The trip to the Brooklyn Museum for the “Night at the Museum” was entertaining for several reasons.
My group started on the 5th floor with the intention of working our way down. That didn’t happen. We spent so much time there that we only went downstairs to leave.
We started with the charcoal pictures. They were all skillfully made, with some pictures looking as though it was photography. Works such as “Bullet Hole in Window” and “Einstein’s Desk, the Day He Died” were heavily detailed, it as a surprise to see that it was made with charcoal. There was a funny moment when one of us thought the bullet hole was smoke, and it took a few minutes of debating until one of us actually read the description.
The death exhibit was interesting and disturbing. The history behind some of those pieces were very interesting, such as the “Life-Death Figure,” which showed the Mesoamerican’s respect to those concepts. The “Ladle with Skull” was off-putting, used to show the change from a cannibal into a member of society.
The oil painting that caught our attention was “Columbus before the Queen.” It portrayed him as a hero, a brave explorer addressing Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. We tried to piece through any symbolism that can be seen in the work, such as color or facial expressions. The piece was beautiful, but I had to point out that Columbus was basically a psychopath.
The trip to the museum was made better by the bus rides to and from the museum. A group of us sat in the back playing music, singing along until it became off-key and incoherent screaming. The night was very enjoyable and I had a great time.
