GeoArt

Overall, the removal and destruction of Diego Rivera’s murals, particularly the Man at the Crossroads, at Rockefeller Center was the right result, especially for that time period. The image of Rockefeller Jr.’s father drinking gin (alcohol) surrounded by women in low-cut gowns (prostitutes) in the Man at the Crossroads was the main reason why Rivera was dismissed from the project.  The Rockefellers were Baptists and therefore were supporters of the Prohibition. The Prohibition actually ended in 1933 (the time when Rivera began the project, but Baptists still continued to oppose alcohol). As for the presence of prostitutes, according to the tour guide in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Rockefeller Jr.’s father was not a “womanizer,” but Rivera was one. Therefore, the mural did not reflect Rockefeller Jr.’s father true character, but Rivera’s.

As for the portrait of Vladimir Lenin, it was possible that the essence of the First Red Scare back in 1919 – 1920 still lingered among the Americans. The Red Scare was a period of anti-Communist hysteria in which there was widespread fear of Communist takeover in America. Overall, it was best that the mural was removed during that time period to prevent conflicts among the masses. Furthermore, this provided a valid reason in the point of view of the Americans for the removal and destruction of the mural. Again, much of the features seen within the mural reflected Rivera’s ideals and beliefs.

In the approved sketch of the mural, Rivera did not include the portrait of Lenin and the portrait of Rockefeller Jr.’s father. Instead, the sketch included two machine televisions (one at each side). The one on the left illustrated people in gas masks, while the other one on the right illustrated a crowd of people with a tomb-like structure in the background (possibly Lenin’s tomb?). Overall, Rivera practically sneaked those images in the mural and refused to remove/cover them.

I would consider Rivera himself to be at fault for the situation, but ultimately it was Abby Rockefeller, the mother of Rockefeller Jr. Abby encouraged Nelson Rockefeller, her son, to have Rivera work on the mural project since both Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse rejected the offer. In fact, Abby was a huge supporter of Rivera’s works and even purchased his sketchbooks and art pieces for MoMA. Overall, although there could have been other potential artists to work on the mural, Abby heavily influenced the decision to invite Rivera. An interesting idea that emerged from the tour guide was if there was a very close relationship between Abby and Rivera. However, most likely the relationship did not exist, and instead, she only deeply admired Rivera’s works. If the relationship were to exist, then it may provide additional explanation on why Abby chose Rivera to work on the mural.

During the “Meet the Author Event: Edwidge Danticat,” Danticat mentioned five fascinating proverbs that emerged from her memoir (Brother, I’m Dying) and/or inspired her writing. She defined proverb as an inspiration for writing, and I absolutely agree with her. Here are the five proverbs:

Proverb 1: Words have wings, words have feet.

In other words, words are able to travel to many places to be in the hands of someone else. For Danticat, letters were important her, in which communication between her and her family was by words on letters. Her words were able to create her memoir. The words of her life traveled through her memoir so that others may be inspired also.

Proverb 2: Sometimes you’re running from the rain, but you end up in the fire.

This relates to Uncle Joseph, where he ran away from the chaos occurring in Haiti. He believed that entering America would be the safe zone, but instead, he still didn’t escape into safety. Unfortunately, he died there from his illness because of mistreatment.

Towards the bigger picture, Danticat relates this with immigration, in which immigrants viewed America as a safe haven where they can potentially prosper. However, many immigrants, whether illegal or legal, continue to face hardship (but possibly not as worse as back in their home countries).

Proverb 3: Misfortune has no horn.

Overall, anything can happen at anytime, whether it’s a miracle or some misfortunate. Be prepared to face the worse.

Proverb 4: Those who care cannot rest. (Variation: Those who are concern cannot sleep).

Probably self-explained, but in Danticat’s experience, those who want to fight for justice should continue to fight until it is achieved.

Proverb 5: When you see an old bone in the street, remember that it once had flesh.

Personally, this is my favorite proverb out of the five. As Danticat explained, the memoir is putting the flesh on the bone of Uncle Joseph and that the memoir is also dedicated to his father and as a tribute to family. It can be said the same for other memoirs, such as Patti Smith’s Just Kids. Her memoir is the bone and she attempts not only to cover that bone with flesh of her own, but of Rob’s flesh also. Overall, with this proverb, Danticat provides us with crucial advice: “Don’t forget the great sacrifices that others have made for us.”

First of all, I thought the setting couldn’t get any worse compared to the Metropolitan Opera House. Even less leg room and the large steps…I almost fell on the first step down because I didn’t realize how low each step was.  I began to develop more fear of heights, just thinking about flying off the seats, diving towards the bottom floor below. Aside from that, knowing that we would be listening to Beethoven, I was quite excited for the orchestra to begin playing.

I recognized the Beethoven pieces that the orchestra was going to play, but I was interested in comparing the orchestra playing them to listening to them via online. Also, I’m sure many people would recognize a section of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major in the media (such as in random moments on television on shows or commercials).

I was fascinated by how a group of the same instruments created a voice, responding to other group of the same/similar instruments. When all the instruments played together, that synchronicity created one loud voice. In the playbill, I came across a paragraph on Beethoven as the Dionysian Maestro:

“Commentators of the time imply that Beethoven himself tended toward the Dionysian version when conducting [Symphony No. 7]. According to these accounts, Beethoven gyrated about on the podium, bending down deeply for diminuendos and leaping up for crescendos, his podium manner made all the more bizarre by his deafness” (p.30).

I did notice something Dionysian about the symphony, in which I noticed some pandemonium…either the instruments all at once played at a loud, chaotic volume or the group of the same/similar instruments began to play separately, thus creating separate voices.

Overall, the event was a great first-time visit to Carnegie Hall with a great orchestral performance.

…are all pathetic.  When I read through the libretto a few days ago before the opera, I did notice how inferior the women were in the opera (and that wasn’t surprising, because during that time period, women were subservient to men [side note: could also be seen in Shakespeare’s plays]). However, during the opera, the actors, the pace, and possibly the music emphasized those parts to the point that they become quite comical (ultimately showing how pathetic the women were). Actually, I noticed that some parts I didn’t recognize from the libretto…

Zerlina asks Masetto (as she treats his injuries) to forgive her by allowing Masetto to do anything to her body as he pleases (such as ripping her eyes out). Donna Anna wants to go to the convent after Don Ottavio achieves revenge on the murderer who killed Donna Anna’s father (Don Giovanni). Donna Elvira…oh, come on, really? She would really go back to Don Giovanni after all that has happened?

Aside from that, the place was elegant and so were most of the people. The opera exceeded my expectations, and I admit that it’s better to witness that actual play rather than simply reading the libretto. My favorite part had to be Don Giovanni entering into hell. As the opera approached that scene, I was wondering how the scene would be portrayed. Would they cover the structures in sheets with hell’s fires illustrated on them? Would they play around with the lighting? I didn’t expect they would use ACTUAL fire in that scene (I wonder how rehearsal is like?).

As I listened to the music played by the Tokyo String Quartet in 92^nd Street Y, I could not help but remember the class discussion about lip-synching. I remembered the question of whether or not musical lyrics reflected a person’s mood at the moment when he/she lip-syncs. At that time, I was not sure whether to agree or disagree, mainly because I do not lip-sync, but instead, I hum. However, the Tokyo String Quartet performance provided me with an answer to the question. When one listens to music, the melody, not the lyrics, evokes emotions and often reflects a person’s mood.

As a former active pianist, the speed of the music is written in Italian and can often foreshadow the mood of the music piece. Here I will translate some of the Italian (in the order in which they appeared in the booklet) that I recognized from experience:

Lento: slow

Poco: little

Allegro: fast

Vivace: increase tempo

Molto: very

Adagio: slow

Scherzando: playfully

Presto: very fast

Andante: moderately slow

Musical pieces played in allegro or in presto were often joyful sounding. In fact, allegro is translated to “joyful” in Italian. However, pieces played in lento or in adagio sounded depressing and dark. The transition of lento/adagio to allegro/presto created a dramatic effect and sometimes created a sense of being chased. In addition, in the beginning of the performance, I noticed that each instrument created its own separate “voice,” producing a chaotic effect. However, towards the end of the entire performance, the instruments were played in-sync and produced a harmonic effect. That harmonic effect created a playful tone in combination with the speed (allegro). To me, that melody evoked a sense of joyfulness in my thoughts, whereas the pieces played in lento or in adagio evoked depressing/angry thoughts.