The Arts in New York City

As I was in philosophy class the other day, I realized how the use of words in this subject allowed me to justify a new perspective.  Words, in their own intricate way, can be positioned so that when seen and read, provide rhythm.  If music can be seen as art, so can words.  Also, its philosophical explanation allows images to be constructed for clear justification.  An example would be the explanation of metaphysical freedom.  This type of freedom involves choice pathology, which involves the explanation and drawing of choice incentives and choice outcomes.  Several paths are drawn to allow the subject to understand what choices they have.  As I stared at the paths, I began to realize how what I do is an outcome of an artistic form of action.  Paths are drawn in my life all the time, basically stating that what I do comes from art.

On an ordinary late night, I truly witnessed the idea that “Art is where you find it” in the Union Square subway station. As I descended the stairs to the platform, I heard music being played. When I got to the bottom, I saw a man in his sixties playing the accordion. A couple in their twenties slow danced in the open space in front of the accordion player. They slowly spun around in a circle as they whispered in each other’s ears. People paused to stare at them, but they acted as if they were in their own little ballroom. Moment later, another young couple joined in. I could not believe what I saw. Although the music coming out of the accordion was not even pleasant to the ears, I began to think that it was romantic sounding. The scene that I witnessed that night was beautiful and confirmed that art can indeed be found anywhere.

When I visited the Guggenheim Museum this past weekend, I was astounded by the architecture of the building. I have never seen the Guggenheim Museum before, so I have expected it to look like any ordinary classical museum. I expected it to have columns and a grand staircase in front like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Contrary to my expectations, the Guggenheim Museum is a circular building with a modernistic appearance. The building looks like it has circular bands projecting out from a central, vertical base. I learned that this is a style called cantilevering. The inside of the museum has ramps that circle from the top to the bottom. I learned that the museum’s architect meant for visitors to start at the top of the museum and walk down while looking at the artworks hung along the ramps. I found the architecture of the Guggenheim Museum to be more beautiful than the artworks inside the museum.

After watching American Gangster, probably the best movie of the year, I could not help but compared it with another classic gangster movie –the Godfather. Both movies depict the criminal underworld. That there can be respect, and organization within criminal activity is a truly fascinating phenomenon. And we love seeing the oxymoron play out before us because it’s both frightening and seductive. However, this movie presents an interesting parallel; the parallel stories of Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts who, while on opposing sides of the law, draw equal appeal from the audience. Should we care about a gentlemanly gangster who is as likely to blow an enemy’s head off as he is to sip fine cognac and tip his hat to the presence of a woman? Should we feel disdain for a slovenly police officer who cheats on his wife, yet refuses to fall into the corrupt ways of his fellow officers? This chilling irony is at the heart of the story that plays out as both a police procedural and a gangster drama.

After the Snap Shot of NYC event, I headed over to the Rockefeller Plaza to get a glance at the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree. Every year, New York City makes a spectacle of the annual Christmas tree lighting. I never understood it. It was just a Christmas tree, but when I got there it was surrounded by a large mass of people gathering to take pictures with it. I had imagined it to be enormous, but it was really enormous. While looking around, I started to notice that the tree was a part of Rockefeller Plaza. It wasn’t just there for decoration or for Christmas, it gave the place a whole new feeling. I was amazed at how beautiful the tree was, brightly lit in the night sky. It is truly a marvelous structure that should be enjoyed and admired for what it represents. It is a piece of New York history and tradition. I consider it to be one of New York’s greatest annual exhibits for the public to enjoy and everyone should take a look at it when they have the chance.

Do not be daunted by Baruch as a business-oriented college – it has many artistically talented students as well. One of them is Goseong Choi, whose photography caught my eye as I was looking through the school’s literary magazine, Encounters. Choi’s urban photography shows a more sophisticated side to New York City that I fail to see on a daily basis. I was quite impressed with his “Subway Show” photographs of subway window graffiti. Normally I would find subway windows to be extremely dirty and uninteresting subjects, but he is able to make it visually appealing with silhouettes of passengers waiting on a platform in the background. His panorama of Astor Place gives the street a very hip and yuppie feeling with dimly lit stores. My favorite, though, is the photograph of the 6 train station. I pass by it every day and yet he captured it with such stunning colors like that of a warm, sunny afternoon. Choi’s photography takes the viewer away from preconceptions of a dingy, dull city.

Who would have thought that art could be found in the form of a DJ spinning records? I would have never thought of this as an art form until I visited Studio B over the weekend. Studio B is a dance club in Brooklyn with a sort of indie vibe to it. When I was there, although there wasn’t a live performance, the energy and the music were both amazing. Daft Punk’s new CD was being played and I think that they are a very good band, so I came to hear their new music. However, the DJ that was spinning the CD put his own interpretation into it and he made the songs sound more interesting than they already were. Every so often, he would scratch the record and put in special sound effects of his own. Before attending this event, i never actually took the time to consider or appreciate the work of music DJ’s. However I feel that this is a very unique art form that should not be missed. The DJ at Studio B did not simply  mess around with the songs and scratch them up. He added his own personal style to the music, and he made his own art out of existing art. After listening to the DJ spinning the record I became jealous because unfortunately I have no musical talents.

I’m pretty sure that everyone has noticed them at least once. They’re plastered all over the hoods, trunks and roofs of our yellow cabs. No, I am not talking about taxi fare stickers. I am talking about the colorful flowers that adorn our beloved New York City Taxis. At first a look, these images seem a bit odd and out of place because of their yellow background, yet they are eye-catching. I was curious to see why these images were appearing on the cabs and I found out that this project, entitled “Garden in Transit”, was intended to provide creative therapy for seriously ill and disabled children. So I wondered to myself, how is this art? Granted, the art was the paintings themselves, but there was an additional element involved. It came to me while I was crossing the street at a red light. It was one of those rare times I actually wasn’t daydreaming, and actually paying attention to my surroundings. I turned my head and saw a good two rows of taxis waiting at the light, all with the flowers emblazoned on their bodies. It seemed as if I was looking at a field of flowers. I realized that, when seen in bunches, the images of the flowers create a sense of a garden on a mobile canvas. I think these are great pieces of art, they are able to stand-alone and at the same time they are able compliment each other when put next to each other. Who would of thought that NYC taxis were patrons of the arts?

I have never quite understood why modern art is so renowned and valued. I have walked through the Modern Art exhibit in the MET before, but I have never stopped to look at the artworks because I found them to be messy, unprofessional, ugly, and disturbing. Most of the paintings look like the result of paint recklessly splashed across a canvas. In an attempt to learn to appreciate modern art, I attended a tour of the exhibit at the MET. The tour guide, Francia Meiselman, informed us that modern artists emphasized the process of making art rather than the subject matter of the artwork. The paintings that appeared to be careless messes to me are actually abstract expressionist art. The artists painted the way their emotions moved them to paint. Although I still think that modern art is ugly, I now understand modern artists’ purposes and inspirations, and I no longer think their talent is nonsense.

As an avid basketball fan from New York, I was excited to be able to attend the Knicks game versus Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, I was wildly disappointed by the game. Although I identify basketball as an art, what the Knicks played was not basketball. It was an uninspired and lackluster lack of an attempt at basketball that was simply played for the paycheck. This was not the same team I grew up watching.

Instead, I had to find my own art. So, when I looked around Madison Square Garden, I was in awe that I was in the self-proclaimed “world’s most famous arena.” It was crazy to sit so close to the court that I see on TV. It was also crazy considering I was sitting in seats about 30 times the price I paid for. However, the most artistic thing that night was the chants. These were not chants cheering on the team. Instead, they were a chorus of raucous boos. My favorite chant that night was in the final minutes of the game when the crowd was finally able to get the famed “Fire Isiah” chant in unison. Although I had refrained from the chant before, I had to join in. Overall, I enjoyed the game but I do not think I will be attending a Knicks game anytime soon.