“Night at the Museum” was both an interesting and fun experience. The Brooklyn Museum was the first time I visited a famous and historic museum in a long time. On the bus ride there, I couldn’t stop staring at the charming neighborhoods and historic landmarks of Prospect Park. This was an area of Brooklyn that I never explored before. The brownstones and pavers differed from the Bay Ridge area that most of my family is from. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch and other grand buildings, statues, and landmarks reminded me of Manhattan.
Stepping off the bus and staring at the huge entrance, my first impression of the museum was totally different than my first impression of the NAWA exhibit. At the NAWA, it took time to find the entrance. I buzzed in and rode a sketchy elevator up to the small gallery. This was not the case at all for the Brooklyn Museum, as it was very obvious we arrived.
The museum was open just for Macaulay students so this definitely allowed my group and I to observe the art carefully without crowds of people to distract us. We saw most of what the museum had to offer in less than two hours. The 3rd floor was pretty boring to me. It was filled with European-style oil paintings. Not that I didn’t appreciate the art, it’s just that nothing really caught my eye. I wanted to see something out of the box.
The 5th floor was my favorite, as It had unique pieces that I connected with. What seemed like a random section of the floor was a dimly lit circular exhibit. Famous black and white movies played on the walls at 1 % of their original speed. I never considered movies, let alone played at such a slow pace, to be art.
I also never knew charcoal could be used as a paint, so the charcoal exhibit on this floor was fascinating to me. The paintings looked so realistic I thought they were black and white photographs.
Probably the most thought-provoking piece was a black and white painting of a large American flag. At first glance, we thought it was created in memory of the Twin Towers, as the flag was split in half. After reading the description, however, the piece was based on the 2016 election. The flag was split in half to represent the left and right sides of the political spectrum. The left side contained more stars of the flag than the right, which says a lot about the artist’s message.
Overall, the Brooklyn Museum introduced me to many types of art. I am grateful we had the museum all to ourselves, as it made the night even more unique and memorable. I spent time with friends from CSI and also met students from other campuses.
– Olivia Frasca
