Author: noshinchoudhury1

STEAM Festival

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STEAM Festival

The Macaulay Steam festival was an amazing opportunity to look at the work that other Macaulay I Seminar students were doing. It was so nice to see how everyone interpreted work and I felt like our work was extremely special since it stemmed from the ideas of Chorus of Stones. Some of the students had videos, others had posters and the rest had accordion books. Each one was special and demonstrated the student’s hard work.

It was also an amazing opportunity to see what we will have to do in the future (Macaulay Seminar III).  As I walked around, I noticed how much work the students put into their poster. Their projects were a lot more research oriented than our artsy projects.

The workshop area where students were allowed to create buttons or magnets provided them with an artistic outlet. It was nice because everything was provided and it was very independent. The cookies and coffee made sure everyone had enough energy to walk around and look at everyone else’s work.

The only flaw with the Steam Festival was that it was very unorganized.  Even though it was a mandatory event, there was no way to tell whether people actually came. There was no form of attendance and students were allowed to leave whenever they wanted.

Nonetheless, the Steam Festival provided students with an amazing opportunity to bond with students across campuses. I saw people that I had met during Macaulay events over the summer for the first time since then.

-Noshin Choudhury

Community Arts Paper

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Community Arts Paper

As I started to enjoy art more, I noticed that art existed in every aspect of my life — my walk home,  my food, and even the holidays celebrated around me. Thus, the focus of my community arts project was holidays, specifically the Christmas Holiday Market at Union Square. I had heard about this location for years now from my friends, who always mentioned that it was a beautiful and enjoyable experience. I, however, never actually had the time to go out and see it. This project was the perfect excuse to go experience the wonderful, beautiful traditions of the holiday market. I specifically chose art in the form of the holiday market because I had always heard it was nicely decorated and an amazing experience. I was genuinely interested in seeing the beauty instead of just hearing about it.

I always considered myself an outsider to Christmas because I was born into a Muslim family. Growing up, everytime I brought home drawings of christmas trees from school and tried hanging them up, my mother would remind me that “We are Muslims.” She believed that it was not right for us to celebrate another religion’s traditions. Thus, everything I knew about the holiday was what I learned through movies or school. I watched, with remorse, as my friends posted pictures on instagram in front of decorated trees at their house. I would always wish I could do that too. Yet, I always understood where my mother was coming from and why she did not want to bring home a tree.

Even though I never experienced Christmas inside of my home, I still celebrated it to an extent. Every year, I would participate in Secret Santa with my friends. We would all write our names on a piece of paper and put it into a hat. From there, we would choose a name out of hat and would become their Secret Santa. On a specified day, we would go to one of my friend’s house, whichever friend that had the nicer tree that year. We would all put the presents under the tree and we would open them at the same time. Thus, I was not a complete outsider to the holiday, and in a way did participate in it.

To actually see the art, I visited the Holiday Market at Union Square- 14 Street. I was able to see why my friends believed the market was beautiful from the moment I walked through the opening. Lights were strung everywhere and even though it was after sunset, I was able to see everything clearly. Stands lined both sides of the path and people were selling everything from chocolate and food to lights and monkey products. Most of the items being sold were homemade and thus were unique. The overall aesthetic of the market was breathtaking.

As I walked through the market, I noticed the things we were taught to pay attention to in class: the “audience”, the “venue”, the “costumes”, and the lights. Except since this was located out in the open, the venue was just the stands and the audience was typical New Yorkers with their families. The costumes was what everyone was wearing: their typical clothes. These aspects prepared me for my presentation. They all added to the wonderful experience the Holiday Market provided. I took plenty of pictures and included them in the slides during the presentation.

I discovered that the holiday market was truly a form of community art. The location itself made it easily accessible for most New Yorkers since it was in the heart of the city and open to everyone. As I watched people having fun in the market, I noticed the community aspect. Everyone was either with family or friends. Everyone was either laughing or smiling.

I discovered that even though my mother never allowed me to participate in celebrating Christmas, I actually really want to. I decided that after I grow up and get my own house, I want to buy and decorate a christmas tree every year. I want my children growing up with the tradition of the holiday not because of the religion it represents but because it provides them with culture.

The main limitation I experienced while researching this art was the fact that  never experienced Christmas traditions in my own house. I never felt the aspect of community when it came to this specific holiday so I  had to learn through online and the physical visit to the market.

I want to perform more research on Christmas and actually begin to celebrate it. Most people believe that you have to be Christian to celebrate it, but I believe the culture and tradition of Christmas has transformed over the past decades to allow everyone to experience the culture.

Rubin Museum

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The experience at the Rubin Museum was both enjoyable and unique. Walking in to the museum, I had never appreciated sound unless it was the pop music that drowned down other people’s conversations on the train ride to school. Starting from the first floor, right next to the source of all the sound,  I started to realize how calming sound actually was. Walking down the stairs from all the way at the top allowed me to fully experience distance from sound and its effects on the blissful feeling of just listening.

The Museum also contained many interesting artifacts. There were beautiful pictures and detailed sculptures and knives. Our tour guide was extremely kind and knowledgable. She even brought tiny artifacts and her iPad with her to give us more information. She definitely made the tour more exciting because she was super energetic and informative. The trip was one of my favorite and showed me the importance of sound.

Torch Song Venue

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Firstly, the venue is located just off 8th Avenue and the train stations were nearby, thus allowing us to reach the theatre easily. The building entrance is street level, and the theatre is located on the second floor, accessible by stairs or elevator. Upon entering the theatre, I realized that the box office was a repurposed bank vault and that there were old safes throughout the first floor. This caused the lovely, intimate theatre to have a great ambience. The restrooms, concessions and lobby were all located on the same level as the theatre. The stage was extremely tiny but it could still be seen clearly. It was decorated very nicely and was aesthetically pleasing. The seats were reasonably comfortable, the sound system was very effective and the staff were very pleasant. I loved how when the play started, the curtains on the windows closed as the lights were dimmed. Although the venue was not very fancy, it was still very quaint.

-Noshin Choudhury

Opera Venue

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Even before entering the venue, I was shocked at how beautiful the architecture was. The fountain gave the venue a sense of fanciness we had not experienced at other Macaulay Events. After walking in, the venue only looked better. The stairs were endless and everything was covered in a beautiful red velvet which gave a sense of elegance. The chandelier dangling in the middle was my favorite part.

However, the steps leading to our seats were very tiny and it felt like I was going to fall. Our seats were located very far from stage which made it hard to see the actors clearly. The seats themselves were very comfortable, but as we learned from experience, only meant for one person. The highlight of the opera house was probably the small screen in front of every seat with the subtitles. They were special because you were only able to see yours from your seat. Thus, other people’s screens were not distracting.

-Noshin Choudhury

Fall for Dance: Costumes

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Costumes by Noshin Choudhury

Miami City Ballet: The costumes for this dance company was standard for ballets. The girls wore dark purple camisole leotards that showed off their lean, tall figures. They paired the leotards with ballet shoes. The guys wore tight, dark purple shirts and pants. Both of their outfits allowed the audience to see all of their graceful dance moves and made the overall performance look elegant.

 

Vincent Mantsoe: Vincent took a very creative take on both his dance and his outfit. When he first entered stage, he wore a loose white shirt and cream, cropped pants with brown patterns. The pants made it seem like he was a part of nature, which his dance was aiming to do. Midway through the performance, he takes off his shirt to reveal his toned muscles as the music comes on. By showing his bare skin, it connects him more to his dance.

 

Trisha Brown: Unlike the Miami City Ballet Company’s costume, Trisha makes her dancers wear costumes with her distinct style. They wore a cream dress that clung tightly to their upper body but then became flowy when lower than the hips. There was a large slit on either side that ran up their legs. Also unlike standard ballet performances, the girls were not wearing ballet shoes and their hair was not tied up in a bun. The costume exemplifies Trisha’s innovative dance style that varies from typical ballet.

 

Michelle Dorrance Dance: The most unique part of this company’s costume was that the dancers were not wearing uniform attire. Each person took their own take on business casual attire. This reflected their dance as well because each person was able to embellish their dance moves with their own style. The lack of uniformity is normally not seen in dance performances and it made this show unique.