Author: Jason

This past Wednesday, December 5, 2018, our IDC class traveled to St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn to see the play named “The Jungle.” Based on the true events of the refugee crisis in Calais, France, “The Jungle” depicts the story of how a bunch of refugees with different backgrounds and cultures build an entire city from merely nothing and learn how to unite and live together. Never being exposed to a play before, I was unsure what to expect from this performance. I thought that it was going to be a lot of singing, like the operas we have seen. However, when I walked into St. Ann’s Warehouse, I immediately felt and saw the difference. From the casual audience to the jungle like setting, this immediately felt like a more informal event that a student could relate to. As I looked around the building, I saw what appeared to be some construction or renovations they were doing at St Ann’s Warehouse,  however, I later found out that this was done intentionally to bring the audience into Calais. From this work, I could tell that the staff had put a lot of time and effort into making the experience as realistic as possible. I was shocked to find out that the whole building was transformed into a jungle like scenery, and decided that I might actually enjoy the performance.

Although many scenes from this play were striking, the scene that was particularly moving for me was the school scene, where Beth, the school teacher, was trying to teach English to Norullah through storytelling. She was allowing Norullah to make up the story and kept emphasizing that he repeats the story to better learn English. This was meaningful to me because I felt like not many people would be willing to help these refugees, but Beth truly believed that these refugees would be able to learn english. The refugee camp in Calais was built as a temporary place living space in hopes that they would one day be granted asylum in the U.K. For this reason, it was necessary for them to learn english, and Beth was the one who believed they can learn and make it to the U.K.

Although this past Wednesday night was definitely a long one, it was definitely worth while. Being a late night event, on the longest school days of my week, I was unsure if I was going to like the play, or even be able to stay awake for the whole performance. After being teased by my siblings about having to stay out late on a weekday, I explained to them that they were the ones who missed out and strongly urged them all to give it a shot. I am glad I got to experience something so unique and moving and hopefully this play brings this atrocity to the attention of many others.

Poetry Revel at Baruch College

On Wednesday, October 31, I attended along with many of my peers the 2018 Fall Student Poetry Revel held on the 14th floor at Baruch College. The poetry reading began a little past 3 pm, and although I have never attended a literary reading in the past, I am thankful that I was able to attend my first performance. This thoughtful event sponsored by the english department not only gave Baruch students a way to join together to celebrate Halloween with candy and pizza, but also allowed for students to express themselves by reading their own poems or other poems of their choice.

Rahul performing “If god is Real” by Bri Mar

After listening to many readers and observing many performances by both professors and Baruch students, one performance stood out to me the most. This impressive performance was presented by a Baruch student named Rahul in a way that really brought the poem to life. Rahul started off by introducing himself and the poem which was titled “If god Is Real” and was written by Bri Mar.

Although many other students would get right into their readings of poems, Rahul gave a brief introduction to his performance, warning spectators that the poem may be controversial before he began reading. At first, I saw this warning as a simple defense to avoid angering anyone. However, as he was reading I noted that this warning actually told me something about his personality. It showed me that Rahul is shy and somewhat fearful, and his performance would reflect upon this fact.

Rahul read the poem slouched with one leg back and was looking down at his phone the whole time, making little eye contact with the crowd. In addition, he used both of his hands to hold his phone while reading, suggesting that he had a tight grip over his phone. All of this affected his performance overall by indicating a sort of insecurity he felt while reading. During his performance, he would not dramatize his reading, instead he would read in a monotoned and shallow voice. However, in his timid voice one could hear his shaking, indicating a sort of nervousness or even a possible fear he was facing. Although this could be seen as just Rahul having a fear of pubic speaking, I think this manifestation of fear and insecurity has a deeper meaning especially in this case of what the poem is opposing. As the poem’s title indicates, this poem questions the existence of a greater power. Rahul’s fearful attitude ingeniously conveys the ideas expressed in the poem of how scary it can be to doubt the existence of a greater being whose powers are unknown, essentially bringing the words to life.

As a spectator who has never attended a reading before this event, I noticed that listening to poetry in a public setting greatly differs from quietly reading to myself. A notable difference is that when read aloud, I tend to focus less on the words of the poem and more on the presentation, which in itself can directly influence the meaning of the poem that different spectators get out of the reading.

I am glad that I had the unique opportunity to attend Baruch’s poetry revel because it has opened my mind to how different poetry could be experienced when performed out loud by others, essentially bringing it to life, and making me want to attend more readings in the near future.

Sculpture of Chester A. Arthur

As I was wondering off to look for a nice place to eat, I happened to find myself at Madison Square Park, a beautiful park near our very own campus at Baruch College. Trailing in the park to find a nice vacant bench I ended up sitting across from a familiar face. As I stood up to take a closer look, I noticed words engraved upon the pedestal where he stood, which read “Chester Alan Arthur Twenty First President of The United States of America.” Out of all the times I have passed by this park I have never even imagined that in the midst of this famous, nature filled park I would have stumbled across the installation of a bronze statue of our 21st president of the United states of America, Chester A. Arthur by artist George Edwin Bissell and architect James Brown Lord. In this work of art, Chester A. Arthur is depicted as a well dressed man, very presidential, standing up tall and proud with one hand down at his side and the other holding a novel. Although there appears to be a chair at his side he is sculpted standing up for a noteworthy reason.  As an unpopular and forgotten president of the United States of America, Chester A. Arthur is infamously known for ordering the destruction of his personal letters and corruption. However, he is also regarded highly for his attempts of redemption taking big principled stands during parts of his presidency. For this reason, I believe the artist made the decision to have Arthur standing up; to symbolize his stand against the very own wrongs of society he committed. The park in which this statue of our Twenty First President stands is Madison Square Park. This park is filled with trees, flowers, bushes, children an adult. It is a public park open to anyone and invites joy and peacefulness. There are benches and grass for people to sit and enjoy meals and other installation for people to view. The environment in which this work of art was implemented makes Chester A. Arthur seem to be a public hero fighting for ordinary people as he is placed in an ordinary public park for everyone to see.

At Pace/Columbus (Vertical)

As I was walking through the Beloosesky Gallery my eyes may have looked past dozens of works of art before I stumbled upon this fine piece of art and could not take my eyes off it. This beautiful painting is named “At Pace / Columbus (Vertical) and was created by Joan Miro. This work of art caught my attention through its unusual depiction. Making my brain work extra hard to learn some kind of meaning to what this art is supposed to depict is what most likely caught my attention. At first glance, I just saw weird shapes, maybe pieces of a puzzle wrongly put together. But at a closer look I could recognize more familiar shapes. At the top of the painting there appears to be an eye attached to some black object. In the middle I could see a spiral like body, fingers, and a sort of hand like shapes, which obviously resemble this creatures or objects hands. And at the bottom, I can kind of visualize legs with stick like figured feet. Although strange, my mind can piece out this puzzle to resemble a living thing with human like aspects, making me conclude that this could be a a depiction of a human-like monster or some imaginary creature. Through the gallery’s white walls and other works of art this painting almost came to life as it had a great mystery to it. Although the spaces where we view art may seem like ordinary coincidences, I believe the environment gives a first impression of the artwork that can distort our perception of different works of art.

Lions in a Mountainous Landscape

Théodore Gericault’s Lions in a Mountainous Landscape is an oil on wood, and was painted around 1820. The dimensions of the painting are 19 x 23 1/2 in. and is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in gallery 801.

When I first laid my eyes on this marvelous painting I immediately noticed how realistic and life-like this painting looks and feels. At first glance, it appears to be just an average pack of lions going to sleep on the mountainside, as if they are tired from a long day of traveling. However, as I took a closer look I noticed that three of the lions have full manes, while the other three don’t, which makes me believe that there are three male and three female lions that may be three different couples of lions. In addition to this realization, I also see that three seem tired and peaceful, while three others have there teeth bared, making them seem to be angry or even frustrated as they seemingly cry for help. Overall though, the ominous and dark setting of the landscape seems to play a big role in this painting as it sets the tone of a lost hope for these lions as they struggle to travel through the mountains on their long journey. Through this brilliant painting, Gericault is able to evoke a very iconic sentiment of distress and hopelessness.