Coming into this class, I didn’t know what to expect. At first I just knew it was the seminar class we all had to take as freshman Macaulay students. Arts in New York City sounded like something I already knew about, but never really experienced. Living in Queens my whole life, I knew that the city was inhabited by a variety of artists such as singers, dancers, painters, and costume designers. This class forced me to look deeper into the city from a new perspective. I liked the way Professor Healey separated our discussion into distinct units: Uptown and Downtown, City of Immigrants, City of Dreams or Urban Nightmare, and New York after 9/11. I felt that each one of these units told a specific story of New York through the different art works presented.
We began and ended our first unit on two very opposite ends. We started with Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” that portrayed the life of rich white New Yorkers that spend their nights partying at the museum. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Anthony Caro’s exhibit, but became more amazed to see rich snobby people on the roof of the museum. These two experiences tied in very well as they both expressed the epitome of wealthy New York. Then we delved into more middle class affairs through the work of Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” and “The Bald Soprano” performance. We still saw the minimal quarrels and convulted conversations of upper-middle class adults. It was only until we saw “Taxi Driver” and “Do the Right Thing” did we see stories of the have nots in New York. We read “In Arabia We’d All Be Kings” which featured characters that would not mix well with those of “God of Carnage.” The New York portrayed through these artworks expressed the economic divide of the city and how art of this genre must illuminate one of these divisions.
After experiencing art through an economic lens we began to view the immigrant culture of New York and its impact on the artwork of New York. This was my favorite unit because I feel deeply about the immigrant culture of the city in that it makes the city unique from any other place in the world. Carlo Albán told us his immigration story and put a face to a group that is openly discriminated against. I thought it was an especially important piece because it discussed the important issue of illegal immigration from a side not portrayed in the news. The similar theme of illegal immigration was portrayed in the film “Maria Full of Grace.” I thought the film had the strongest message out of all the other pieces we experienced. “Maria Full of Grace” is my personal favorite artwork because it educated and evoked emotion within me to the struggle that some people must endure to fight for a life worth living. Although I enjoyed “Asuncíon,” “A View from the Bridge,” and “In America,” they did not top the message of either “Intringulus” or “Maria Full of Grace.”
We began to discuss whether New York was more of a dream or a nightmare from the very first day of class. I felt that Adam Rapp’s play fit well into this unit because of Dennis’ mother’s last wish to experience New York as she continued her decline into the worst stage of terminal cancer. The dream of Dennis’ mother was the nightmare for Dennis himself, as he couldn’t stand to see his mother suffer. We experienced the dreamy Metropolitan opera in all its wonder to the highest seats in the theater. It was the dream experience that the wealth of New York can offer and even though I particularly didn’t like “Don Giovanni” itself, the opera itself was something I only saw portrayed in movies.
I felt like the last unit about 9/11 was something important to the current culture of New York City because of the shift of history since that day. I didn’t think I was going to learn much from this unit, but Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” got me thinking again about how 9/11 is still a relevant topic. The shift of recent history is important to that day and New York was the iconic city that was impacted most. I felt that “The Mercy Seat” and the Peace Quilt did not boast a strong enough message to a still current issue.
The artworks we viewed and discussed all evoked messages about New York through different media and genre. I found the films to be the most effective of these pieces because I felt it to be easily accessible compared to plays, performances, and fine art. I also thought film was straightforward and I was able to understand it better because I grew up watching movies. The plays, performances, and fine art were also expressive in their messages, but it was more work for me to uncover the message behind some of these works.
I’m glad that I was forced to take this class because it opened me to a new side of the New York City that I hadn’t experienced before. The photojournal forced me to look at my everyday life through a different lens and I still end up taking pictures even though it’s over. Thanks Professor Healey for taking us on these performances and exposing us to different artworks in the distinct units.
