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Pumpkins and Door Frames
Lower east side, lower east side…. What’s in the lower east side?! That is what was going through my head as I read the assignment. Ok, well Union Square. And then what? I later discovered there’s more to that part of town than just the square and the park. There’s “Alphabet City,” which I had not realized were the avenues that were named for letters, as well as lots and lots of galleries. Two out of our three interviewees spoke to us extensively about the museums and galleries that displayed different types of art. One said there were heritage museums dispersed around the area, we just had to find them. The third interviewee, an employee at the Blue Man Group, spoke to us mostly about street art. He suggested many places where art is expressed on the walls and on the street corner rather than behind glass at a closed off museum. He told us of a mural with painted cats smoking and doing drugs (on 3rd st and avenue B) and of a man who plays strictly bass guitar and allows for other people to bring their instruments to join him. He (the interviewee) made a point to say that the there are many places to see art in a room, but he preferred the more prominent street displays.
Our walking journey began in Union Square park, we thought it to be the center of the neighborhood. And it happened to be really convenient to get to. From there we wandered around, a little more south and east with every turn. In order to find people not too busy to share their thoughts with us, we tried to leave the busy areas behind and look for the side streets where there are more houses than stores.
Whilst walking through these parts, I the thing that caught my eye was the architecture of the houses. They all looked very much alike, something I am not used to in my Long Island neighborhood. Most buildings were only a couple of floors, about 3 or 4, very unlike the skyscrapers that dominate further downtown. They were all made of a dark brick and had similar stoops in the front. The door frames were the most intriguing part. They were very elaborate, even the ones that seemed to be worn. Mostly white, if I recall correctly, and stretching down into Greek-themed doorposts like the pictures below.
If you ignore the Frankenstein, you will see that the doorposts on either side look very much like columns of Greece as well as Rome, only less round and more box-like. The Greco-Roman theme even extended to the inside of lobbies as in the picture below. Looking carefully, you can see the same type of columns and decorations along the walls. It may not have been interesting to anyone else, but the oneness in feature caught my eye immediately.
Just a side note, I noticed that none of the apartment buildings had doormen or any type of security. Just a little ways north of where we stood, in the Upper East Side, basically every building had a door man, so why the change? It was a great contrast in my mind the differences between neighborhoods thought they were in such a small radius of each other.
An entertaining up side to all of the walking were the leftover Halloween decorations that were still up. We made some interesting little friends as we walked through the neighborhood and enjoyed the collective creativity of the lower east siders.
Art in Chinatown? Barely… Food in Chinatown? Delectable!
朋友你好 -Hello friends! (in a simplified version of Chinese) Throngs of people, scattered gift shops, narrow streets, and let’s not forget about the wonderful restaurants were seemingly ubiquitous in Chinatown. This was my first “authentic” visit to Chinatown, in which I had a chance to explore and take several interesting snapshots of the region (and try some amazing FOOD!). First, let me start off with the nature of the people that lived in Chinatown. For the most part, I observed a homogenous group of people (predominantly Chinese) and many of the people seemed pretty amiable. For the three interviews we filmed, the people were very responsive and patient with us, which I found delightful. There were also people from different backgrounds, but not too many, who were interested in trying out the food and did their grocery shopping there. Moreover, the majority of the people were speaking in their Chinese dialects and most signs were also written in Chinese, so it was tough trying to identify certain areas, but much thanks to Jodi and Rui Yan for helping us boys!!
In addition, I would like to randomly add: I did not know that Chinatown and Little Italy were so close to each other! I remember walking with my group and seeing Little Italy, thinking we better head back to Chinatown. Another thing I found amusing was my group and I saw a sign that said “Little Chinatown.” I was pondering, “Is this Big Chinatown then?” (of course, jokingly). Now that the “amusement part” is over, I would like to talk about art in Chinatown. In fact, I actually am in accord with Rui Yan that Chinatown lacked significant pieces of art. I do not know whether the creative items in the gift shops count as art, but I noticed a dearth of interesting pieces of art in Chinatown. For instance, even during our interviews, most people said they came here for the food and shopping, rather than to view art. Nevertheless, after an hour of roaming around, we encountered a Chinese theater for opera, in which entrance was free (how exciting!) Honestly, even though I did not understand what the people in the opera were singing, the voices were nice and the setting was well-arranged. Furthermore, we spotted a statue of Confucius, a famous Chinese philosopher, who emphasized education, morals, and family values. Just like Rui Yan, I felt that this statue symbolized Chinatown as a whole because it exposes the Chinese culture to us and how important family and traditional customs are to the Chinese people. I don’t recall seeing any other forms of art in Chinatown, unless graffiti on the walls count… 😀
My favorite part about being in Chinatown was Columbus Park. I greatly enjoyed watching people practicing their ‘tai chi’ and playing their musical instruments (unique instruments, too!) In fact, there was also singing, which I found interesting. We spoke to the aged individuals who were playing music for entertainment purposes and found them to be very knowledgeable about the area and in Chinese culture. I found the instruments they were playing very creative and interesting and then I realized the talent of these people and how hard some people work to earn a decent living in this country. Thus, I contributed some money to these old musicians, for they deserved it. Now going back to the food, the restaurants were extremely crowded. The first restaurant we went to had a very long wait and then we scurried along to this restaurant well-known for its dim-sum (yum!). I just had to say this because I never seen such packed eateries before.
Even though this was my first trip to Chinatown, I felt that I really enjoyed it, especially the cool gift shops with all sorts of accessories and Columbus Park. Chinatown may not be the best site to visit for art, but it is definitely a worthwhile place to hangout with friends and family to shop and eat (which most people come here to do). After all, Chinatown is mainly a tourist attraction and recreation/cultural center. In my opinion, Chinatown is an interesting place to be in, but be warned for it can get very and I mean very crowded, sometimes making it uncomfortable to be there. Combined with the narrow streets and tons of traffic, you definitely do not want to travel there by car…Nonetheless, I am glad that I got the opportunity to experience Chinatown. Now here are some interesting pictures that I would like to share:
Keywords: Rui Yan Ma, China, Chinatown
Chinatown is an uninspiring place. Although hundreds of tourists visit it everyday and find it somehow attractive, many people live in there because they have no choice. They are stuck in there. We don’t know how many elders who live in Chinatown have never walked outside of its border. There is an impression among Chinese people that the elders living in Chinatown are mean. To me, this is not a stereotype; it’s a truth. I don’t want to discuss the reason behind their meanness, because it is complicated and not worth mentioning. And this is my impression of Chinatown. It neither changed since I first set foot on it more than five years ago nor after I finished this neighborhood project.
Going back to arts. The artwork that our group chose for this project was the statue of Confucius in the Confucius Plaza. The reason we chose this statue as our artwork was because Confucius is a symbolic figure of China, and Confucius Plaza is a landmark of Chinatown. Every time I ask my mother how to get to a certain place in Chinatown, she would always say walk towards or away from the Confucius Plaza. Tourists must take a photo in front of the Confucius statue before they leave Chinatown. The statue itself is not especially artistic. What is important is Confucius’s teaching. His teaching has set the Chinese moral standards and cultural values. He is regarded as the wisest scholar in Chinese history. Because of that, people put his statue in the most prominent location in Chinatown to remind themselves not to forget his teaching. While I have never read “The Confucian Analects”, the basic ideas of his teaching are deeply founded in my mind. Perhaps, this is more essential to me than his statue.
The Pearl River is too familiar to me. Well, I don’t mean the gift shop on East Broadway, though it is my favorite Chinese gift shop. I mean the real Pearl River. In my mind, growing up in Guangzhou is growing up along the Pearl River. It has fed me and saved all my childhood memories. I remembered my favorite place was the French concession along the river. I love its tranquility and western style architectures. The Pearl River is said to be the “mother river” for everyone who grew up in Guangzhou. I am glad that the gift shop is named “Pearl River”, because this river has bred the Cantonese people generations after generations, and it has witnessed the changes of its people in Guangzhou throughout time. It became a symbol of memory and nostalgia.
In addition to the Confucius statue, Cantonese opera is another prevalent art form in Chinatown. As a fan of the traditional Chinese opera, I cannot leave this blog without discussing the Cantonese opera. Cantonese opera is a traditional performing art form that is popular in the Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macaw. While it has many similarities with the other Chinese local opera, Cantonese opera is smoother and softer, just like the water flowing down a small stream. This characteristic features the special culture of the Pearl River Delta region in southern Guangdong Province. While wandering around Chinatown for this project, we have experienced both professional and amateur Cantonese opera performances. The Columbus Park is a stage for Cantonese opera amateurs. During the weekends, retirees will gather in several groups to perform a part of a Cantonese opera or sing traditional Cantonese folk songs. Their audiences are the old park goers who also enjoy Cantonese opera. The Cantonese opera enthusiasts all entertain themselves at the park with their shared hobby. The free Cantonese opera event in the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (one of the oldest Chinese community centers) was a little more formal than the park performance. It was a gala events which the singers sang excerpts from several Cantonese opera repertories. Although the performance was more formal, the performers were not necessarily professional. How could singers carry out the feeling of the song if they couldn’t even remember the lyrics? Despite of that, the event was not a bad experience for a big fan of traditional Chinese opera like me. (I feel deeply sorry for my group mates, because I thought they got really bored at this. Please don’t hate me!)
As a native Chinese, it is really difficult to talk about Chinatown without adding subjective views, and so does its arts. Because performing artists don’t have achieve high status in the traditional Chinese cultural values, most of the Chinese performing arts are very down-to-earth, and so as the performing arts in Chinatown. For similar reason, arts are relatively independent from people’s daily lives, and it is true for all kinds of arts. Arts rarely influence people’s lives, but people’s lives influence the arts greatly. Because Chinatown is a relatively isolated and distinctive neighborhood, its inhabitants are able to keep the very traditional Chinese arts. However, is this a good phenomenon? I want to hear from you.
A little video for this project. Pleasant memory!
María llena eres de gracia
There are some common signs that indicate if a movie is good. A typical one is if the movies receives positive reviews. Another is if the movie is well liked by those friends who share similar taste to you. The third, which is the least frequent of the three, is if you walk away bawling your eyes out from the movie while seeing it the second time, feeling as though your life will never be the same again.
Yeah… the third scenario is a pretty accurate description of what happened after I watched Maria Full of Grace for the second time in my life.
There are many reasons I can feel so close to this movie to be moved to tears. Let me start first with the most logical explanation. I originally watched this movie in my Spanish class senior year. The particular class I was in was centered around political and cultural history of hispanic countries. To me, this was more interesting than learning to speak another language. Anyway, in the unit pertaining to Maria Full of Grace, we learned about the situation in Colombia beforehand. It was frightening for me to hear, read and see stories of children being sucked into drug cartels and wars. I saw kids younger than me dressed in military uniforms shooting at other children the same age on opposing sides. I read articles about the corrupted politics in Colombia and how the government secretly takes so much money from different drug organizations and continue to permit this corrupt cycle. I heard outcry from citizens of Colombia that the United States does very little to help the people of their country to escape this dangerous lifestyle. Learning about the real life situation that actually goes on gave the movie more meaning than most of the ones we saw during the immigrant section. Yet, there is another key element to this. When I was in 10th grade, I was actually able to see and help the man who plays Don Fernando. Although seeing him speak in front of us didn’t seem as important back in 10th grade because I hadn’t learned about the situation or watched the movie, I still remember being completely taken by our school community working together to donate clothes and toys to one of his organizations. Looking back, I realized how real everything that happened in the movie was. This is a situation that truly happens in the real world and is a huge problem.
The second reason I found this movie to affect me so much is because the characters were so relatable. I felt pure sympathy for Maria and her situation. Although she did do certain things that were perhaps morally wrong (you know, like smuggling drugs from one country to the next) I could completely understand why she did it. Maria’s situation in Colombia was so bad, that risking her own health, as well as her own baby’s safety, seemed like the only thing to do to escape her life. Of course, it was a decision that was selfish because she risked the life of her baby, but the reasons she did all of it was legitimate. No one smuggle drugs just for the fun of it. Maria was desperate and her morality is questionable, but when it comes down to it, she did what she had to to survive. In this way, I felt like I could know her. She wasn’t always moral or right, but then again who is? The important factor for me was that she showed strength throughout the movie. Even though Maria had plenty times to break down and cry, or to give up, she stuck with her decision and tried to make the best of it. I also believe she tried to be as moral as she could in an immoral situation, for example when she gives Don Fernando the money to send Lucy’s body back to Colombia.
I also thought the way the director portrayed the film was excellent. I especially liked his use of colors and camera angles. The scene where they are in the airplane waiting to land in the United States had me on the edge of my seat. There was very little dialogue in that scene, only the sound of the plane flying, and close ups on the characters faces that were sweating and worried during the ride. As well, in the flower workshop scene, the contrast of the red flowers and white walls and coats helps to add to the feeling that the factory is like an asylum. Even in the scene where Maria is pulled over by security, I was truly worried that she would get in trouble, because the close ups on the facial expressions were so intense. The mood was serious and a huge part of that had to do with the directors choose of angles and colors.
Overall, I found this movie to be the most influential and inspirational. Maria Full of grace is a movie a truly filled with grace itself. Gracias.
Nothing is More American Than an… Immigrant?
I’ve always held a strong belief that immigrants were true Americans, more so than native Americans (Not to be confused with the actual native Americans that have been here since before the 14th century). Immigrants who traveled here to this country for a better life went through many ordeals that would trump most of the worries that consume the minds of say, you and I. Immigrants are the ones achieving “the American dream,” or the “rags to riches” stories. If your parents are immigrants and you are the first generation born in America (like me!), ask them what they went through. Sure enough, they’ll tell you that they came here looking for a better life for themselves and/or their future children (YOU!). And if you’re reading this, and all of the above applies to your family, then congratulations, you made it! Thank your parents for all the sweat, blood, tears, and sacrifices they made in order to achieve the life they’ve made for you and them. There are so many stories of immigrants finding better lives in America, in the past and even in the future. One of those stories is told by a young man named Carlo Alban who decided it would be best to illustrate these struggles via play production. The play “Intringulis” featured his very own story of being an illegal immigrant in America with his families. His solo act which had contained wonderful effects and dynamics, captured the heart and soul of the immigrant’s struggle more so than the other works of art presented in my Arts in New York seminar.
Before the play, I had already been aware of the struggles immigrants faced here in America. I am of the first generation in my family born in America, and I will admit that I do not associate with these struggles first-hand, but many times throughout my life I have been reminded by my parents and other family members that a lot of work was put into allowing me to have the life I have now. So when I saw “Intringulis,” I felt moved. Here was a good-willed, hardworking family of illegal immigrants that lived in constant fear of being discovered. They couldn’t enjoy themselves as regular Americans could, and they had to assimilate to the culture as best they could, hiding any traces of their primary culture. The presentation Carlo put on, his singing, assuming the point of view of other characters, and his direct monologues, had me on edge. Not like, about to cry, on edge, but I just have a soft spot for these kind of things you know?
When Carlo addressed the people that vehemently put down illegal immigrants, I took his side. He is a primary source of living evidence that disproves many of the naive misconceptions people have of illegal immigrants. People generally believe that illegal immigrants take advantage of the American system, benefiting from programs that are supported by tax payers. According to Carlo, illegal immigrants are tax payers, and the sad thing is that they don’t even get anything like tax refunds and the like. Who’s benefiting here? But more importantly, do I believe him? Yes, I believe that Carlo is telling the truth, and if he is, then illegal immigrants are actually helping America.
“Intringulis” is a play that should open peoples’ eyes to the world illegal immigrants live in. I am aware they are illegal hence the label, however I believe that they should do what they have to do in order to live better lives. However, here’s where everything is shaky. With that kind of believe we have to consider it’s legitimacy with other topics concerning illegalities. So even though I’m really taking the side of illegal immigrants, at the same time I’m being wary of other possibilities. The illegal immigrant debate is one of few moral topics that lingers in my head from day to day, and such would be the reason that Carlo’s play really struck the right chord with me. Watch “Intringulis” and then generate your own opinion. Are immigrants, illegal or not, true Americans?
Choosing Humanity over Morality.
All the pieces in this unit excelled in their duties, and left me in realization that amidst this city of hopes and dreams, lies the hardships and desperations of immigrants. New York City is a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. Unfortunately, along with the appreciations of diversity comes the fear of the unknown. The inability to truly know what another culture entails, gives birth to stereotypes and hurtful misconceived notions that work to only widen the crack that exists between different people. Although each and every American was once an immigrant, the title gets passed on to the newer border-crossing races and allows others to belittle those who fall under it. Falling victim to this painful title, only with the word Illegal stamped ahead of it, was Carlo Albán. His performance Intringulis, was the most affective in this unit on immigrant views of New York.
Perhaps it was the direct transmission of emotions, Intringulis hit me like no other play or novel. My world and views were left questioned and shifted, as this one-man show played ahead of me. Of course I had read books on illegals immigrants, and even heard stories of their hardships. A part of me sympathized with the poor individuals, but the rest of me only ridiculed their choice to live here. Carlo’s family came to America for the same reasons that every illegal immigrant came. It was the dreams of a better life and opportunities, that I was accustomed to hearing about. Then what was it really, that woke me up from my un-empathizing character? I think it was Carlo’s personal and emotional story. His story knocked on my brains and forced me to realize that the dreams of a better life really were hard to reach in other countries. After all, Carlo’s family did chose between coming to American and leaving their older son behind. Carlo’s story unfolded a journey that didn’t lose its pain once it did make its way to America. His family struggled financial issues and made endless efforts to stay invisible. Growing up was excruciating for Carlo because he dealt with the emotional stress of sitting in with his fellow classmates, but never fitting in. Unlike other teenagers, Carlo had to measure his steps and guard his decisions because he could not be caught. He was forced to grow up at a faster pace because he was on guard all the time. Despite coming to America, the hope and dream of a better life was still too far. It was perhaps much more painful now since the American Dream was so close, yet too far away. Its kind of like the idea of staying hungry with no food is less excruciating than having to stay hungry even with food on the table. You can see the food, but don’t you dare feel it or taste it. Carlo’s family could see a better life in America everyday, but they were never able to feel or taste its joy.
The impact of living such a shattered life affected me as well. Sibling rivalry is a common trend in the US. We live in the same house under the same circumstances, but we can’t stand each other because we’re jealous of the other or because we’re different people with different personalities. What self-created conflicts we drown in, don’t we? Carlo’s brother was left behind in Ecuador, while his family moved to America for a better life. Jealously-justified. Carlo and his brother grew up in different worlds, and failed to even connect as siblings once they did meet. True differences among siblings-justified. Carlo’s brother felt belittled and paranoid living with his own family. He held the grudge of being left alone and bloated with anger over the years. His anger-justified. I was left thinking to myself and trying to justify my fights with my brother.
Despite being legal Americans, people face issues with fitting in and mixing with crowds everyday. It’s an annoying discomfort, but luckily, its temporary. Illegal immigrants face this discomfort all their lives. Low self esteem and disparagement pierce the veins of these people everyday. How can we possibly compare our petty issues of feeling awkward at a store, with the awkwardness of feeling like an alien in a nation all the time? Aren’t the non-citizens of this considered “resident aliens”, anyway? Granted that these immigrants are here on their own choice, and agreed that breaking the law raises eyebrows on their morality, I simply beg for humanity in all this. If only your child was dying of hunger would you consider swimming oceans and crossing borders to help your baby survive. If only the thought of a difficult life of your children haunted your mind every day would you eagerly stamp yourself with illegal immigrant just to help your child’s future. Morality and righteousness might still stand against illegal immigration today, but humanity sympathizes with it. After watching Intringulis, my eyes see this humanity standing victor among all.
If only I had been exposed to more stories of illegal immigrants, I wouldn’t have seen things so differently.
I’m not going to wish that more illegal immigrants flood the nation and live in difficult conditions here. I’m just going to wish that every country flourishes as well as the US, so life is legal and easier everywhere.
Maria Full of Grace
At first, I had a difficult time choosing between Maria Full of Grace and Intringuilis. But in the end, I decided to go with Maria. Her reason for coming to America was more significant than Carlo’s. Other than being one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen, Maria Full of Grace was able to send out a powerful message to the audience. The movie successfully showed viewers the severity of consequences from making careless decisions, like Maria had.
Maria was my favorite character in the entire unit. I felt that she was very strong and mature for her age. I loved how she stood up for herself and quit her job. It showed that she had strong dignity and courage. Although I do not agree with her way of trying to earn money for her family, I do understand why she chose to be a drug mule. As an impulsive seventeen year old, Maria was focusing more on the immediate reward rather than the consequences of her actions. She wanted to show her family that she was able to earn money and to her, being a mule was the quickest way to do so. I felt terrible for Maria throughout the entire movie. Supporting her family, dealing with pregnancy and avoiding authorities while exporting drugs should not be among her worries as a teenager. I must say, I give her props for remaining so calm, even when she was held up at the airport by Immigration. I DEFINITELY would not have been able to handle the situation the way she had.
This movie expressed the fact that many people, especially immigrants, deal with insane burdens everyday. Maria Full of Grace was very realistic in showing that many teenagers in poorer countries go to extremes in order to survive. It made all my worries seem insignificant. Maria Full of Grace also gave me a new respect for immigrants. It reminded me that they chose to come to America only for more opportunities to better their lives. In order to support their families, they had to drop everything in their country, move somewhere they were completely unfamiliar with, and start a whole new life, while coping with discrimination. This piece affected me the most because it made me more empathetic towards immigrants.
Show some Respect for Spike Lee!
OKAY guys I’m going to try to be different. Everyone is hating on Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing was not the best movie we’ve seen but it did have a very strong clear message that wasn’t a mystery to everyone. The characters in the movie did not have any subtleties in their manner but were very outspoken in expressing the direct message of racism and cultural tensions. “Why are there no brothers on the wall of fame?!” “Those Koreans are geniuses.” “RADIO RAHEEM!!” I will always remember what they did to Radio Raheem.. so sad.
Yes the movie wasn’t a better movie than Maria Full of Grace but I cannot really compare the messages because Maria Full of Grace was about girl Colombian drug mules while this was about the racial tensions in the ghetto neighborhoods of New York. I think both are interesting but after watching Do the Right Thing I really started to feel confused and scared the next day while in class. The youtube videos we watched about the riots that occurred in 1992 Los Angeles showed an actual reality to Spike Lee’s movie. The movie was an over exaggeration of events that happen but it was funny that the movie was made three years before the Los Angeles riots.
Now that I think about it, I think the videos of the Los Angeles riots affected me more than Do the Right thing did although the exaggerated events of the movie prepared me for the videos we saw. The message that Spike Lee wanted to show was not at all a joke even though it sometimes seemed that way for example when the white boy brownstone owning bicyclist (like what I did there?) runs over Buggin Out’s new Jordan’s. This stuff really happened in REAL LIFE except people didn’t fight about little problems like messed up shoes, black people not being accepted on Sal’s wall of fame, or Radio Raheem playing music too loud. They rioted and burned and looted for SIX DAYS because Rodney King was not brought to justice and the cops that beat him to death were acquitted of all charges. The people were angry and they knew no one cared about them in their society. Like the people of Bedford Stuy they lost a member of their community due to police brutality and violence was their answer.
How do these things happen? Why does racial tension occur so often in our nations history and how does it cure itself? I think it is because the world is slowly shrinking and people are unwilling to accept people that are unknown to what they already know about people. Over time this goes away but only for that one group of people. There is always racial tension however and society decides who is on top and who is not and will do so forever until there are differences between people on this planet. Even now I feel like these racial tensions exist and it is more subtle in our society. Its not politically correct to discriminate any more but people still do. We all do consciously or unconsciously. Even when the whole world mixes together and everyone is beige there will still be differences that separate factions on this earth. Do the Right Thing is an important movie because it illustrates a real time of social tension in history and although exaggerated can be very eye opening when you know that the LA riots occurred only a few years later.
