Author: jacklinefahmy

The dance we went to see last week was very peculiar. I was never into dance or understood dance as to be a form of art, so this experience was a little unexpected. I did not like that they would dance before or after the music is playing because it just seemed like they missed their cue. It was also very long and every time you thought it was about to end, they would start up again so it just felt like it was dragging. I will admit that they definitely very talented individuals, however, I wish I appreciated dance enough to be able to enjoy something that was so well put.

The play we attended earlier this week was also a new experience for me. I appreciated the simplicity of it and I loved how it was easy to understand and easy to keep up with. They characters were talented and were so good at making it seem as if I was watching a movie yet with very little props and no camera or lighting. The only thing I have to say is that I would have personally enjoyed it ten times more if I didn’t watch it so late at night after a long day at school, but overall I was impressed with how it played it out and did not expect them to be as good as they were.

Last weeks guest speaker, Rich Streeme, was a very interesting guy. I personally expected someone to dread having to speak to a bunch undergraduate students, but he was the complete opposite. It was actually cute how enthusiastic he was. He was speaking so fast because he was trying to get us to see and know everything in the one hour we had.  He was very down to earth and very educated on punk and tattoos. It was interesting to learn that punk is not just a type of music, but it was a lifestyle, almost like a movement. I also really enjoyed the pieces he passed around, the book of tattoos was my favorite. The pin making was was also another thing that was so cool, fun, and very engaging. Overall I really appreciated both guest taking the time out and teaching us about punk.

The Opera we attended was okay. I have seen it before, so it was not really a new exciting experience. I enjoyed the plot, despite the fact that it was very sad. Even though they had the translation in front of us, I will admit that was hard to keep up with what was happening. I wanted to watch the actual opera, but I also wanted to understand what they were saying, so I was not sure exactly where to look. On top  of that, I lost my glasses and my vision has been pretty bad, so sitting that far away from the stage did not help either. I will admit that the view from up there was quite amazing. The whole thing actually; the red velvet carpets and the chandeliers and the stage. I don’t think I would voluntarily go see and opera again, but I am glad I can say I went to one.

Prior to watching Avenue Q, (I’am certain that I am also speaking on behalf of the entire class) I had very little to no interest in commuting to the city in the rain and watching a show about puppets. However, the show was actually pretty amazing. Not only was it funny and very straight-forward with the audience, but it delivered such an important message especially considering we are all confused college students who get very stressed out easily. The “everything in life is only for now” is pretty essential for us students to understand. I also liked how they made light of everything, like the everyone is a little bit racist or the donald trump is temporary joke. I believe that lately, everything seems to offend every one, so finally being able to sit in on a show with no one getting offended on the reality of this world was a very refreshing experience.

Anne Hathaway is well known for her acting, so I found Tristis choice in talking about a current actress a good one. Tristi briefly spoke about her childhood and her career breakthrough, something that not many included in their powerpoint presentation. I liked that Tristis also included her personal life into the presentation, so we could understand there is more to these actresses and singers than the surface we are only exposed too. I do wish Tristi spoke a little longer and got in to depth about what Anne Hathaway is famous for. But overall, Tristi did a fine presentation.

When thinking of museums, my first thought is taking the ferry and doing some walking in the city. I never realized that Staten island was interesting enough to actually have a museum. Snug Harbor’s Newhouse Contemporary Art is old whitish looking building with no indication that it is actually a museum inside. When entering building C, I was taken back by how high the ceiling was. It looked similar to the walls of a church; tall with a big bright opening on the ceiling shining light throughout the rest of the museum. The museum was not typical in that it did not only feature famous and known artists, whereas it featured “low-key” artists, just like the National Association of Women Artists. The museum was also similar to the NAWA in that it did not have many people in it, at least when I went. Unfortunately, there were not many distinct pieces of art. There were a few self-portraits and paintings, some in color and some black and white, but nothing that actually stood out to me. There was on portrait that reminded me of the Diane Arbus exhibit, with a what looks like late 20-year-old African American woman, with a big thick black afro starring directly into the camera drawn in black and white. I vividly remember appreciating this work along with another self-portrait around this one, also in black and white, of an older man looking on the ground dressed in a suit. I did not genuinely enjoy my visit to this museum as it was very boring, but at least I learned one more thing about Staten island.

A museum I visited once before and looked forward to visiting again was the Whitney museum. Before even entering it, the outside of the museum was already enough to appeal the visitor. The outside is all glass like it’s some high tech engineering building, and is always populated in an obvious way with long lines. The cool thing about this museum is that it always has different exhibits and themes that attract a variety of people. Upon my entrance on the ground floor, I noticed a number of different doll looking structures hanging around the poles and near the railing of the stairs. It was creepy yet a unique representation of art. The 8^th floor had the main exhibit of Hypermobility. This floor focused a lot on the movement of objects by Calder. The pieces looked very random, some colorful and some were dull. They were just pieces of random objects either put together 3 dimensionally or painted. You really had to read the card underneath to capture a good idea of what is being presented.  For example, there was one piece of art that looked nothing more than a bunch of strings attached together with some oval/round shape at the end of each string. The strings were not in one direction, but looked like they were moving everywhere. It did not look like anything, but it was actually called “Hanging Spider”. Only after reading the name was I able to picture an actual hanging spider. I’m personally not a fan of that type of simple art, it does not make much sense to me, however many people seemed to enjoy it.