Category: New York Times 10/16

Often times, people go about their day in a routine format. They go straight to and from work or school. Rarely, do these people ever take time to pause, look at their surroundings, and say to themselves, “Look at how pretty these falling leaves are. Look at this intricately woven spider web.” This is exactly what Jim Toia did.

Not only did Toia take time to absorb the beauties of nature, but he also tried to preserve the the beauties he saw in nature and transform them into art. In the NY Times article, “Pieces of Nature Preserved as Art at the New Jersey State Museum,” Tammy La Gorce talks about how Mr. Toia transfers spider webs among other things onto paper and preserve them as pieces of art for display. What Mr.Toia does to preserve these webs is that when he sees a spider web he will first scare off the spider. Then he would spray the spider web with oil stain and transfer the web onto paper. Below you can see one of Toia’s spider web arts.

The artist Jim Toia captures nature in his work, currently on display at the New Jersey State Museum. Here, “Galileo’s Gaze” (2007), oil and spiderweb on antique register paper.

As a “nature obsessed” artist, as the New York Times calls Toia, Toia saids that art is essentially all around us. His only job as an artist is to capture and preserve the art that nature has already been given to us.  The method of preservation, however, I think is up for dispute.

I think that Toia’s art does not necessarily have to embody the physical aspect of the art that he is trying to capture.  Every time that Toia sees a spider, he takes away the spiders web for art. The spider then becomes homeless and has to rebuild his home. Sometimes, Toia invades the home of the same spider multiple times just to obtain the same web. Although Toia states that he feels bad for taking the web of the spider, he usually just brushes the guilt off and says to the spider “Sorry to take it from you buddy. But you did a great job.” I understand that Toia at least isn’t killing the spider to obtain his form of art. But I personally think that Toia should change his medium of preserving art. Instead of physically taking the spider web, he could take pictures. Pictures still capture the essence of the beauty of nature that Toia is trying to create, even though the web is not actually on the photo. For his works of art like the “Ant Colny Cast” I think there art alternative ways to creating the cast, such as using a 3D printer, so it isn’t neccesary to cast the actual ant colony. Personally, I would rather Toia’s art not effect the natural habitats of the organisms that he is trying to capture.

“Ant Colony Cast”

Overall, I think that Toia’s creation of art using nature and what is in our surroundings is a great idea. I would love to see some of his works at the New Jersey State Museum. I think seeing the art works in person will certainly have a different effect on me.

New York is one of the most diverse and striking places out there. From its urban streets, to townhouses, to the beautiful lights of Times Square, New York is a center for artistic exploration and individualism.

Jill Freedman is a photographer who immersed herself in this cultural city. Capturing only the small and hidden gems of New York that represented what it held. In John Leland’s article, For a Street Photographer, ‘The Weirder, the Better’, he shows us her image of New York.

Ms. Freedman worked behind her lenses from the mid 1960s until the late 1980s, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Using only black and white, Freedman’s photography aimed to “avoid cloaking it under a veil of pretty.” She captured what others avoided, the cold, hard, truth of New York. What made it special, the small things and also the gruesome truths that existed. As Leland quotes, she sought, “beggars, panhandlers, people sleeping on the street,” the police and the firefighters, the people washed ashore by forces bigger than themselves. “It’s the theater of the streets,” she said. “The weirder, the better.”

But that was then. After she returned to New York in the 2000s, it was not the same city. What Freedman sought to capture, to explore, and to expose was instead replaced and hidden even deeper. The culture that she knew, the “disintegration that had seemed permanent” had disappeared and was replaced “by an order that felt even more insubstantial.”

Leland’s article brings up the dark truth about our culture. With innovation and movement, the treasures of our city, the hidden society of our streets, are disappearing. He uses the perspective of a photographer who lived through her lenses. Who photographed what she saw on streets, what New York was really about, not the one shown through glamorous pictures for advertisement and to attract tourist. An invisible community that lived within a bigger one.

It’s hard to believe how different everything had become. That if you step back and think, the New York of then, has been lost, pushed back into a corner and concealed. Leland’s article, made me realize that instead of just looking at the bigger picture, the small details also matter. That although innovation and advancement is important, we cannot forget the foundation of our city. What New York really is made of. The weird, yet normal things that occur. The small things that make life interesting.

Within its 346 year history, the Paris Opera Ballet hired its first Chinese dancer. Lam Chun-wing was a 19 year old from Hong Kong’s suburbs. His entry into the state-financed company is a dramatic change, since more than 90 percent of the dancers are French. But every great achievement is not without hard work and making the most of every opportunity.

Lam Chun-wing, right, dancing in April in ‘‘Aunis’’ at the Ballet School of the Paris Opera Ballet.

Mr. Lam grew up in an apartment with 5 other relatives, and started taking dance lessons at age 7. His ambition to become a professional dancer later took hold when he was 11. However, he couldn’t find a good male ballet teacher, so he had to go to the Guangzhou Ballet School during school holidays. In an annual dance event with the top students, the grande dame of the territory’s ballet teachers, Ms. Wong, noticed his talent and ideal body proportions. Ms. Wong later sent a DVD of Mr. Lam’s dancing to the Ballet School at the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011. He admitted as the first Chinese dancer to the academy.

Mr. Lam in ‘‘Don Quixote’’ at the Hong Kong Cultural Center in August

Interest for his talents grew, and Mr. Lam was invited to Paris for a private addition. His move to France, to develop his career, was encouraged by his parents even though most families in Hong Kong pushed children into traditional careers.

Mr. Lam’s rise in position came when he was a replacement for a production of Jean-Guillaume Bart’s “La Source.” His professional debut became a success even though the scene was a technically difficult one. He was able to dance with a “very polished technique, and was quick and fit” according to Benjamin Millepied, the Paris Opera’s dance director. Mr. Millepied embraced the notion of diversity to the Paris Opera because of the importance of representing  community as a 21st-century company.

Indeed, Mr. Lam became a hometown hero because he was the first in his occupation. Although he received much acclaim, Mr. Lam was very shy. Mr. Lam revealed he is proud, and happy, but most of all he was relieved, which shows his humble nature. Even though he was homesick, constantly worrisome, and nervous, Mr. Lam persevered through the struggles and not only made a name for himself, but became a trailblazer in his unremitting dream.