Last week we all read poetry in front of the class. I thought this was a little boring because a lot of the people did not know how to read the poems with the correct pauses, making the poems sound like essays instead of poems. I really enjoyed my poem because I did feel like I had a connection. The author talks about how the streets were once believed to be poisonous with gas and sewage, and then now it looked fine. My mom was raised near the mall and it used to smell disgusting because of the fumes. She was also afraid that she would get radiation and was afraid to have me and my sisters go near it. Now, the dump is covered and they are going to build a park on top of it. I feel that my mom feels the same way as the author.
Author: Hannah Bruschi
The videos on the statues in New York City
In class last Wednesday, we watched many different videos about different statues in New York City. I found this project to be both fun and engaging because we were able to bring the statues to our classroom and explain both their purpose and their creator. I found this project to be particularly educational because generally when people see a statue they just appreciate the art and don’t do the research on who made the statue or why the statue is there in the first place. I never knew how many equestrian statues were in Manhattan until I took the time to look it up and see them all. I think that my favorite project was the one on female statues in manhattan because I did not realize that it was both rare and only recently added. Again, that is something I would have never known had it not been for this project.
Joe Pentangelo
Last week Joe Pentagelo was the professor and we had a great time. We started by talking about the movie a Bronx Tale. We discussed the plot, the producer, the director, and what went into making the movie. After that, we discussed how much a story can change when used in different mediums. In groups, we brought up different examples we knew. My group talked about Matilda and how it is a movie, musical and book. We also discussed Star Wars which is a movie, book, television show, and one man play. Before that, I never realized how different a story may be when the medium is switched.
Dr. Wechsler
Last week we were able to meet Dr. Wechsler because he subbed for his class and I have never experienced a professor like him. In the beginning, he talked to us about Tin Pan Alley and different composers from New York like Irving Berlin and Morton Gould. We continued to talk about New York City with the casual interuption about subjects like cars and sexism. We then proceeded to watch two Betty Boop episodes that were very funny. Finally, we listened to him play on the flute and the electric flute. He was a good flute player but on the electric flute he wasn’t showing off his skills as much. Instead he was showing off bizarre sounds he made up. I am actually interested in getting an electric flute now. I am surprised it’s called an electric flute because it is shaped like a clarinet. Altogether, I had a good time.
Bob Dylan
In class this past week, we studied Bob Dylan and some of the work he has done. In my household, the name is well known and I actually had a conversation about the award he got with my father without mentioning that we talked about it in class. Bob Dylan is a country folk singer who was revolutionary for his time when he used an electric guitar for folk music instead of acoustics. With powerful songs that discussed extreme topics like the Vietnam War, Bob Dylan proved he earned his award with most of his songs, with lyrics like “how many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free” and “how many ears must one man have before he can hear others cry”. I have never been a fan of Bob Dylan’s. There are may other artists who we heard in class including Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Simon and Garfunkel. I know many songs by Peter Paul and Mary, including If I had a hammer, Lemon Tree, and Leaving on a Jet Plane, and I like Peter Paul and Mary’s music better than Bob Dylan’s. One of the things we discussed in class was how well liked Peter Paul and Mary was to the normal population and how Bob Dylan stood out in a bad way making many people dislike his music. I believe this is why I don’t like Bob Dylan. I like the harmonies of Peter Paul and Mary compared to Bob Dylan’s raspy voice, and I think that his songs are too serious for me to listen to. If I were to compare his messages to another artists I would compare him to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. With lyrics like “emancipate yourself from mental slaver, none but ourselves can free our mind.” I think that Bob Dylan makes his lyrics the way Bob Marley does, but Bob Marley’s singing is much more pleasing to the ear.
The opera
Over this past week, we saw the opera Don Giovanni and I absolutely loved it. I loved being able to read what was going on in front of me, and the fact that they had many different languages, but I’m surprised they didn’t have Russian. I like the plot of the opera and the scenes that were active, but contrary to popular opinion I did not enjoy the arias. I disliked the lack of movement and that really made those parts of the opera somewhat boring, but everything else was great. I especially loved the fire and the floor opening from below. Seeing this opera has influenced me to want to see another some day. After the first act, I realized that operas are not as fast paced as plays. The first act was about two hours long and it was hard to sit through it so I needed to buy a five dollar coffee which was ridiculous but it got me through the next act. In the next act I moved up to a closer seat and I have to say it caused to have a worse time than before. When I was sitting in my original seat, I was in the last row in the family circle and I was able to sit far back enough to be able to see the words and the stage at the same time. When I moved up I had to continuously move my head up and down to be able to pay attention to both the words and the action. Before I saw the opera, I watched a 3 minute summary of the opera on youtube so that I could read the words at points and not worry too much about the action on the stage and I think that was a good decision because I was able to really understand what was going on. I also did not realize how popular this opera was, but the woman who sat next to me told me that this was almost her twentieth time seeing this opera and that although she didn’t know Italian, she was watching the opera without subtitles because she wanted it to enjoy. I hope to get to the point where I can watch an opera comfortably without subtitles.
Getting ready for the opera
Over this past week, we started to look into the opera, Don Giovanni. At first, we learned about terms like an aria, recitative, da capo aria, libretto, and dramma giocoso. I never knew how much went into an opera, and I didn’t realize how much the pitch of the voice matters either. I learned about how there is more than one type of soprano. Not only that but I did not know that other voices can control the type of character, like how a bass singer would most likely be a high priest, king, or comic. Understanding an opera is very difficult. We were given an article to read about the opera to help us prepare for what we witness. One of the things that stood out to me in the article is the line that says that an aria is not defined by a situation but by sound and resound itself. I agree with this statement because most operas are in a foreign language and even though I might not understand what the person is singing about, I can understand the intensity of the situation through the power of the singer’s voice, as well as emotions that are portrayed in the solo.
This past week we focused on two different things in class. One thing we focused on was how a clip is perceived differently both with and without sound. We watched clips from different movies like The G-dfather and Young Frankenstein and saw how a film’s power can change by the sound, but it was odd to see that the mood did not change. The scene in The G-dfather was still intimidating and the scene from Young Frankenstein was still funny, we realized in that the angles is what set the mood, not just the music. The angles made the characters seem intimidating or funny or serious. The other thing we did in class was finish the movie from last week. I love watching movies in class because it is a very relaxing way to spend the period and stands out from my other classes.
Can A Line Define?
This last session we went to the art exhibit Can A Line Define? And I thought the pieces that were there were interesting. As I started to look around at the art a bunch of young men came into the room parading with mirrors and roses, and I have never been more confused in my life. As the older man tied strings around another man sitting, the younger men continue to circle the room with flowers and my understanding of this depleted. As the act ended I was left more confused than when it started. After they left and the room emptied out, I took time to walk around and acknowledge each picture, trying to draw a connection to one another and to the theme of the exhibit. As I continued to think of the theme, I decided to interpret the word line as a description instead of a one dimensional shape. After thinking of this I realized that all of these pieces are powerful and diverse, but without context, or a line, it was hard to sometimes see how certain artworks connected. I decided that instead of naming the theme Can A Line Define? with this interpretation, I felt like a more fitting title was Do You Need A Line To Define? I did enjoy the art work and I cannot wait to continue the movie this upcoming Wednesday.
Blog 3
Last class we went over out photography skills and how different lighting and editing can effect the mood of a photo. I felt that for the most part everyone took some nice pictures but I felt some were not good pictures. It was very hard to see a lot of them because the room is brighter than the screen. The guest speaker who came in and talked about her career in photography was very interesting, but I did have a hard time seeing the difference between the copies of her pictures. I learned a lot and I learned that I will never want to be a museum curator and that I photography much more complicated that I thought.