The Future of the Arts in NYC

The Future of the Arts in NYC
Susu Aung, Rachel Chabot, Cassie Lui, Vivian Wu, Wesley Yun

The overarching theme of our video will be the future of Arts across the city. This will consist of the expansion of genres displayed in museums and at venues along with predictions for popularity of specific genres. We will also explore the future of street art and street performances in the city, by taking into account past and current forms of street art (bansky, five pointz). Something in particular we would like to research and understand are the new ways and new locations in which the arts are expanding. There are some untraditional and unconventional forms of museums and venue halls in the city (MoMa PS 1, ArsNova Theatre) that seem to foreshadow how art in one of the most creative and progressive cities in the world will emerge and innovate.
The themes discussed in the first week of class were oriented toward climate change and vast physical changes that the city might endure in the future. We chose to stray from those themes and focus on the future of another huge aspect of what makes NYC what it is.
Before we start to film we must decide on where to film. It is most like that producing this video will require multiple visits to different institutions, museums, and other places that contains art. Locations to be filmed at will be decided with the research that we will have done prior to filming. In order cover more ground and create a video that provides a substantial amount of content we will most likely be splitting our group into smaller subgroups so that we may cover more ground and be more flexible. While the focus of the class is mainly set to the borough of Manhattan, we as a group believe that New York City is not New York City without all of the boroughs. That is why we may incorporate locations based in other boroughs if it helps to create a stronger video presentation.
While not decided yet, interviewing people will occur in a similar manner to choosing where to film. Interviewing people will be a mixture of planning and spontaneity. Depending on the place, it may be better to schedule an interview. However, since art is open to interpretation, we may also interview random people on location to see how local New Yorkers feel about the art.
Music will be used in the film as it helps to set mood and create a flow to the video. By using the right type of music, our group can emphasize certain themes or personalities that different types of art brings out. This is especially true when it deals with art localized to certain neighborhoods.
To create this video we will need a camera with video recording capabilities. Although some of us do not have professional cameras, it will not pose that much of a problem since we can also use our smartphones to record high quality content. In recent years, many newer smartphones are capable of recording 720p and 1080p videos which are considered to be excellent viewing qualities. After recording our content we will produce our video using the software that comes on our mac, iMovie.
Since there will be multiple locations to show how the arts have changed over the years and the potential of the arts in NYC, each member will be responsible for a specific area. Therefore, each member of the group will be giving the same amount of work (research, filming, and reports). When compiling everyone’s part of the project, it is best to do the editing as a group in order make sure everyone agrees with how the video will flow.
We will first begin with doing research for the next two weeks on the history of street art in New York City and how it has evolved throughout the years to where it is today, and then research the future outlooks of the arts in NYC. We will also research the significance of street art to the overall culture and appearance of NYC and who makes street art possible in New York City. Afterwards we are going to compile a list of current exhibitions and forms of street art  throughout the city on the third week. After this, we will begin planning out the structure of our film and what we would like to present in our video during the fourth week. During the fifth and sixth weeks, we will spread out the visit of these sites and film shots and take some pictures during our visits to these sites. During the seventh week we will edit the film and if necessary visit the sites again to film any shots that we missed. On the eighth week, we will finalize all the details of the film and put together the final version.
As of our immediate to do list, we are going to do research to get a deeper and overall understanding of our topic within the next few weeks. We will also visit some of the exhibits that we would potentially like to incorporate into our video to see it in person.
We would try to draw connection between the near and distant future of the arts and the weekly readings, such as architecture, sustainability planning, urban planning of New York City. We would definitely do research to get a better understand of the topic and format the video accordingly to integrate ideas from the readings smoothly.
Since we are focusing on the arts in NYC, we will be focusing on multiple locations. Therefore, each group member would focus on one (or multiple) areas. The evidence of each concrete steps will be demonstrated by the information gathered as well as the the filming. This report will be structured by giving each member of the group to a special area, such as 5ptz or bansky, and to research, film and keep the group updated. Therefore, the report will be a compilation of each individual’s research, filming, and their progress throughout the project.