Author Archives: Jonathan

Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante” Performed at Queens College

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What a way to end off the Arts in NYC seminar – hearing Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante”, perhaps his “crowning achievement in the field of the violin concerto” (Alfred Einstein, not to be confused with Albert Einstein)! I hardly feel qualified to talk about such an extraordinary piece, but I will nonetheless attempt to do it justice.

Performed by our very own Queens College Orchestra, the piece consists of three movements: Allegro Maestoso (moderately fast), Andante (walking pace; not too fast, but not too slow), and Presto (faster than allegro maestoso). This last movement was my personal favorite. In this performance, there was a violin soloist and a viola soloist, both of whom were fabulous. A viola is slightly larger and has a lower key than a violin, and taken together the two complemented each other very nicely. The vibrato of the violins was also a very distinguishable and praiseworthy characteristic of the concert, adding to the emotion and feeling of such classic and inspiring music. Even though there were defined movements, some parts didn’t fit in to the given movement; as an example, while the presto was pretty fast, there were some slower parts embedded in it as well.

It tends to be taken for granted that Mozart and other famous European composers were the “great” composers. However, actually going to a concert that performs their music gives me a MUCH greater appreciation for just how great they were; there is something so mesmerizing about going to a famous classical music concert and hearing the music played live. For me, it gave a taste of the emotion, depth, and energy of classical music. It now seems readily apparent to me what the people in 18th century Europe loved so much about this type of concert. If only more young people would go to these concerts, they may very well add classical music to their list of favorites.


New Renaissance Exhibit at the Met

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening a new Renaissance exhibit this coming Wednesday. It will hold 160 different pieces and promises to be quite unique. Keith Christiansen, chairman of European paintings at the Met, says that one of the most unique things about this exhibit will be the sculptures, which will be placed in the center of the room as oppose to against the wall so that viewers can  get a good look at the very fine details from every angle. Many of the details in the sculptures have gone unnoticed for centuries.

Mr. Christiansen also said that “the 15th century is the first great century of portraits”. Before this time period,  it was only aristocrats or royalty who had them, and most were made for tombs. (This could very well be where Frans Haals got the idea to start painting for the upper-middle class.) Mr. Christiansen also said that these portraits experiment with “portraiture, and the age-old notion of identity. This is the foundation on which European portraiture is based.” Paintings and sculptures from masters like Donatello, Filipo, Lippi, Boticelli, Mantegna, and Bellini will be displayed, among other artists.

 

Our class this year has talked about the relationship between society and the arts. It seems that this exhibit at the Met will do a similar thing. They will try to give the viewers a functional understanding of not only 15th Century European Renaissance art, but also an understanding of European society and culture through paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts from that time period. Together, it can possibly tell a good deal more about European Renaissance history than a standard textbook. And it’s a lot more interactive.

A link to the article about the exhibit can be found here.

“Lego-Bending”

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While perusing Facebook, I came across an interesting link on a friend’s wall to this blog and Discovery News article about Lego brick bending, discovered and refined by Jeff Sanders while playing with Legos with his daughter. Sanders discovered that the old-time Lego bricks were somewhat flexible and could be reshaped into various geometric structures. Over time, he has made several artistic pieces of various shapes and colors. His most recent creation is a Lego sunflower.

Lego has always been a classic form of children’s art, but unfortunately does not quite seem as popular a toy and form of art as it once used to be thanks in good part to the fact that it is not “technologically advanced” enough. However, this is a prime example of modern art – some guy comes along with a brand new idea and it becomes popular (maybe not quite MoMA material, but maybe one day). The concept also requires a basic knowledge of geometry, so when people (kids or adults) create these masterpieces, it is an educational experience as well. Modern art is not limited to de Kooning’s blobs and streaks, or a guy giving out candy; it can even be normal things and normal artistic material, but with a novel “twist” (pun intended).

Electronic Music

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The Electronic Music concert in LeFrak earlier tonight was an interesting and different concert than I have ever been to. There were no musicians on stage, just the director of the concert and his helper at a computer playing the different soundtracks of unique musical sound. The lights were also turned off so the audience would focus on the music.

I think it is safe to say that the pieces of electronic music that were played could be considered the musical version of abstract expressionism. Each piece had a multitude of different unique sounds, many of which could not be replicated by any real instrument. Many of the sounds sounded like the music for the introduction to a modern movie,  but blended in a bizarre and abstract way. Many other sounds sounded like musical background in a video game, also blended together in a puzzling and abstract fashion. Furthermore, a couple of the pieces were accompanied with a visual slideshow of abstract moving colored blobs, lines, and streaks, the kind that you frequently see in screen savers. In a way, these “screen saver” animations could also be considered animated abstract expressionism.

So just when we thought that abstract expressionism was limited to de Kooning and 2D visual art, the art form has actually made its way into modern technology as well in the form of music and animation.

Artist Uses Comic Book as an Outlet for Her Life Experience and Emotions

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This article that I found in the New York Times describes Leironica Hawkins, a woman who lives in a homeless shelter who was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and her interesting story of how she uses art as a form of escapism and used it as a form of expression. She lived a hard life with social problems, sensory issues, periods of depression, involuntary twitching, and didn’t know what was wrong with her until she was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and placed in a New York City shelter in harsh conditions because she could not support herself. The routine she found most satisfying was to walk around New York from early in the morning until the 10 pm curfew of the shelter and check out art museums and other art venues, the only form of escape from the harsh reality of living in the shelter (another connection between homelessness and the arts!) and the terrible disease that continues to plague her. Her favorite places include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library on 46th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues.

Recently, she saw that the Library was looking for art to display. Hawkins had a talent for drawing that she discovered early on, and decided to take a crack at getting her artwork displayed. She worked tireless hours in her shower in the shelter drawing and sweating over her piece, but in the end, it all paid off. She made a comic book using characters that all had Asperger’s Syndrome and were based on her experiences of the hardships she went through. The Public Library ended up posting the artwork and it is on display until December 30th.

 

This article is an excellent example of how art can be used as a form of expression, not just in the artistic sense, but also in expressing life experiences and challenges. Art is also a great way to escape life for a little bit. I must admit that whenever we went to an arts event this year (especially the interesting ones), I tended to forget about the outside world and focus on the art at hand. If you’re looking for a healthy and legal way to escape life for a bit, why not turn to art?

35th Annual Traditional Japanese Music Recital

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I was privileged to attend the 35th Annual Traditional Japanese Music Recital held at the Aaron Copland School of Music. I thought the music was very authentic, unique, and I suppose, traditional. I kind of felt like I was in Japan. As I’m sure most people are aware, traditional Japanese music is very unique and not at all like the classical music that was produced by the European standards of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and others (and certainly not American). The music is very difficult to describe in words. Nonetheless, I will make an attempt by first describing the distinctive Japanese instruments played, and afterward the content of the music.

At the recital, there were three types of instruments: a koto, which is basically a long, wooden piece of wood with strings across it that are plucked; a sangen, which looks kind of like a banjo, except it is played using an object that looks like pliars and has a unique sound to it (not shown in the picture); and the shakuhachi, which are basically Japanese flutes. In the recital, there was a Shakuhachi Ensemble for all the pieces, as well as at least one koto (sometimes two). The sangen appeared in all but one of the pieces.

Most of the musical pieces had some vocal parts to them that are Japanese poems, and the music is generally meant to accompany them. Many of the themes in the vocal parts have to do with nature, such as the Chidori (plover), a migratory shore bird whose erratic flight pattern is captured by the music of “Chidori No Kyoku” (“The Song of the Plovers”). The accompanying music is therefore erratic yet overall slow and natural. Another piece, “Shin Ukifune”, is based on the medieval Japanese story of the beautiful Ukifune who was fought over by two princes to be their lover, but in the end fled to a monastery and became a nun (sound familiar?). This piece, performed in three parts, is also slow and kind of captures the mourning of the princes and the fact that men have caused her to become chaste. For almost all of the pieces, the music was so relaxing I almost fell asleep.

The recital gave me an excellent taste of the Japanese music tradition. All the performers are licensed teachers, as oppose to students. All of them are also members of Ki-Sui-An, which has been the largest and most active shakuhachi dojo (place of learning) outside Japan for the past three decades.

Engaging in the Art that We’ve Seen

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This course has been focused primarily on the appreciation of the different art forms in New York City through watching, looking at, and talking about them. It occurred to me recently that it was only with Professor Lipsey and the Gamelan percussion instruments that we actually actively engaged in the art that we have seen and appreciated. Not only did we see the fantastic Gamelan group perform, we got to play the instruments, get a feel for them, and get a sense of what playing Balinese Gamelan is all about. Don’t get me wrong; It is wonderful to look at, watch, and talk about art. That is the primary way to gain an appreciation for it. But I think that when we are able to actively engage in a particular art form that we are analyzing and appreciating, it gives us a whole different perspective on that art form. The Gamelan sounds and actions look and sound cool onstage. But when I was playing my xylophone (or whatever that Balinese instrument is called) during our class prelude to the performance, I felt something very different from when I was watching; maybe it was a sense of contributing to this unique and cool art form, or maybe it was simply working as a group to make the art. I’m not really sure. Either way, it seems likely that participating in art that we analyze (when possible) will help us gain an even better understanding and appreciation of that art form. Vision is one way to appreciate art; participating is a whole different ball game.

So That’s What Abstractionism is All About!

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After going to the de Kooning exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, it is pretty clear to me now why Willem de Kooning is considered the father of abstract expressionism. In the majority of his paintings, de Kooning challenges the notion that things must be presented the way they look to us. Instead, he takes things such as landscapes or highways, and totally distorts them into a complex array of scribbles, lines, shapes, and paint blotches and drippings that blend together into workable and enigmatic pieces of art that are interesting to look at and ponder.

He turns some of the paintings upside down so that one can see the dripping paint that goes”up”. Despite the odd shapes, lines, and designs, he does manage to keep some remnant of shape to some of his paintings, as in the head of the painting “Woman 1” above.  Perhaps one of the most remarkable characteristics of de Kooning’s work is his knack for collage by integrating random shapes, lines, and figures onto a single page and make it work, as in this piece.

He also had very interesting techniques when it came to the preparation of some of his paintings. Some of his techniques that I remember included applying paint, scraping it off, then repainting; drying paint with newspapers that would leave marks on his paintings, giving them a shallow look; allowing some of the paint to drip in his paintings (see first painting); and the long brush strokes that characterized some of his paintings.

What’s also interesting is de Kooning’s historical progression in terms of his painting style. He started out painting normal objects that are grossly obvious what they are. But as one goes farther and farther into his career, his paintings become far less distinguishable and the abstract element becomes more and more of a staple in his paintings. Also, the size of his paintings tend to get bigger as well.

Before I saw this exhibit, my general impression of “abstractionism” was a bunch of paint blotches and scribbles that are considered art. Now that I’ve seen de Kooning’s work, I can more confidently say that the “abstract” form of painting is unquestionably a respectable and laudable art form.

Homeless Children, the Arts, and Occupy Wall Street

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I attended the “Homelessness in Focus” program on Wednesday, and though it was an eye-opening program, it was very difficult for me at first to figure out how it was related to the arts. However, there came a point when Ms. Henry, one of the homeless speakers, spoke about the suffering of the homeless children (she used to be a grade school teacher before the shelter she now lives in made her quit her job). She said that the children have to get up very early in the morning and are therefore very tired when they come to school, making it difficult for them to learn. They also get very limited food rations, which further handicaps them. When they come home to the shelter, they need to wait for one of their parents to come and escort them into the building. If their parents are not there, they make the children wait outside until their parent picks them up.

This got me thinking: These children will be deprived of a proper education. If that is the case, who knows how many potential artists, musicians, actors, and curators could have been among these unfortunate children, but in the end cannot become them because of the corrupt shelter system and their lack of education? And this doesn’t just have to apply to the arts; these children could have also become great doctors, attorneys, businessmen, politicians, and whatever else, but now cannot because of their lack of a home and education. Attainment of these professions would also likely afford them financial independence in the future.

Occupy Wall Street is a very peculiar movement. They are an organization which essentially complains that 1% of the population controls the majority of  the wealth in this country, whereas the 99% do not. I do sympathize with the essence of this complaint. However, it is important to look at the political views and socioeconomic statuses of people who are protesting. Based on this article I found, it seems that a surprisingly significant number of these protestors are left-wing radicals who believe in the redistribution of wealth and are opposed to free-market capitalism, meaning they are essentially socialists. This article also says that a majority of the protestors are employed.

Bearing this in mind, should one choose to agree and protest with them, it is very important to remember that we, the students in Macaulay Honors College at Queens, are very lucky that we are not homeless, we have an excellent and free education, and we are not starving and thinking about how we are going to eat our next meal. We all have the potential to go into whatever profession we want, whether it be the arts, science, law, or business. We need to remember that it is not really us, but other people who have it much worse than us, that need the government to reform certain aspects of our society, such as the shelter system and the suffering of its children. Rather than lobby the government to pay for wealthier middle class people who have houses and good jobs, let’s instead lobby for those less fortunate children to get real housing and a better life so they can get a good education and become the world’s greatest artists. It is very appropriate that Thanksgiving, the holiday of giving thanks, is approaching. It is important to be thankful for the good blessings that we have and use our resources to ameliorate the plights of others who are much less fortunate than us. Once these people are taken care of, then we can focus more on the injustices that affect us.

“Suor Angelica”: A Pleasing Performance

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I had the privilege to see Suor Angelica earlier tonight performed in LeFrak Concert Hall, and I am happy to say that I went. While Don Giovani was fine and all, it was a bit too long for my attention span. This opera was a much shorter piece of opera where I could better appreciate (and stay awake for) the different parts and aspects that were involved. ( I didn’t care for the first opera performed, Debussy’s “La Damoiselle Elue”. The theme of a departed woman in Heaven calling for her husband seemed very remote to me. I could care less. The music was pretty good, though.)

For starters, the stage setup was very different as compared to the Metropolitan Opera. Instead of being in a pit, the orchestra played right onstage behind the opera singers (though I think this was more due to lack of space). The lighting system was very good. It focused attention on the right people at just the right moments. An example that jumps immediately to my mind is at the end when she sees her son taking her to Heaven, with the lights both on her and her son (very emotional and heavy). Additionally, there was almost no scenery except for the fountain with the statue of the Virgin Mary whom all the nuns worshiped and revered (she was played by an actual person and managed to stay remarkably still the whole time until she came alive at the end).

Best of all, I was better able to appreciate the good music that the orchestra played so well. The music was very good at capturing the different moods and emotions in the opera. I liked Sister Angelica’s lament over her son; with the musical background, it was very moving. Her reunion with her son in Heaven is another moment that I found very moving, helped immensely by the music. I also liked how the nuns went to the upper floor of the concert hall and sang as an accompaniment.

It was a very pleasurable piece to listen to.

And to top it all off, Monica Martin played in the Violin I section of the orchestra. Go Monica!

Show of Hands, Please: Who Can Buy Art?

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It is truly a coincidence that we are about to begin discussing the relationship between the economy and the arts in New York, and that I stumbled upon this article in the New York Times. It talks about the activities of different art gallery auctions in New York and abroad, and basically says that on the whole, most of these auctions are unaffected by the economic downturn.  As the article puts it, “Despite the debt crisis engulfing Europe and an Occupy Wall Street protest directed at Sotheby’s [an art gallery], life inside the art bubble remained effervescent, buoyed by a marathon of flawlessly orchestrated parties, invitation-only dinners and blue-chip openings.” The Rose Art Museum in Waltham, MA actually had Occupy Wall Street protestors march in and shout “Shame on you!” to the art bidders, but were simply escorted out, and the auction continued on normally. Paintings from these auctions are still being sold at ridiculous prices. The art collectors who go to these art parties seem to be Class A snobs the way we defined “snob” way back in the beginning of the semester.

To read the original article, click here.

Emily Bergl, Movie and TV Star, Comes To Queens College

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This past Wednesday, Queens College Theater Guild was privileged to bring the acclaimed actress Emily Bergl to Queens College. She has performed in various films, most notably “The Rage: Carrie 2”, performed in the Broadway play “The Lion in Winter”, appeared in various TV shows including “Gilmore Girls” and “Desperate Housewives”, and has recently begun performing cabaret. During her appearance, she performed two cabaret pieces. The first one, whose name I forget, was a slow, pained song of a young girl, while the second piece was an original song she and her piano accompanist Jonathan Mastro are working on. I enjoyed both pieces very much. It was quickly apparent to me that Emily is an actress. She is excellent not only at singing, but also personifying the character who is singing the song, such as the pained girl of the first song who is angry at the world. In the Q&A session after her performance, Emily told us that when she performs a commonly-performed piece, she thinks about it constantly, listens to all the different versions of the song, reviews the lyrics, and injects her own perspective into the pieces she sings. Much of modern art is this idea of an artist putting his or her perspective into their work, which is key in creating good art. Emily is an excellent example of this.

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Every Generation Has its Share of Sexual Desire

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As I was leaving class last night, Professor Smaldone made a comment to someone else about Don Giovani and the pervertedness of the 18th century. This prompted me to respond that operas such as Don Giovani could be characterized as the pornography of the 18th century. It seems like Don Giovani is catering to the desires of the public for some clean, visual representation of a sexual theme. People say how the olden days were better, more proper, and wholesome. Sex was much more taboo, cursing was considered improper, women wore more clothing, etc. I think it’s important to keep in mind that even the older generations had a desire for the same stuff that a large part of today’s society desires. Just because they acted less salaciously doesn’t mean they didn’t have the same physical desires that we have. Back then, they had Don Giovani. Now, we have porn.

Frans Hals and Egypt(?)

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The Frans Hals exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was an interesting exhibit full of middle-class, colorful, jubilant portraits of people from 16th – 17th century Dutch New Netherlands, today New York. Afterward, I felt in a very Egyptian mood, so I ventured down a floor to the Egyptian art from the 1st – 4th centuries CE. You may ask: how in the world are they and Hals’s work related? The answer: They’re not! They are two completely separate worlds of art (no wonder the exhibits are on different floors). Much of the Egyptian art was sculptures and other crafted objects (including mummies!), as well as fabulous jewelry pieces, whereas Hals was an exclusive painter. Amongst the Egyptian paintings, the Egyptian art was much older, of course, and not as fresh-looking as Hals. The Egyptians also didn’t have modern paint that Hals had, helping to contribute to the joy and frivolity evident in some of Hals’s paintings (e.g. “Yonker Man and his Sweetheart”, where the Yonker man is drinking with his girlfriend and everyone is happy). Hals’s paintings had a 3D kind of look to them, whereas the Egyptian paintings were very much 2D and were not as full and detailed as Hals’s paintings. The mouths of all Egyptian paintings were closed, whereas Hals had a lot of his people with open mouths. The Egyptians tended to paint gods and goddesses, whereas Hals painted middle class, ordinary people almost exclusively.

Dickens 200th Birthday Anniversary Exhibit at the Morgan Library

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I stumbled upon this article in the NY Times primarily because I saw the name “Dickens”, whose work “Great Expectations” I remember reading in 10th grade. I remember enjoying it very much. According to the article, the Morgan Library of New York is hosting an exhibit of Charles Dickens’s letters, photographs, illustrations, artifacts, and manuscripts in honor of his 200th birthday, which opens today.

The article says that Declan Kiely, the curator of the museum’s literary and historical manuscripts, is not simply displaying the highlights of Dickens’s serials (Dickens wrote his novels in magazines published every week as serials), manuscripts, letters, and illustrations, but also letters that show Dickens’s eccentric perspectives and look at him from “oblique angles”. Meaning, not only can we appreciate his literary genius from this exhibit, but we can also learn about his perspectives on the social justice of his time. A couple examples are his philanthropic work and his founding Urania Cottage, a shelter for wayward women.

Though I have not yet gone, it seems like a relatively interesting exhibit to check out, especially if you have an appreciation for Dickens as I do. The article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/arts/design/morgan-librarys-charles-dickens-at-200-review.html?ref=arts