Category: 31 August

In class that day we started with introducing ourselves to one another in the class and I never knew that everyone had such completely different backgrounds whether artistically, athletically or academically.  I have always valued the arts and I am glad to finally be taking my first class learning about the arts in New York City.

After we learned about each other we started looking at different types of pictures and I have never analyzed a picture so deeply before.  I have never heard of echoes in paintings, as well as the idea that lack of color contrast makes a piece boring.  I enjoyed the painting of Napoleon the best because of how realistic and strong they created Napoleon to be.  I disliked the contemporary art because of how vague the shapes looked, I had a hard time understanding what was going on.

As a musician and piano player myself, I especially enjoyed listening Professor Kahan playing the different pieces of music that had the same rhythm but different moods.  Moonlight Sonata was definitely my favorite piece played because of my love for classical and baroque music.  I never thought I would be able to her the naturally minor song played in a major key.  It sounded really good.

Altogether, I am glad to be enrolled in this class and I cannot wait for next week.

Hannah Bruschi

I never particularly disliked the arts, but I also never loved it either. I appreciated the fact it existed, liked looking at it, and was always surrounded by it, but I wasn’t so into analyzing them. That’s why I originally had mixed feelings about this class. I thought my Wednesdays would be horrible. Starting class at 8 and by the end of the day, I would still have to attend an art appreciation class. I wasn’t exactly happy about this.

However, when we actually had class that day and we learned about impressionism, looked at paintings, tried understanding the meanings behind the various paintings, the rule of thirds, and best of all, the trips, I realized that this class was probably going to be the best part of my Wednesdays. Towards the end of the course, we moved onto music. We listened and compared the differences between majors and minors, which reminded me of my music classes from high school all over again.

During the first week of this seminar we learned about the foundations of visual art. We observed many art pieces that exhibited impressionism. Monet was the artist that used impressionism to allow the picture to evoke a feeling. This is achieved by using the different colors that are being given off by light. The professor demonstrated this to us by telling us to look outside and see the different colors of the grass, the trees, and the rocks. We saw that the grass was more than just green, it was also yellow and brown. In addition we also saw that not only were the leaves green, but different many shades of it. Monet showed the various shades of colors by painting the Rouen Cathedral at different hours of the day. He also shows how the same picture can give off different feelings based on the lighting. In his picture Impression, Sunrise, we see the faint figures can be identified by putting all of them into context. Many of the figures would be unidentifiable if isolated from the rest of the picture, therefore we are perceiving the image by filling in the blanks with our imaginations. This is one thing I learned about the way we see.

Another way we see, especially in portraits, are putting attention on a painting’s focus point. This is especially true if the focus point is relatively away from the center and is supported by two other points that together would make a triangle. For many portraits, this focus point would be around the eyes and the other two points would be around the shoulders. This triangle also causes the picture to have balance which is crucial in any form of art. Balance emphasizes the contrast between two different elements of art whether its color or direction. For example light colors need to be balanced by dark colors to emphasize the contrast. Also if many figures are shifting attention to the left, then other figures need to shift attention to the right.

After observing paintings and learning about the way we see, we continued to learning about the way listen. We discussed about the foundations of music, which are rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. Similar to how visual art can evoke different feelings by changing the colors, music can do the same by simply changing a few of its elements. For example, in many cases changing the chords from major to minor can often change the feeling from happy to sad. This was demonstrated to us by the professor when she played different songs in both major and minor.

Balance in art has the same purpose in music and is just as crucial. It allows music to have a focus point, which is often the chorus in the common forms of music. This is sometimes achieved by only having harmonies during the chorus, or simply being louder during the chorus. This first week of seminar has taught us the elements that make art appealing to us, which are things I will be thinking about for the rest of the class. I have even thought about and applied these elements to pictures and music that I’ve observed and created.

In this lecture we learned about the Rule of Thirds; the alignment of a subject to specific guidelines and intersection points. We also learned about Impressionist art and the use of tension, a grid, and color to make art more dynamic.  Art becomes more interesting as well as appealing when it has dynamic elements.  For example, we discussed the painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David.  We spoke about how David made the painting more dynamic by having the horse standing on two legs ready to run and the regally painted Napoleon on its back, pointing the troops forward.  There are small elements within the painting that make it dynamic as well.  there are reflections of patterns within the mane and the clouds within the painting.  Everything in the painting is points to the top left of the canvas; everything accept for the sky and the clouds.  What made this painting dynamic were the minute details that David put into it; more so then the names carved into the stones which represent the three generals ever at that point in time who had been able to cross the Alps; including himself.

Similar to art, music has elements that make it dynamic and appealing. Elements of music include rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. Rhythm is the most important element; it is the pattern of which the song follows. A melody is a tune or a song. For example, some rap does not have melody, it is replaced by the sounds of the words. Harmony is the background to the melody. It supports the melody and is usually made using many instruments playing at the same time that all go well together. Form is present within all art forms. It is defined as structure; various components of whatever is being described. Form includes the fact that all art forms needs some type of repetition. For example, Beethoven’s sonata has a 4 groups of 3 rhythm; a pulse.

-Samantha Silber

In our first class, we began discussing art and music. I could never say I considered myself very interested in art, but after this first class, I certainly have a new outlook on art and what it has to show for itself. We looked as several pieces of art including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and other famous pieces. I never spend much time looking at one single painting at a museum as there are numerous pieces to look at. But having taken a close look at several pieces in class made me realize how much I really missed out on. I never thought about a painting as being a 9-square grid. The focal point of this grid is usually between grids two and five. Having your focal point be on the boundary of two grids, and not in the center of any grid creates a sense of tension. We also discussed how all forms of art have some type of repetition. If there are too many different things going on, the art will seem chaotic. That’s why it is uncommon to see too many different components in a painting or too many different rhythms/keys being played in a piece of music at once.

Towards the end of class, we listened to some music and discussed  how two pieces of music can have the same rhythm, but something as simple as changing one key, can leave the listener with a different feeling after having heard both songs. This was evident when we listened to Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, and Memory from Cats. Both songs have the same rhythm, but the difference in sound of the minor/major key will leave you with two completely opposite feelings. Although my artistic ability is very limited, I hope I will continue to further my education in such an interesting field. I look forward to learning more about the pieces of art that are to this day so famous and well known.

 

When I heard Macaulay students had to take this seminar, Arts in New York, I was thrilled because art is one of my passions and I love talking about it.  Honestly, before class I expected the seminar to be boring and not meet my expectations and excitement, but I was wrong.  I absolutely love the class because we freely talk about the hidden messages and meanings in different art styles, and why the artist did what he/she did.  I’ve been to many museums and I’ve seen and heard the work that was shown in class, but I’ve never broken it down to the level that we did in class.  For example, “The Napoleon Crossing the Alps” has areas of light and dark to intensify the work and create a balance at the same time.  Another example is when we listened to “Moonlight Sonata” in major and minor keys, paying attention to the different tones.  The song in minor key made it sound very gloomy and calm, while the song in major key was more energetic.  I have never studied music before, so I am looking forward to learning the hidden details of songs.

I look forward to next class because we are going to the High Line and that’s one of my favorite places in the city.  (My friends outside of Macaulay are very jealous because of the opportunities we have from this class.)  I cannot wait to take photographs based on what we learned in class about light and dark, echoes, and object placement.

Prior to my first day of class I was expecting the Arts in NYC Seminar to be just like every other class where the teacher lectured for three hours, but after the first day I realized that this class is going to be very interactive because of the many trips listed on the syllabus and the class discussions we had.  The first day involved examining art together as a class and was very interactive.  Then the teacher introduced some art terms to us such as gaze, the rule of thirds, chiaroscuro, and impressionism.  This helped me better understand how to examine art as well as taught me important things to keep in mind when creating art of my own.  For example, the rule of thirds separates pictures and paintings into a 9 square grid, and the focal point is usually on the cusp of boxes two and five.  It is important that the main focal point is not clearly in one box or the other in order to create tension and make the work more interesting.  I also learned that the focal point of a photograph or painting tends to have a triangular shape.

After our discussion about art we moved onto the elements of music:  rhythm, melody, harmony, and form.  This portion of class was very interesting because our teacher played portions of famous works of music such as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano.  She also demonstrated how something as simple as changing the key of a song changes the entire mood, and can make an originally very sad piece sound very upbeat.

Originally I was not very excited about this class because I thought it would just be a three-hour lecture about art, but after the first day of class I am excited to go back and I am even more excited to go on the trips so I can experience what we talk about in class in the real world.  We already did a little of this in class on the first day while discussing impressionism and we looked out the window to see how the way light hit an object changed the way we perceive it.  I am excited for this class because it seems to be much more interactive than most classes I’ve taken in high school and the classes I’m taking now in college, and a lot of the way we learn in this class is going to be by actually experiencing it outside of the classroom.

Before this class I wasn’t sure what to expect. Not only did I believe we would talk about art, but, I also thought that we would talk about music. Although we did talk about music, and listen to music, we did not do it for an extended period of time. Instead we spent most of the class talking about various pieces of art. In order to familiarize us with the “rule of thirds” we looked at a photo of Robert DeNiro. In this particular photo DeNiro’s head was in the middle of the photo. This rule is a concept that states that a piece of art is like a grid and the focal point of the piece is between the points 2 and 5. This became helpful when we looked at pieces such as the Mona Lisa, Napoleon Crosses the Alps, as well as, several versions of Rouen Cathedral.

Although I was skeptical about the “rule of thirds”, da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, proved that the rule works. Between two and five was the focal point of the painting which was her face. Another thing I learned was that the woman in the painting has a slight vale on her head and I always thought that her hair was just plain and unaltered. What was cool about Monet’s Rouen Cathedral was that he made different versions of the painting depending on the time of day and the lighting around him. Each version is distinctly different yet all versions are of the same cathedral. Napoleon Crosses the Alps, in my opinion was, the best looking piece of the day. I felt this way for several reasons, the first being that it was so life like and realistic. It almost looked like a photo. The second reason was that I really like this piece is because it exudes power through Napoleons face. His face looks plain and calm although his horse isn’t and the reason he is crossing the Alps probably won’t be pleasant.

All in all I found this class enjoyable and it didn’t feel like a three hour lecture. Instead the class went by fast and I didn’t really notice that three hours had passed. This was odd because I usually hate art classes, but I found myself enjoying this one.

Before the seminar, I was expecting that the class would be about historical paintings and it turns out that it is. What I didn’t expect was that we learned out to observe a painting and look at its focal points. We learned about the “rule of thirds” and I found it very interesting that  portraits/ pictures of people have similar aspects, such as, the location of the person’s eyes. Furthermore, as we looked more into the details of the painting we found echoes. For example, the echoes on the sleeve of the painting Mona Lisa helped us determine what kind of fabric it was made out of. I found that very interesting because I never looked at art in such detail.

As we went on to talk about music, we learned how changed just one key can change the mood of a song. Listening to Moonlight Sonata being changed from minor to major definitely proved it because it changed from a sad song to one that’s upbeat. I look forward to learning more and going on the class trips.

We started off class by learning about what a IT fellow was and how we would be able to use his services in the future. When we recieved the syllabus I really didn’t know what to expect, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect even before entering the classroom. Upon reading the syllabus I knew I was going to have fun, due to the fact that the class focused around different forms of art and not just paintings. When I saw that we were going on trips outside of the classroom I began to love this class even more.

I found the fact that we are able to go out of the classroom and exploring the world to find our work very interesting because this is so different from what a typical high school art class would be made up of. We than examined paintings, with subjects ranging from Monet’s painting of a ship yard to Napoleon’s crossing   of the alps. We examined the pictures in detail, questioning the mood of the subject, how the artist depicted motion in their painting and also how light effects a painting. I never realized how much went into the development of  a painting and how with just some slight color adjustments the entire shape and mood of the painting is changed.

As a class we discussed quadrant method and also the rule of 1/3, describing how it effects the viewers first point of interest. After the rule of thirds, we began to discuss what are some characteristics of music and how form is one of the biggest factors in the creation of a piece of music. We saw how the keys on a piano, whether that be major or minor, effects the mood of the piece. This was interesting because a one key difference in Beethoven’s “moonlight sonata” made that piece change from a sad and somber song to a more hopeful, optimistic composition.