Author: sophb149 (Page 1 of 2)

I went to visit the exhibit titled Emerging Ecologies, located on the third floor Museum of Modern Art. This exhibit focuses on the usage of art, photography, and especially architecture, and how it can be used to help protect the environment and spread awareness for environmental protection and conservation. The exhibit features different photographs and videos showcasing how humans have used architecture over the years to spread important messages on conservation. It also shows different building designs and concepts that use the environment and surroundings to their advantage instead of wasting materials, and are protecting the environment while also looking chic.

The exhibit is a very significant topic and continues to get more important as we step into the future. The more and more humans build up and pollute, the more resources are drained from the earth. This can be seen through global warming and pollution. Especially in cities such as New York City, where smoke is heavily released into the air from buildings and the energy is being used by light, as well as the water and other resources, conservation and smart allocation of natural resources is very important. Because buildings are one of the most draining ways of using resources, architecture can be a very significant way to go about protecting the environment, and I was excited to see an exhibit at such a popular museum showcasing such an important topic, especially in a city where conservation is needed.

One collection of works from the exhibit that really caught my eye were the architectural designs by artist Emilio Ambasz. Ambasz is an Argentinian born architect who prioritizes energy conservation in many of his works. The photographs of his different home concepts were taken from all over the world, including Japan, Spain, and the United States. One of the designs I really liked was this building which looked like it was in the center of a large city. What brought my attention to this building specifically was the its slanted shape and appearance. It was amazing to me to see plants growing almost flat on the side of a building! This is also such a smart way to balance the natural environment with the city lifestyle. Plants help to keep the air clean, something needed all over due to air pollution, but especially in cities. I am happy this piece was included in an exhibit in Manhattan, so that hopefully it inspires someone to create a similar building here. Not only is Ambasz protecting environments all around the world with his architecture, but his work is also unique and eye-catching, which brings attention to his designs and helps to spread the message on the importance of protecting the environment. Ambasz is able to masterfully combine energy conservation with the beauty, creativity, and craftsmanship that goes into art and architecture.

Another part of the exhibit that stood out to me was a large photograph located in the center of the room. As soon as you walked into the exhibit this photograph caught your attention. The black-and-white photo depicts a man taking a picture of a group of protesters who were arguing against deforestation and building on protected land. This was a great way to be introduced to the exhibit because it really highlights the show’s central theme. I liked being able to see actual people fighting for conservation. There is art in the photograph as well, although you might not automatically think of it. The signs the protestors are holding are actually spreading important messages and would be considered art. I think this photograph also bridges the connection between architecture and conservation. Architecture is those artists’ way of protesting against resource wasting and fighting for sustainable energy usage.

The exhibit was curated very nicely. I liked how the introduced the topic, with a small blurb on the wall as well as a timeline with some important dates surrounding architecture, and then the large photograph in the center of the room. You then walkover to a wall which has some short films about the concept, so that when you walk over to see the actual designs you have a better idea of the concept. I appreciated that they had miniature versions of the buildings as well as photographs so you could see the designs from different points of view. Overall, I thought the exhibit did a really nice job of organizing the displays in such a way that a viewer unfamiliar with the topic or with architecture itself could also enjoy and understand the exhibit. The curate definitely enhanced the exhibit and I would love to visit the museum again.

In the play Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, one of the central problems throughout the story is the conflict between Desdemona and her parents. Desdemona feels extremely pressured by her parents to attend Princeton for college, and she feels as if she is unqualified to attend the school, especially after reading the application essay prompt.

            When reading the prompt, Desdemona discovers she will be required to write about a time in her life in which she felt she had to face a struggle or overcome a challenge. Although she believes she is a Chinese American, Desdemona feels that she hasn’t experienced the same struggles others of her ethnicity have faced. The internal conflict to discover who she is to apply for school in combination with the external conflict between her and her parents leads to a very interesting storyline for Desdemona.

            This conflict reflects on the pressure that minority groups feel to conform to “normal” American culture. For example, it is very common for parents to send their kids to college after graduating high school, even if there is a better career/life path for them, because it has become American society’s normalcy for graduates to attend further education and to eventually get what U.S. society recognizes as a standard job. However, other jobs, such as mechanics, that don’t require further education are just as important for our society to function. Because Desdemona’s parents are new to the country, they feel additional pressure to assimilate into the country, and that pressure gets transferred onto their daughter. 

            As for the internal conflict within Desdemona, as a teenager, she is at a time in her life where she is questioning things about herself and her background that she might not have before. Especially for a child who doesn’t have clarity in her background, she is having trouble feeling comfortable in her own skin and she struggles to truly discover herself, something she feels she needs to know to apply for school. This reflects again on the pressure of minority groups to conform to American culture. It’s almost as if the parents don’t want to tell their daughter more about her background, not only because she’s secretly adopted, but because they want her to focus more on her American life rather than on any aspects of life where she was originally from. Our background and ethnicity can be an important part in shaping who we are, and knowing little about her early life, and further on in the play, realizing everything she did know is a lie, only confuses Desdemona more.

            Overall, Desdemona‘s lack of knowledge about her ethnicity impacts her confidence in herself and therefore her confidence when applying to Princeton. This is worsened by the pressure on her parents to get into school, which stems from the pressure they feel to send their daughter to college. Ching Chong Chinaman uses the idea of applying to college and the conflict surrounding it between Desdemona and her parents to highlight the pressure put on minority groups and immigrants to the United States to conform to American society and culture, and to not recognize anything about their own background or ethnicity.

While watching the short film Flee, one important storyline that stuck out to me was the main character, Nawabi’s journey with discovering his sexual orientation and realizing that he was gay. This discovery made his experience during the refugee’s plight unique because he was constantly worried that he would not be accepted by his family, and then he would really have no one he felt safe around.

The short film uses the stylistic choice of flashbacks back to Nawabi’s childhood, in which many he reflects on the first memories of realizing he preferred dating men. He remembers staring at celebrities he found handsome, confused about why he felt this way. At one point he even remembers asking for medication to fix his sexual preferences because he thought there was something wrong with him.

Nawabi was already feeling confused and upset because of how the government in Afghanistan was treating him and his people. Him and members of his family eventually had to flee in order to find a place with more freedom. Nawabi had no real father figure for much of his life, as the government took his father away for suspicion that he was committing treason. With no male figure to talk to, Nawabi was left on his own to try and discover his true self. He had to do this all in the midst of facing discrimination and torture by his government, and eventually while escaping the country on his own.

Although Nawabi did know he had some family still alive, he was forced to life for many years In order to protect himself from getting sent back to Afghanistan. He had to hide his true self from those around him, including his family whom he couldn’t see because they too had escaped to a different country and had to lie to protect themselves. This means that he had no one to open up to about his sexuality.
When Nawabi eventually was able to see his family, he was still concerned about telling them about being gay, because in his culture this was often unacceptable and families were known for banishing their children because of their homosexuality. Luckily, when he did tell his family they explained they knew all along and welcomed him with open arms.

Nawabi’s journey to discovering his sexuality makes his refugee experience unique because he not only had to hide his true identity for years to protect himself, but for most of his life he had to hide a large part of who he was (his sexuality) for fear of being rejected from his country and his family. The flashbacks made throughout the short film helped to highlight this as an older and more confident Nawabi reflects on his experiences growing up as a gay refugee.

Photography and the way things are photographed can have different impacts on the human brain and perception. This is especially true on social media. Where, when, and how images are taken can have an impact on the average social media, especially for social media ads or for companies using social media for marketing. The visual appeal of these photos combined with the trending themes of the pictures help to greatly increase viewership of these posts, leading to increased sales for that company. I have direct experience with this through my beauty blog on Instagram.

In my area of expertise on Instagram, beauty and skincare, companies will post photos of their to their main accounts, as well as send products for influencer such as myself to photograph and promote on their individual accounts. Most of the time these photographs are “staged photographs” as they are called in the Widewalls article. They have images in the background that reflect the product itself, represent the ingredients in the product, or match the product’s packaging. For example, a watermelon scented product may be placed in front of a pink or red background surrounded bye slices of watermelon. The visual appeal of the photographs helps to draw attention the posts and therefore sell more products.

Social media trends also help to sell products. By hopping on a trend that is gaining popularity, brands can ensure that more users will see their product, and these fun trends also add to the visual appeal, which helps to bring attention to these posts encouraging people to go out and buy the product. Having experience with taking these photos myself, I definitely agree with Jeff Wall from the Widewalls article when he says these photos take preparation and thought before they are actually taken. It was interesting to consider how this is a fairly new type of photography that emerged with the birth of technology, but it makes sense since these images are taken in order to attract a younger consumer who is most likely more invested in their social media usage.

Both of the most impactful trends I’ve seen with my blogging experience occur every Wednesday through hashtags. There’s #watershotwednesday and #pinkwednesday. For watershot Wednesday companies and influencers take pictures of the products in front of some sort of fun water scene. For example I’ve stuck products under runnign water for an artistic shot. Pink Wednesday is inspired by the iconic quote from Mean Girls, “on Wednesdays we wear pink.” Whether the background or the product is pink, the eye catching color certainly draws attention to these posts.

I have done posts for both these trends in collaboration with different companies, and checking my insights for these posts you can see that using social media trends helps to bring traffic to these posts.

These social media trends and the fun and vibrant photographs posted to these Instagram accounts impact the consumers’ perception of the products. It makes them excited about the product and encourages them to even hop on the trends themselves after purchasing. The photography therefore helps to also increase companies’ profits.