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Author: Tan Yee Yeung (Page 1 of 2)
So it all began in Harlem.
When I think of Harlem, I automatically thought of the popular meme, Harlem Shake. After doing some research on the dance, it turns out the popular Harlem Shake is actually not the original one. The original Harlem shake, also known as Albee, originated from Harlem in the 1980s and it was based on Eskista, a traditional Ethiopian dance. The dance involves shaking, shimmying and popping your torso, shoulders and arms. This is one example that shows how black culture (Ethiopian) had an influence in dance in the 20th century.
Katherine Dunham
I really enjoy learning that the black modern dance is influenced by many different cultures and the experiences that they have been through. For example the L’ag’ya introduced by Katherine Dunham that was “based on the rhythms and martial arts dances of the slaves who used to dance to develop their stamina in preparation for uprisings against their white masters” (History of Black Dance: 20th-Century Black American Dance). Many black dancers use dance as a way to share the social and political pressure they are under in America. As we have seen, art is a very powerful tool that can be used to start a change. Sometimes words are not enough to convey the emotions they felt. I feel that with the influence of their culture and environment, black modern dances are unique and well-worth enjoying and analyzing.
I accidentally watched the video with Kyle Abraham’s choreography of “When the Wolves Came in” and “The Watershed” before reading the article. When I watched it, I didn’t understand what was going on and I was quickly bored. However, after reading the article, it gave me more insight on the meaning of the dances. “The Watershed” is a response to the 100th year anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The dance conveys the struggle and achievements during that time period from the perspective of the viewers. “When The Wolves Came In” is derived from the story that a kid fell into the African dog pit in the zoo and was killed, in turn the dogs were also killed although they could have simply built a taller fence so no other people will fall into it. This piece has to do with “perception, race and identity”. After reading the stories Kyle Abraham is trying to tell through his dances, I find it much easier to interpret the dance and understand what each of the movements meant.
Created by Tan Yee Yeung, Michelle Bensadigh, and Maxwell Sternberg.
Needle eye art
Now art comes in a lot of different sizes. There are art so small and minuscule that it can fit in the eye of a needle. On the other hand, there are art that are so big and vast that it covers a whole landscape. These artworks on the colossal level are what Christo and Jeanne-Claude specialized in. The article in the New York Times called “Next From Christo: Art That Lets You Walk on Water” by Carol Vogel introduced the latest artwork by Christo and explained the “artist duo” who are behind these grand artworks. Through their art, it is shown that art can alter and improve landscapes. These artworks that involves the landscape lets people have a more vivid experience with the art while boosting the economies in these area.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude along with Michael Bloomberg on the opening of “The Gate” at Central Park.
Let’s start off with some background information on Christo and Jeanne-Claude. They were an “artist duo” who collaborated together to bring large-scale artworks to many landscapes around the world. Some of their work includes the “7,500 gates along the Central Park”, the “365-foot-high curtain across a valley in Colorado”, the “161 trees
“Valley Curtain” at Colorado
in black and white polyester mesh in a park in Basel, Switzerland” and many more. Jeanne-Claude took care of the organization and financial aspect of their projects while Christo took care of the creative aspect. They were a dynamic duo. They shared the same birthday, June 13, 1935, and they both use only a first name. Cristo hand-picked Jeanne-Claude’s “flaming red hair”. This couple “had been inseparable for 47 years” until Jeanne-Claude’s death from a complications of a brain aneurysm in 2009.
Drawing for “The Floating Piers” project.
Christo, however, still continues to work on various projects. The main project the article mentions is “The Floating Piers.” It is an installation of about “200,000 floatable cubes covered in glittering, dahlia-yellow fabric fashioned from tightly woven nylon,” on Lake Lseo of Italy. The view from the surrounding mountains of this pathway is changing since the light changes throughout the day altering the color of the floatable cubes “from deep yellow to shimmering gold to a reddish hue when wet.” This project will connect the islands on Lake Lseo to the mainland and to each other.
Lake Lseo
Through “The Floating Piers” project, I learned how art can adjust a landscape and bring more attention and attraction to a certain area. The pathway of floatable cubes allows the people on the islands or mainland to directly walk to
each other instead of relying on boats. The project created a walkway that did not naturally occur in the landscape itself. This adjustment can make life more easy for the people who live in the Lake Lseo area. It connects them and brings them closer to each other. It is also a tourist attraction since it allows people to basically walk for “nearly two miles on water”. Since Lake Lseo is the least known of Italy’s northern lakes, this installation will bring an inflow of tourists which may boost the economy of the local area. This artwork also embodies a vivid experience that allows you to interact with it by walking on it and enjoying the view on the way.
Putting all these grand-schemed projects together was not easy. Christo and Jeanne-Claude had to wait many years for government approval or permit to work on these landscape. Thanks to them, we can enjoy these artworks that combines aesthetic and experience of a lifetime. After all, after the “16 days starting June 18” showcase of the pathway, how many people can say that they had walked on Lake Lseo before?
Girl throwing embroidered ball down for her suitors.
When I was little I often watched tv shows with settings in ancient China. I really dislike ancient China. There were extreme class structures, men had all the power, men can marry more than one women, and people don’t get to choose who they want to marry. Those who have power were mainly the relatives of the emperors or people in the government. They often arranged marriage to what is most beneficial to their status and it’s hugely political. However, in a few of the tv shows I watched, they had some interesting way to determine the suitor for their daughter. One of them is based completely on luck. The girl will be standing on a balcony, one floor up. She’ll throw a embroidered ball down and whoever catches the ball is her future husband. Another way is making the suitors fight each other and whoever wins gets to marry the girl. Lastly, is the battle of wisdom. Like Turandot, there are riddles they have to solve and if they answer the riddles correctly they may marry the girl. There are other forms of this such as making the best poem. It is quite interesting to see how they can determine who someone marries for the rest of their lives on such arbitrary things.
One of the most well known Chinese TV show is Return of the Pearl Princess (还珠格格). I grew up watching this show. The main character of this show often got into trouble and there were an abundance of scenes where she was punished or tortured. Therefore the scene when Liu was getting tortured reminded me a couple techniques that were used. One of the most common 
way to torture female prisoner is to use a finger-squeezing board. The board would squeeze the fingers between sticks and cause excruciating pain. Another technique would be sticking needles in your fingertips repeated. Also using big thick wooden sticks to hit the gluts for hundreds of times till the prisoner is bleeding. With all these painful and agonizing torture techniques, Liu is so brave and loyal to remain silent. It shows the depth of her love and loyalty to the Unknown Prince.
The ending of Turandot is quite surprising. After reading many plays that ends tragically, I also assumed that Turandot will not end well. However it concluded with a happy ending. Which makes me wonder why the Chinese government would censor this opera. It doesn’t really portray China in a negative light. I guess it’s just because it is not actually based on historical facts.
It started off with a girl telling her mom that she doesn’t want to wear long skirt. That girl ended up dead from a failed abortion operation.
A teenage boy trying to teach his troubled friend about sex education. The life of the boy is ruined after being expelled from school and sent to reformatory.
A teenage boy struggling hard to stay in school. The boy committed suicide after being expelled and lost hope in life.
This play contained many taboo subjects. All of which led to tragedies to occur.
If only the teenagers going through puberty is more well-informed about their sexuality, they would not be as confused and lost. If Wendla Bergmann understood how babies were made, she could be more cautious around boys and use contraceptives. Then she would not have died a tragic death at such a young age. If Moritz Stiefel understood more about puberty and why he is having all the sexual thoughts, he would not be distracted from school and failed school. Then he would not have been so lost and hopeless that he decides to end his life. If Melchior Gabor didn’t have to help inform his friend about sexual education through self-drawn “pornography”, he would not be a scapegoat for his friend’s death. Then he might not have ended up in the reformatory and the eventual escape.
Parents feel the need to shelter their children, but sometimes it’s this protection that’s hurting their children the most. There’s a Chinese saying that this young generation, those born after 1981, is the generation of strawberries (草莓族). Strawberries looks bright but is actually really easily bruised and fragile. The younger generation often cave under stress and can’t endure hardship. This occurs because this generation is so well-sheltered by their “loving” parents. Parents should just allow their children to be more exposed in order to learn and develop more, especially dealing with their own body.,
So many tragedies would not have occurred if only the teenagers understood their body, puberty and hormones. Which reminds me the first time I had my sex education. It was back in fifth grade and my school even invited a speaker to come in to answer all our questions. At the young age of eleven or twelve, we are already expose to what is going to occur to our body and why it happens. Furthermore it is later emphasized in our biology class and health class. These lessons helped us be more comfortable with our body and understand the awakening of spring.
Imagine lending out your favorite shirt to a friend and not being able to get it back. That’s the situation that four Crimean museum, Tavrida Central Museum, the Kerch Historical and Cultural Preserve, the Bakhchisaray History and Culture State Preserve of the Republic of Crimea, and the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, found themselves in. Except it’s much more complicated than that.
The Allard Pierson Museum
In 2013, the four museums loaned their artifacts for a traveling exhibition. It went first to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany. Then it was sent to the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam in February 2013, which was expected to display there until August 31, 2014.
However in March 2013, Crimea was invaded by Russia and was separated from Ukraine. This is where the problem began.
After the exhibition ended at the Allard Pierson Museum, the 565 rare artifacts are packed in boxes 
in a storage facility until court decision determines where they should be sent towards. “Should the collection be returned to Crimea, which would essentially deliver it into Russian hands? Or should it go to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which owned the collection at the time of the display?” as questioned in the article “Artifacts from Crimean Museums Are Held Hostage by Politics” by Nina Siegal.
Ukraine claimed the arts are part of the public state museum fund, their state property, and should be returned to the government instead of the museums in Crimea. Also there has been fear that Russia, with its claim over Crimea, would move the treasures to its cities, St. Petersburg or Moscow, permanently.
On the other hand, the four Crimean museums are “extremely frustrated at missing these culturally important aspects from their collections.” They argued that the only parties in the loan contracts are they themselves and the Allard Pierson Museum so neither the Russian government or Ukrainian government has a role in this court case.
The Russian Ministry of Culture also supported returning the artifacts to the museums in Crimea. The statement said, “In the almost 18 months after the Crimea joined Russia, the Crimean museums have not lost a single item.”
It is unfortunate that due to the political tension in the area, the treasures are hidden in boxes in storage. The collection of artifacts reveals the different influences and culture in the Black Sea region throughout its history. There are influences “from the Greek, Roman and early medieval periods.” Also since this area is part of the crossroad, there are Chinese goods there from the Silk Road trade. It is a tragedy that these unique pieces are being buried in a storage facility. Regardless of where the court decides to send these treasures to, they should be in display showcasing the vast history of the area instead of burying them in a storage facility.
Original
Alteration #1
Alteration #2 (Click into it. It’s a gif!)
Alteration #3 (Click into it. It is not as blurry)
A camera takes a photo of an instance by capturing the light and recording it onto a film. The instance will be captured with accuracy to every specific detail. An artist, however, cannot do the same. A portrait takes a great deal of time and effort to complete. This gives artist the freedom to impose “their reality on the picture”, as stated in the essay “Every Portrait Tells a Lie” by Debra Bremer. The portrait is painted with the subjective feelings of the artist. If the artist sees the subject he’s painting as sad, the artist will paint in minor details that makes the subject look sad and gloomy. But the subject might not be sad, the subject might just be tired. This is how portrait tells a lie. It is a lie that the artist tell based on his “subjective and contingent”. A portrait tells a story from a bystander’s, or artist’s, point of view.
I also feel that portraits contain an artist’s own emotion. If the artist is happy, they might choose a more colorful and light color palette, which would make the subject seems happy too. Regardless of what the subject actually feels himself/herself.
In “How John Singer Sargent Made a Scene” by Sarah Churchwell, she mentioned “it was Sargent, whether we know it or not, who helped show us what it [modern era] would look like.” The best example of how Sargent did this is through the painting Madame X (1884). The subject of the portrait is wearing a sweetheart neckline dress that reveals a big portion of skin. The dress is held up with two thin and fragile string of beads. If any closet malfunction were to happen, the dress may have fallen off the madame. Sargent received a great deal of criticism for this portrait. M
any criticized the “shockingly wanton shoulder strap allowed to fall suggestively loose” and the “powder-blue pallor of her skin”.In the late nineteenth century, women wore high necklines and showed very little of their skin. Madame X went against the social norm and violated the dressing code of the late 19th century. However, in this day and age, it is not a surprise to see a girl dress like Madame X to attend a party. Through his portrait, Sargent helped us see the modern era.
John Singer Sargent was born in Europe and had lived there most of his life. However his parents are American. So what is he really? European or American? In my opinion, he is both European and American. I was born in Hong Kong. However I moved to the United States for about 12 years. But I consider myself both Chinese and American. I never saw the point in making a specific distinction. Living in U.S. most of my life doesn’t make me any less of a Chinese. Being born in China doesn’t make me any less proud of being an American. It doesn’t really matter what John Singer Sargent is, other than the fact that he is a really talented impressionist.
While reading the “Picture and Text” essay by Henry James, I had to stop to look up what is impressionism. According to Dictionary.com, impressionism is “a style of painting developed in the last third of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by short brushstrokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects.”. After understanding what impressionism is, I find that it is much easier to interpret and admire Sargent’s art.
Let’s look at Sargent’s “El Jaleo” (1882) for example. After knowing the definition of impressionism, I took more notice of the juxtaposition of the color between shadow and light. Although the dancer is stand in front, the shadow that surrounds her makes her less of the center of attention. The bright light around the background dancers and musicians make them more conspicuous. The arms raised background dancers look cheerful and deep into the moment. The audience in the back with head thrown back is enjoying every moment of this festivity.
Next up, “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit” (1882). This is by far my favorite painting by Sargent. Although the two girls is in the dark and far away, they are hard to miss. Their matching white dresses make them stand out against their dark background. They are positioned in the center of the painting, although far away. One facing away showing us only her profile, while the other is facing straight towards us. The little girl on the left of the painting staring towards us with one foot forward looking like she wants to come closer but is too shy to do so. The toddler sitting on the floor is holding her doll for comfort. All of which makes me wonder what are they thinking at this moment, what are they looking at, and what is their story. I enjoy the curiosity this painting brought to me.
Analyzing the different paintings made me understand why Sargent is known as the “recruit of high value to the camp of the Impressionist” to Henry James.
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