2013 Arts in the City

Comic Con

If you guys want to see more pictures, let me know. I have SDCC 2012 photos in California and can upload them. Also, feel free to shoot me any questions about SDCC or NYCC, I’ll answer them as best I can. My email is kay@mit.edu, and I’m also on Facebook.

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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.

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.

Music in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Although the use of music was somewhat scarce in the performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it did not go unnoticed. In certain scenes, the music provided extra emphasis on certain actions of the characters, especially when synchronized. In other scenes, the music gave an extra touch of realism, particularly during the dance scene at the end. Ultimately, the use of music was the key to fully immersing the audience into the world of Shakespeare.

Say It Loud – Satch Hoyt & Persian Telephone II – Parviz Tanavoli

Say It Loud by Satch Hoyt is a podium made of books that all focus on the black legacy. The music that accompanies the podium clearly defines its function. A place for one to feel proud of their heritage is heard from the line “Say it loud – I’m _____ and I’m proud.”
Persian Telephone by Parviz Tanavoli is a piece of art from the saqqakhaneh art movement in Iran. The sculpture combines elements of religion with pop art to produce a peculiar telephone.

Nature vs Car

This picture really shows one of the wonderful contrasts of the city. This picture was taken in Sheapshead Bay, Brooklyn. The tree is beautiful, small and elegant branches, yet tall and “assertive” as a centerpiece in this front lawn. The car is, obviously, mechanical. This picture really represents the “best of both worlds” situation in New York; beautiful but not secluded or wilderness.

Art is… Movement

While walking up the High line, as I have done countless times before, I began to contemplate exactly how the art of the High line itself work on us. That is to say, how it’s purposeful construction and design of the space  affects those who go to experience it. I realized that part of the beauty of the High line was how it encouraged movement between spaces. Designed almost like more of a hallway than a park, it encourages one to take a self guided walking tour of Chelsea, from a space just high enough for you to enjoy the beautiful views, but low enough for you to still feel the energy of the city. Amongst all the movement I saw the picture of the family on the wall that has been the source of inspiration for many members of the class. Seeing that family, frozen in time, forever in the spot the artist wanted, made me think of how some art is meant to move and inspire movement, while other art celebrates stillness and the values that never change no matter how much one moves.

Art is History

Here, Goshka Macuga presents Colin Powell, a sculpture of the former Secretary of State during his 2003 United Nations speech on weapons of mass destruction. The sculpture is inspired by the replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, the anti-war painting which usually hangs in the assembly, but was covered during Powell’s speech. Amazingly, this simple sculpture successfully captures a cross section of history. The contrasting artwork is modern art, a type of art not meant to tell about history, but about self expression.