Let’s continue last week’s format. The connections you’re making are interesting & original. So… in your comments this week, draw connections between at least two different articles AND at least one event you’ve attended this semester. The idea is to provide your own original thinking, not merely a summary of an article.
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The two articles which I chose to connect this week were “Greece’s Big Debt Drama is a Muse for it’s Artists” and “Dreaming About Dancing the Cha-Cha on the Trading Floor” both of which mix finances and “the real world” with the art world. “Dreaming About Dancing the Cha-Cha on the Trading Floor” was a fascinating article about a woman who works as a credit broker by day, but it a professional ballroom dancer by night. She talks about how dancing is therapeutic to her, having helped her “cope with the death of her father in 2008, as well as the loss of ‘a lot of ex-boyfriends.’” She also says the feminine atmosphere of dance provides her with a balance between the masculine atmosphere she works in. This article fascinated me because stock brokers or business people would be the last people one would expect to be into art, but in her case, it has only benefited her – proving that these two different worlds can indeed mix well. This theme was also prevalent, but on a much larger scale, in the article “Greece’s Big Debt Drama Is a Muse for its Artists”. The article talks about how although in the midst of an economic crisis, Greece is bursting with new art inspired by the economic downfall. Art galleries are busier than ever, many independent films are being produced – one even being submitted for an Academy Award nomination, and the streets are filled with art.
I found that these articles connect very well the the Occupy Wall Street Protests which I got a chance to witness last week. Our country is also in the middle of a turbulent economic state, and it has spawned art in the form of protest. Further more, I wonder if these riots will inspire art in the future – I’m sure that there will be countless documentaries or films made about these few weeks, and many photographs taken at these protests will probably be displayed. It’s very interesting how art mimics life and draws inspiration from it. Everything is connected, and these articles and this event perfectly demonstrate that.
In article, “Life’s a Pain, and Then You Play Penn,” Jon Caramanica recaps Martina McBride’s performance at Penn Station. McBribe sings with great emotion, “She dropped the phone and burst into tears/The doctor just confirmed her fears/Her husband held it in and held her tight,” an experience that many breast cancer patients have probably experienced. Her heartfelt singing and words must have moved many breast cancer survivors in an inexplicable way, transporting them back to times when they had suffered or are still suffering. Also in article, “Messages From Prison to an Irresistible Beat,” Claudia La Rocco recaptures the essence of a dance performance by some Congolese dancers. The dancing transported the audience to the “war-ravaged realities” of the Congo, a government torn with war and violence, by their dance movements. Despite being completely different performances, both of them have one thing in common. Both transported the audience to a different place and perhaps a different time to another reality of pain, suffering, and triumph. Both performances had the ability and compassion to make the audience feel the same way through their voices or movements. This can also be seen at the dance performance that I witnessed at Baruch College. The dancer used his exultant energy to move each and every one of the students who happened to be in the hallway at the time. There might have been flaws in all three of these unique performances, but if the performer poured his or her heart inside the performance, the audience members would have hardly cared or noticed.
Something I noticed upon reading this week’s art section was the unique mindset of the type of artist I enjoy most . I related two articles in this week’s section to a few art events I have attended in the past few weeks. I realized that I am inclined to enjoy or pay attention to those works of art that are out of the ordinary as I admire the great creativity and individualism of the artist who created this work. This theme applies to this week’s article titled “A Bold New Art World Is Lighting Up Western Denmark”. This article discusses Olafur Eliasson’s walkway that is on display on top of the ARoS museum in Denmark. I think I am attracted to this type of artwork as he extended his exhibit to beyond the walls of the museum, making his work incredibly unique. His walkway directly relates to those exhibits inside the museum however he took the display to a whole new level by extending it to the outdoors. Although it is expressed in an entirely different form, another article that discusses a similar type of uniqueness is that discussing “The Rosie Show”. The article suggests that this talk show is successful and describes it as “colorful and spontaneous”. Since Rosie does not follow the traditional path of many other talk show hosts, people are intrigued by her unique approach towards the show, which has ultimately allowed it to keep airing. Her show, like Eliasson’s display, are products of unique and creative mindsets. This theme is one that I found as I went to the comic book festival at the University of Connecticut. I particularly enjoyed this exhibit as it displayed unique works of art, such as graphic art novels. These novels were particularly interesting as they tell a story without following the traditional route of doing so. By relating these artists’ work of art to one another I am now realizing my fascination with the great creativity,individualism and nontraditional works of such artists. And although some of the artists have received negative or skeptical feedback, I am amazed by their perserverance to continue on their projects, traveling their own paths.
Upon reading the articles “She Coulda Been a Contender: National Book Award Finalist Withdraws After Mistake” and “Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal,” besides for noticing the similar thematic connection dealing with the literary arts, I instantly related it to the Macaulay Honors seminar featuring esteemed novelist; Johnathan Safran Foer. The latter article dealt with the changing business landscape in the literary world. Amazon is beginning to develop its publishing department, circumventing the normal publishing procedures through traditional publishing houses. The former article describes the ordeal of Lauren Myracle who after ostensible considered a finalist for the National Book Award, was subsequently stripped of the title after an error was noted. During his interview in front of the Macaulay student body, Mr. Foer stressed the important of originality and chasing passions when relating his inspiration for writing and how one should enjoy their college experience in New York. He highlighted the importance in finding beauty and art in your everyday surroundings, while living in the moment. Do not conform to a standard he warned, but rather find yourself whomever that is. I found his insight particular profound and inspiring. It seems to me that these articles reflect a rather disturbing progression. Books were never meant to be be seen as means for revenues or as trophies in competitions. They were meant for individuals to express their innermost feelings. They are are artworks in themselves not meant to be exploited for material gain. An important lesson learned from Jonathan Safran Foer.
“Finding Archimedes in the Shadows” tells us about the descovery of Archimedes’s script recycled into a prayer book. While I certainly have strong emotions about it (let’s say, don’t appreciate such), my sorry be sent o the enviromentalists, it lead me to the thought about art in general. Art is recycled thought, ideas, emotions and remade into something new. Before me are people dancing in the following moment – “She Dreams In Code” is a great example here. The recycling machine worked so good, you can’t always get a notion of what it was before you came and saw it.
But how much work and time this recycling takes! Let’s continue with “Zombie Apocalypse? Atlanta Says Bring It On” article, one zombie takes more than 2 hours to make, such transformation from an alive to a dead person could take much less (a second? ok, 5 at most), but the idea wouldn’t be approached – the person would simply be the corpse from now on, which is not a proper thing in a movie where dead comes partly-alive (especially with a title “The Walking Dead”).
In conclusion I would say – recycle; and so return my sorry, I would reuse for some other occurance.
After watching the Liz Gerring Dance company, I felt that it was appropriate for me to read dance reviews. In the first article, “In ‘Marguerite,’ Sparks Between a New Star and a Senior Ballerina” the author describes the ballet performance as elegant, organized and “surprisingly good.” The dance was about a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a man belonging to the bourgeoisie social class. It was based upon the 1852 play by Alexandre Dumas, titled “Lady of the Camelias,”The language the author uses is very flowery, because she describes the play in a manner that makes it sound flawless. For example, she states that the play was able to tell the whole story in five scenes, and that the dancers were very professional and the choreography was perfect.
In the second article “A Company With Balanchine in Its Pedigree,” the author lays out the pros and the cons of the performance. For example, he states that the ballet itself is very well put together, but the stage was too small to capture all of the action on stage. The author also states that the dancers were most notable for their rhythm and their improving choreography. It is interesting to read about the author’s view points of a certain ballet or dance, because they analyze the components that go into the dance, rather than state whether or not they felt that the story was interesting.
After watching Liz Gerring’s dance company perform, I did not know what to make of the dance, because it is very different from the dance I see everyday. For the most part dances usually tell a story; however, during that performance the story was very unclear (if there even was a story). Judging in terms of the choreography, the performance was very well put together. For example, when the dancers began pounding the palms of their hands on the floor, it was all very precise. Moreover, during the lifting parts, the women were lifted almost in unison. During the brief moment when there was an announcer, I felt connected to the dance more so because I understood the context of the dance. Overall, the dance was well put together, and the two articles helped me put it into perspective.
A classmate of mine once said “oppression leads to expression.” I find it fascinating to analyze the different forms of oppression and the varying results that it breeds. Although I have recently found that oppression can in fact result in no expression at all. In “At the Protests, the Message Lacks a Melody” the lack of musical identity in the Occupy Wall Street movement is exposed. “Every successful movement has a soundtrack” says Tom Morello, former lead man of Rage against the machine, who recently performed at the movements’ headquarters in Zucotti Park.
The article highlights the absence of a central anthem and argues that the movement needs a modern day “Blowin’ in The Wind” or “A Change is Gonna Come.” Varied appearances by Michael Franti, Morello, and Jeff Magnum are three of the more popular musicians to make an appearance since the movement started in late September. This group reveals the slightly scattered and obscure message of the movement.
I just recently made my first trip to the Wall Street area. I was speechless for a large part of it. It made me very inspired and a little a nervous. In response to Morello’s quote, well to me it seems successful, but it is hard to gage success based solely on appearance. Art is a reflection of the times sure, but should art be a metric of success for a protest such as this?
“Greece’s Big Debt Drama Is a Muse for Its Artists” is an interesting aside. It provides a detailed commentary on the flurry of art that is coming out of the beat down, dripped dry city of Athens. Amid all the financial uncertainty, the expression is at a serious high note. I suppose one could classify this as economic oppression.
I wonder if these artists are attempting to better their society through their art or merely show the state of it? Does art need to make things better? Or is making the art enough?
While looking through the articles, I stumbled across “ABC and CBS Share Rating Spoils”. This very concise article outlines what America chooses to watch, which happens to be Dancing with the Stars and Two and a Half Men. Imagine if the same amount of people that watched these shows tuned into a news channel once a day? Even so, they might not hear reports on the Occupy Wall Street Moment that is taking place in Lower Manhattan (and now across the world). Even though OWS is gaining attention in the media, it is not nearly allotted a fitting amount of time. Having attended the Global Day of Action in conjunction with OWS, I disagree with the article “At the Protests, the message lacks a melody”. While it is true that there is not one defining song for the moment, it definitely does not lack a melody. The sing-song chants that rang through the streets of Manhattan last Saturday are proof against that claim. One of the almost ten different chants is “Show me what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy looks like!” which has become one of the most popular, and is undeniably melodious. Although it might be nice to have a song that represents the movement, OWS certainly does not lack a melody.
Celestine Bohlen’s article, “Paying Tribute to Silent Hollywood”, discusses the resurgence of a seemingly lost genre in cinema: the silent film. This November, a French movie entitled “the Artist”, will come to American theaters and will hopefully cure the nostalgia of sentimental moviegoers, and perhaps reinvent the genre for those unaccustomed to it. It seems so strange that a silent film (set in the 1920s or 30s) was produced this year, in an “era of frontal nudity, 3D and surround-sound, but it is precisely this retreat into the past that has won “The Artist” acclaim [at numerous film festivals]”. Additionally, I read Matt Wolf’s “Psychological Turbulence Onstage”, which dealt with the resurgence of classic but perhaps underrated plays on the London scene. One play that was discussed that particularly struck me is called “Saved”. It deals with heavy issues such as death, abuse, and a mirroring of our culture which “continues to offer up comparable scenarios of senseless brutality and rage”. Both articles reminded me of the Liz Gerring Company’s performance that we saw as a class. “She Dreams in Code” was a spellbinding modern dance performance that had both psychological and nostalgic elements, much like the two articles previously discussed. Although I did not feel an emotional attachment to the dancers throughout the entire performance, certain scenes caused me to feel confused, stressed, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable (especially when I saw how physically demanding the routine was, and how the dance partners relied so heavily on each other in their lifts). Certain bits of the performance spurred a bit of nostalgia, such as one particular partnering scene, in which there were elements of the romantic and the distant (it is hard to describe it with any more detail, as this was more of an initial reaction to the scene than a well-formulated analysis of an observation). The performance, although not necessarily my “type” of dance, really struck a chord with me and left me in awe of the dancers’ technique and the choreographer’s ability to make the audience feel connected.
Recently I went to the Meet the artist event and was able to hear Jhumpa Lahiri recite a passage from her short story and from her upcoming novel. I really wanted to ask her a question but by the time I had formulated it to be perfect, she had taken her last one. So, that left me wondering, when an artist chooses to write a novel or create any work of art, whats more important: that the art is enjoyable or that it is true to its source (or real life in some cases). Art mimics life, right?
The two NY Times articles that reminded me of these two conflicting aspects of art were “Cutting Through Cute to the Real Japan” and “You, Batman, Keep Arkham City in Line.” For the first piece on Tabaimo’s “Blow” (2009), an animated video reflecting the real-life qualities of Japan, we realize that japan is more than anime, hello kitty or pokemon or any of that over-the-top violent or extremely cutesy stuff. The animation is one of the few that american audiences see where japanese art mimics life–as opposed to a romanticized version of it.
For the video game review on Batman: Arkham City, I was astounded that a video game, let alone any transition of medium, could be as close to its source material as the game is. Unfortunately, as a broke college student, I’ll have to wait till the game’s price drops but so far I’ve heard only good words about it. Like the Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan, the Batman video games are extremely faithful to their comic book origins. Moreover, batman is a superhero that seamlessly fits into the idea of the real world–his ridiculous physique notwithstanding. And this is the connection I saw–plus i really want to get this game.
I chose to compare “Paying Tribute to a Silent Hollywood” and “At the Protests, the Message Lacks a Melody.” The first article is about a French movie “The Artist” that is very old-fashioned since it is in black-and-white, has no violence, no sex, no kissing, and it has no dialogues. The homes in the movie also make the movie seem like it is from years ago, which I find to be very unique since most modern movies tend to be repetitive. The second article is about the current Wall Street protestors and their lack of a common hymn to sing during their protest. The writer feels that the protestors need to incorporate music into their protesting rather than so much about the worries of working people. The writer differentiates this protest to those that took place during the Great Depression on this basis because at that time, protestors would fill the airwaves with songs about dancing while today’s protestors are just crying about their lacking of jobs or blaming the working people. I feel that there is a connection between these articles and an exhibit I saw in the International Center of Photography. In the exhibit, there were several black-and-white photos of how many of the major cities in America used to look. The articles were looking back to the past and how it differed from the present and I thought that this was also the case in the exhibit because it really shows how much America has changed.