2013 Arts in the City

Syrian Orthodox Jewish Community of Brooklyn

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Look & Look again

Calligraphy (1964)

Siah Armajani

I looked at it initially and it reminded me of the art is history piece of art I had brought into class. The type of art is called microgrpahy, where pieces of texts are placed in positions to create an image of some sort. The pieces of text in this piece of art are verses of poems written in Arabic. Within the calligraphy I hadn’t noticed any image, all I saw were Arabic words almost mashed together with no specific order or pattern. When we were told that the picture was created from Arabic letters I was surprised not to recognize the letters.

Costumes

In the play the Midsummer Night’s Dream, the costumes the characters dress plays an important role in the way the play is presented. The beginning of the play featured the characters in clothes that would be worn by those of Shakespearean times, which was not surprising and it was very befitting. The attire consisted of long jackets, poofy sleeves, and collars called “ruffs.” The Shakespearean attire was dressed by the main human characters, Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius. The Fairy Queen, Titania was dressed in this dress that seemed similar to a dress that Lady Gaga would wear; the dress had lights sticking out of her breasts and she had a plastic cape-like garment. She looked as though she came from another planet. By portraying her as almost extra-terrestrial, they help us, the viewers, differentiate between her and the other characters. The King of Shadows, Oberon, looked as though he was the Indian Chief. He had all those sticks, coming out of his attire and he had face paint. Puck, the fairy, that observes all the characters at all times and is subservient to Oberon’s commandments. Her costume was basically regular clothes, however, she had facepaint that distinguished her from others. Her facepaint was very white and allowed her to be distinguished as a fairy. I noticed that all the fairies were given something to make their skin whiter; this included the kids that played the fairies, the queen of fairies, and Puck herself.  The kids that played the other fairies were dressed in a white bodysuit so that it seems as though they are naked, which is how the fairies were portrayed in the original play.

I enjoyed the play very much; I loved the way there was a modern twist to it. The modern twist made it more comical than the original play was written out to be which made the play more enjoyable. The play was a great interpretation of the play and the play was a wonderful way to spend my evening.

Der Rosenkavalier – Sets

For the hour that I was there, and from the sky-high seats we were in, the sets looked pretty impressive. The sets appeared as though they belonged in a castle. The curtains were luxurious, and the walls were magnificent.  Everything just looked beautiful, with the costumes it really looked like they were in the 1700s. Another aspect of the set that I noticed was the window, how the shades were closed and opened to differentiate between night and day. The first act took place in The Marschallin’s bedroom and to think that that was only room in the whole house you could imagine how big the house is painted out to be.

Fall for dance festival – music

I focused on the music aspect of this dance concert; I found the music to be varying a lot throughout the concert. In the first part of the concert the dance was tap-dance. The dancers created music with their shoes, they created a rhythm that was in sync with each other. The dance was approximately 30 minutes long and it was impressive to watch the dancers tapping for that long. At one point they all marched as though they were soldiers in an army, and when I closed my eyes I heard the marching so clearly as if they were right next to me. The second dance included various songs that had a bluesy and jazzy tune. The chosen tune allowed the dancers to be in a more playful mood and they danced as though they were just having fun. The fourth dance consisted of music that was serious and scary, which corresponded to the dance, portraying an aggressive mood.

Romeo & Juliet – Music

The play opens up and introduces the characters using an ominous and serious tune, corresponding to the seriousness of the characters. Once the play begins, there is no music playing in the background at all, until the Capulets’ party begins. The music at the Capulets’ is music you would hear at a club or a party, it was a very modern approach to the party. I found it humorous that for a play that takes place in what I think of as ancient times, the choice of music was very modern. When Romeo and Juliet decide they want to get married church bells start ringing, the church bells signify the wedding because they would be married in the church. The sounds of an organ playing is also heard when their marriage is mentioned; because the organ is typically played at weddings. Towards the end of the play, when Mercutio and Tybalt are fighting, there is very low music playing in the background. The music progresses louder as the fight escalates. The music has a very somber tone to it, indicating the fight.

Coney Island

Just a few blocks away from my house lay a boardwalk, a boardwalk famous for multiple aspects, but most famous for its hot dogs. This boardwalk is “Coney Island.” Coney Island has many different attractions including a beach, an amusement park, an aquarium, an ice rink, circus shows, summer fireworks and plenty of other things. Coney Island was discovered in the 1600s by Henry Hudson and by the 1800s people came to Coney Island to spend their vacations by hotels and bathhouses.

By the early 1900s, Coney Island became home to many amusement parks attracting many tourists and visitors. By then, Coney Island became an icon of fun. All advertisements of Coney Island depicted people having a great time either by the park or lying by the beach. Coney Island was considered the “playground of the world” where all that was fun occurred there. Between the games and the rides, Coney Island was the epitome of enjoying time.

Art is noisy

At first, the park confused me because it was filled with trees and all sorts of nature items and yet, we were overlooking the busy streets of New York City. Under me were the streets of New York City filled with cars and taxis polluting the highline with its noises; but right in front of me was the peaceful visage from the perfectly green grass of the highline. Just by staring at the grass, you could feel the peacefulness and lack of noise, but then you hear the traffic lights change and the car horns ensue.