exciting colors and odd shapes. The combination of all the colors and the depth of each piece was so captivating. Every piece had its own statement but the collection as a whole made a story.
I love the paintings done by cutting up the strips of paper because not only do the colors and the drawing itself bring out characteristics of their own but the lines give it another level of uniqueness that force viewers do a double take. The lines also give it a feeling of texture and works nicely to emphasize the highlights as well as the shadows. Although the lined paintings seem as if they would be ridged, if you take a good look up close you can see how perfectly placed each individual line is. I really admire these pieces for the dedication it takes for theartist to make them so impeccable.
This is my favorite painting in the “Heavenly Bodies” collection, mostly because it’s the one I feel like I understand best. As Tom was speaking, he explained how the paintings represented our relationship to the heavens and our physical being, hence, “Heavenly Bodies.” In this particular painting, the darker colors are a clear depiction of our worldly nature. The combination of the dark color scheme plus the look of eruption gives it a feeling of excessiveness, seduction and destruction. On the contrary, the heavenly side of the painting has an aura of serenity and an atmospheric effect due of the calming color scheme of purple, blue, green and white worked in with more tender brush strokes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the “Heavenly Bodies” collection at the Rox Gallery and am excited to see future works done by Tom Smith.
CLIFF HOUSE
FLYING SHIP
ROCOCO HUT
The first thing I noticed about Rachel Feinstein’s Folly collection was its striking contrast against the lusciously green setting. All three pieces have a similar facade that gives them a feel that is mystical and out of this world, whereas its setting is natural and very familiar. What is most interesting to me about Folly is that although it looks very paper-like and flimsy, the actual structure is quite sturdy because it is made out of aluminum. After observing the pieces for some time, I realized that “folly” is the perfect name for these pieces for they do not serve a functional purpose but they sure are nice to look at.
During the last few weeks of summer my mother and I felt that we need to spend more quality time together before I had to leave for school. And so we headed to the city to catch a show on Broadway. I wasn’t familiar with the story line of Chicago but because so many people raved about it my mother and I decided to buy tickets. I’ll admit that the first ten minutes of the show was absolutely awkward because of how scandalous the actors and actresses were dressed however, the performance of the show was just so amazing that I realized that attire is a huge asset behind the art of Broadway. In the show that I watched, Amra-Faye Wright was the leading actress and she made me collect a whole new level of respect for performing artists. To be able to memorize hundreds of lines without a slip, profess emotion through body language and on top of that sing/dance…it was absolutely stunning. I give Chicago the Musical a rating of ★★★★★!
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