Author: danieliqbal06

In my independent museum visit experience, I opted for the Museum of Modern Art on West 53^rd Street. It seems out of all the museums I have had the pleasure to visit, the MoMA takes the crown in providing a new experience every time you visit. This time around, I spent the majority of my time, if not all, playing around and experiencing Chris Giorno’s “Dial-A-Poem” exhibit. 

Located on the 4^th floor of the museum, the exhibit features 6 phones on separate table displays, with a small couch for seating in the middle of the array. Furthermore, in large bold letters, the words “DIAL-A-POEM” with a telephone number underneath is pasted on the wall surrounding the exhibit. The general ambience is quite inviting and offers viewers an interactive experience because the phones on display are meant to be picked up, followed by a random poem playing from the device. I couldn’t get enough of this exhibit. Every time I would pick up a phone, a new poem, story, or concept would be relayed back, and I have never thought something like this could be experienced in a typical museum environment. The overall tone, through the lighting, seating in the middle, and just the array, enabled a satisfying type of feeling every time you picked up a phone and heard something new. This satisfaction tapped into a cultural trend of the now “digital world” in which my generation craves to continuously pick up their technological devices. Although Giorno’s work was created for the “pre-digital world,” this exhibit being experienced by a future generation fueled by social media and smartphones can provide awareness on our reliance on technology. 

Giorno’s use of telephones as a medium to display poetry was a ground-breaking idea when he first explored it in 1968. The array shown in this exhibit stemmed from an earlier idea where Giorno transmitted recordings of poems to millions of callers throughout New York City in an instant, free of charge. These poems, as I mentioned before, were sometimes sounds or stories and diverted from the usual archetype of what a poem is. Giorno has been recorded to say that “Poetry is not, should not, cannot be confined to the printed word.” The inclusion of a variety of spoken word media that he includes in the devices conveys this very idea. He aimed to expand what it meant for something to be poetry and wanted to share this idea with viewers on a large scale. However, when picking up a phone, you are the sole viewer which also retains a sense of intimacy between you and the art you are experiencing. 

Regarding the specific works shown in the exhibit, on the wall surrounding the telephones, there are a multitude of papers that were used in the planning of how audio would be inputted in each respective phone. The documents were derived from the first presentation of “DIAL-A-POEM” in 1970 where Kynaston McShine organized Giorno’s prior work. Similarly, there is a video displayed through a projector that outlines the process of how Giorno prepped these “DIAL-A-POEM” systems on March 1, 1969.These two works in the exhibit show intention, by allowing the viewer to experience behind the scenes Giorno’s artistry and what went into the quality of his production. The scenes in the video and the system layout papers highlight the creation of a medium to convey poetry, while the telephone systems highlight the radical poetry itself. 

However, understanding the nuances of the exhibit and its display is only halfway through the journey of understanding Giorno’s purpose for this artwork. As mentioned earlier, organizing radical poems in these devices in 1970 was an opportunistic decision. Ushered by various social movements including the opposition to the war in Vietnam, Giorno chose to randomize over 200 different poems with three-fourths of those texts seen in the MoMa were from radical poets and political activists of the time. I find it so intriguing that Giorno simply is creating a method for a message to get out and is sending a message to the public by doing so. Giorno also said “what they have to say is so important now… At this point, with the war and the repression and everything, we thought this was a good way for the Movement to reach people.” This was such a bizarre thing to wrap my head around. Giorno didn’t have an agenda to push any media he had created, but instead used the telephones to cast forward a multitude of ideas from cultural movements separate from his production.  

The lesson I have taken away from this museum visit is that an artist does not always require a media production of their own. Giorno has taught me a new aspect of artistry that focuses on amplifying the creations of others through implementing new mediums to experience art.  

The American playwright Lauren Yee delivers a satirical performance in the showing of “Ching Chong Chinaman.” Her creation displays an Asian American family trying to establish self-identity in the United States with each member of the household dealing with their own conflicting personalities. The title itself is provocative in manner already drawing the audience in on what this story on family could potentially behold. 

Of the entire group, the characterization of the father “Ed” resonated with me the most. Acting in a patriarchal manner, Ed is a character who has seemingly left behind his own culture in an effort to gain success in corporate America by acting more white-washed. This term is effective at explaining this father figure because he constantly refers to company activities like golf which is stereotyped as a white man’s sport. Furthermore, in the addition of the foreign character “J”, Ed requests him to be his caddy in a condescending fashion. The symbol of golf in American culture is associated with ideas of wealth and Ed believes that by conjuring an identity that is different from his own, he would be able to attain success in the United States.

After reading this play, Ed’s inner conflict conveyed a larger conflicting pattern that I did not see clearly before. Majoring in Finance at Baruch College, time and time again I have received advice from upperclassmen and professionals that I would have to adapt to the culture in the office in order to be successful. By mirroring the actions and behaviors of those who supervise me, would grant me access to the corporate elite that Ed is on the search for. It’s interesting that the advice given is to change oneself instead of the usual “always be yourself cliche” that has been told to us as children.  

Further developing this idea, we even see a separation of Ed and his cultural identity as a whole. Ed is clearly an Asian man to the audience but fully embodies the behavior of a white american. There is constantly a contrast between Ed and J’s character because Ed continuously condescends the foreigner in a racist manner. This is highly ironic because Ed himself is an Asian individual and in his journey to fully assimilate into American culture he seems to forget that.It seems this identity crisis drives the wedge between Ed and his family because the rest of the group likely has identified this disingenuous manner of living. 

Ed struggles with connecting his family together and believes by working and making more money will solve this separation. This mistake of identity leaves Ed delivering his emotional monologue at the end of the play displaying his power as he had throughout the play. Following the prompts his agreeable wife Grace to agree with him only for her to immediately shut him down and leave the play for good. With nothing but his golf skills, money, and broken family, Ed is left as a failure to the audience at the end of the play.

Throughout the documentary Flee, film director Jonas Poher Ramussen draws a contrast between a factual story narrated by Amin Nawabi on his experience of being displaced from his homeland with his family, and a fabricated story that details a narrative that would allow him to be accepted as a refugee.  

Ramussen makes a stylistic choice as a director to allow the viewer to believe this fabricated story that Nawabi tells to draw sympathy for the protagonist early on. As he opens the book found in his storage room, Nawabi tells the viewer that once the Islamic guerilla fighters known as the “Mujaheddin” took over Afghanistan, they had killed his father, mother, brother, and kidnapped his sister. 

 This narrative played out until the true story was revealed on how his family made it to Moscow with the help of his older brother that lived in Sweden. Although this alteration of facts or details in his journey slightly changed my impression of his experience, both stories were purposeful in their own way. Although the fabricated story of being an orphan misled me as a viewer, it functioned as a standard that was eligible to earn him refuge in Copenhagen. Furthermore, just because this story was fabricated, it does not in any means depreciate the value that can be gained from the actual experiences that Nawabi went through. If anything, as a viewer I was more emotionally moved about how Nawabi detailed the many attempts it took to finally get him to Sweden.

Specifically, the sequence that moved me and had me replay the scene a few times was during Nawabi’s failed journey to Sweden with his mom and brother. During the bleak and frigid walk of the displaced refugees through the snowy woods of Russia, an elderly woman had grown weary and physically could not continue the walking path alongside her son. Under a time constraint, the cold-blooded smuggler threatened to kill the elder or leave her behind because she was slowing down the group of refugees. In an instant, as if it were instinctual, three more men of the group went back to the elderly woman, placed her on a blanket and carried her along the journey when her physicality failed to do so.  

The inclusion of this scene by Ramussen tapped into my sense of compassion as a viewer. Although it is unclear, it seemed that despite the men not even knowing this elderly woman, they felt it was their duty to carry her to refuge. There are several underlying ideas that the director of this documentary wanted to convey when displaying this relationship between the men and elderly woman. The most prominent of those ideas and the one that ties it all together must be the sense of community particularly in this scene. It effectively displayed the collective mindset that these displaced individuals had, which is the need to find refuge after being forced to leave their own homes. Although they might be from different towns, cities, or even countries, the unity seen in this sequence really ties together the fact that the entire group all had the same collective purpose when trying to be smuggled. They simply wanted to find a better place to call home.  

The director wants to appeal to the viewer’s emotions by showing the great lengths that refugees must go to in order to make do with their traumatic situation of their homeland. Ramussen exposes the reader to both forms of the story to bring awareness to the identity crisis that refugees must endure. Nawabi mentioned that the smuggler had great power over him because he chose what Nawabi can allow his identity to be in the public. The fact that Nawabi details his experience as being forced to change who and what he is because it would allow him to be able to seek refuge is simply an injustice to humanity. The documentary sheds light upon the immoral process that refugees must go through, and it brings a sense of anger and frustration to me as viewer. 

Ultimately, this documentary changed my understanding of the experiences of refugees and showed me the identity crisis that many have to face. There shouldn’t be a need for pseudonyms like “Nawabi” but instead transparency in this process of helping individuals find a new place to call home. 

Photography used in social media has created an impact on not only how we perceive our lived experience but how we perceive ourselves. This has created a generation of developing teens that are in the process of finding their identity while also competing against the standards created by social media influencers who post photographs that document unrealistic levels of appearance. The photographs on social media hold a powerful role in shaping our perception on what the “physical norm” is of the world around us. 

With the emergence of the fitness industry taking over platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok, creators on these apps have harnessed the visual capabilities of photography to display their physical prowess and document their fitness journey. This form of photography has changed how individuals perceive their own body image and has both a positive and negative impact.  

Looking at the brighter side of fitness photography, creators may inspire transformations in unhealthy individuals by showing why hard work and dedication may be fruitful to lead a better lifestyle. Specifically in the personal training sector of the fitness industry, displaying photographs on social media that showcase trainers in peak athletic form may increase the number of clients they receive. They essentially market themselves as an inspiration to take classes from the creator of the account. While this may inspire and motivate, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to achieve the body of the trainers they hire or the creators that they follow.  

This inability to reach the aesthetic form of the influencers people follow, creates problems with idealized body image. I have scrolled on endless gym Tik Toks with users who deliberately curate their feed to show themselves at their peak aesthetic form (pump after a workout, lighting, photo retouching.) These images effectively contribute to unrealistic beauty standards and distort our perception of what an achievable physique may look like. It is often that consumers are surprised with the difference between how an influencer is displayed on their Instagram versus what they look like walking around in everyday life. Fitness mogul, David Laid, has been idealized since the emergence of these large social media apps. But once videos recorded showed his non curated physique, he has faced backlash from followers for misleading and now is faced with photoshopping accusations. This view from Laid’s followers mirror the same objective opinion made by Beaumont Newhall, mentioned in the article “When Staged Photography Becomes Art”, that “straight, pure and non-staged photography was the only type possible” to be respected by consumers. This perspective brought by Newhall should be acknowledged because this led to the definition and expansion of photography in the 20^th century. The truthfulness and objectively realistic nature of the type of photography described by Newhall is still respected to this day because of how a non staged photograph is candid in nature.

Yes, people have a right to agree with Newhall, but there is honor in staged fitness photography only if the staged nature is expressed to followers. While it may not be ethical to portray a physique that is not possible to achieve, the way we can resolve the immoral behavior to post this content on social media is through transparency. And now in the fitness industry we thankfully have creators who make videos showing just how much a physique can change based on having a workout pump and lighting. This transparency is just what we need in this industry because it is up to the consumer to interpret the content they view.

Overall, the images we view on Instagram and Tik Tok can both motivate and distort, inspire and deceive, depending on how they are posted online. It is of utmost importance that users of these apps approach fitness content knowing that it is often the most idealized version of reality they are seeing. We must balance the scales of idealization and realism to ensure that our perception of our lived experience is not being negatively impacted by curated fitness photographs that are posted online.  

When defining cultural heritage, it is critical to account for the differences in meaning on a person-to-person basis. In the academic system, all students are held to the same standard but have endured a variety of distinct cultural experiences due to their family background.

The definition of cultural heritage that is conveyed to the reader through the passage, “What is cultural heritage?” by Elena Franchi, is one’s connection to the timeline of their respective community. A first-generation college student in the United States who is immersed in American culture can often lose sight of where their family has come from and what exactly their respective culture is. This exact point is why there is an increasing importance for recognizing one’s cultural heritage because it functions as a tie to the individuals who have come before them, the same people enabling them to go to college in this new country.

In Franchi’s section about the protection of cultural heritage, she mentions the selection process of what a society chooses what to preserve about their culture and what to let go. This question of “what is worthy of being preserved for future generations and what is not,” is a constant struggle for many first-generation students because these ideals may not have been incorporated into their lives causing a disconnect from cultural heritage. Building on Franchi’s point of protecting cultural heritage, the idea expressed to the reader is that to identify with a certain society/group, you have a responsibility to protect and share that culture so that it does not stop with this generation. Culture can only be tangible and recognized if it is shared with the community, and when individuals fail to acknowledge this responsibility, heritage is lost.

The article aims to bring awareness to the importance of recognizing cultural heritage, and its utmost importance to continue to pass down what was given by the parents of this generation. There is also a respect piece that Franchi mentions when culture is learned and comprehended by all types of individuals in a community. An era of “globalization” that Franchi alludes to, draws the conclusion that due to technological advancements and increased connectedness of individuals around the world, students must continue to not only be proactive and learn their own culture, but also the cultural heritage of their peers.

Ultimately, cultural heritage can be defined as one’s responsibility to preserve the legacy of their forefathers. Furthermore, it is having the ability to step out of their own shoes, and humbly peer into the stories of others to procure a more well-rounded world view.