I have quite mixed feelings about the visit. I actually love photography, but I feel that some of the photos didn’t deserve to be there. Particularly with the first floor and how although I get how they are sending messages on drugs and poverty and such, the actual quality of the photos weren’t that good. Funny enough, the older photos downstairs had much better quality and I enjoyed them so much more.

The photo I loved the most showed a girl in distress, surrounded by a background that you shouldn’t see a little girl in (first photo seen when you walk in). The emotion was really captured and the vastness was beautiful, yet heartbreaking.

I’m unsure about how I feel about jazz as of right now. I think it would have to take some adjustment because I’m so used to listening to music with singers and for me I noticed that without a singer it just starts to seem like background music to me. Jazz singers are my favorite, next to soul and R&B singers. I got so excited when the drummer picked up the mic because I thought he was going to sing and from hearing his voice, it seemed like he could actually be able to sing well. I start zoning out for some reason which is something I’m hoping will change. I know that if I throw that habit out the window, I would have enjoyed my experience so much more. But my favorite piece of all was the last one called Little Jordan written by Karl Allen. The backstory was so sweet and listening to the piece, I felt like I can assume that it was about a child even without the backstory because of the change in dynamic. There were parts that seemed almost menacing and as if you were up to no good and then it goes to a softer tone that shows the love he has for his son even despite all of the trouble and destruction a little kid can bring. Even if they flush your most prized possession down the toilet, you can’t help but stop yourself from having a nervous breakdown when you seeing the loving smiles on their faces.

And on that note, love is exactly what you felt throughout the room. Not mushy gushy love, but the welcoming kind of feeling. The dynamic between the quartet and how Karl Allen was telling us how grateful they were for us and our support. It had this warming informal-ness that I loved. It was really that audience-performer relationship. At times my eyes would wander and I would look around at the other people in the audience. My eyes landed more often on two particular people in the front. One was an older woman, who had quite a unique hat on and she was basically dancing in her seat as was the other person I saw in the front. Their reactions to the quartet showed that this was definitely the music that they grew up with. That got me thinking about the differences between the music then and now. I bet some of the elders in that woman’s time probably were covering their ears in disgust just as my dad covers his ears whenever he hears music of today.

But anyways, I guess one other thing that had my confused about jazz initially was not knowing that some parts were improvised. Liz was sitting next to me and we were wondering why people were clapping in the middle of the piece, especially before the saxophonist began playing. That really amazes me. Some parts of the pieces,  I felt like I was at some fancy gala that required a glasses of champagne, black ties, passed hors d’oeuvres, and long sequined gowns – I though it was funny because Professor kept saying that he felt the need to be in a club, filled with smoke and what not. But, I guess that shows how much jazz has leaked through everything. I never really was associated with jazz except through the cocktail hours at weddings or the jazz some of my friends sang.

All-in-all, I’m extremely grateful for this experience. It has opened my eyes to the face that music can be beautiful even without a voice, and most of all I was able to get closer to the people in our class with the help of Snapchat and the amazing combination that smoked salmon and cream cheese make on a bagel.

*notice the red hat in the front – that was the woman I was talking about.

To be completely honest, this wasn’t an event that I was head-over-heels, crazy excited for. I was actually dreading it. Mostly because during the Tech Day workshop, analyzing the artwork proved to not exactly be my forte in a sense and listening to the videos were (no offense) pretty boring. I never really was into art anyways and until Night at the Museum, I’ve never actually been to an art museum. When the day finally came around, I just put on a good face and tried to have an open mind.

Pulling up to the museum, I was amazed at how beautiful it was from the outside. After going inside, we were lead into the main meeting room on the 3rd floor which was an jaw-dropping illuminating space and once again I was speechless. Then we had our share of fun with the whole “text the answer” thing, with me thinking on the inside that this would probably be the best part of the night. But in several minutes I was proved wrong. When we formed our groups, we began to explore and at first we tried to find pieces that would be easy to analyze. But soon enough we weren’t just trying to get the project done but we were each stopping at different artworks and didn’t have to think as much before we started recording our thoughts on a certain piece. We ended up analyzing four and a half pieces of art (half because we got kicked out in the middle of recording one), which was a lot more than we expected.

So first, we wandered around the Egyptian exhibit.

Then we wandered up to the (forbidden) 4th floor where we found our first piece of artwork.

This part of the floor was filled with quilts, but this one stood out to us in particular. It was made solely of neutral colors and tones of reds and blues. This was the epitome of disarray, but all of the features of the quilt had nature included in it.

Crazy Quilt, circa 1875-1900. Made of silk, brocade and velvet. Gift of Jean Mac Kay Herron.

Then we were able to very briefly see The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago. I didn’t know that each of the place settings represented feminine parts until Professor Ugoretz told us about it in class. But either way, our group found it beautiful and very unique (well, at least in the very short time we got to look at it before we were kicked out).

Afterwards, we went to the 5th floor. As we walked through to find our next target, I took a few pictures of the pieces of art that I personally found intriguing.

Here are the next three that we looked at:

Vivian St. George and Her Dog, 1924 by Paul Howard Manship.

This particular piece was something that we found most of the groups were drifting towards which I guess makes it especially captivating – probably from the expression of the girl’s face.

Tête-à-Tête Tea Set, circa 1876. Manufactured by Karl L. H. Muller.

At first, it seems like your ordinary cute tea set until you look very closely and see how messed up and racist it is…

Next was the Spacelander Bicycle. Designed by Benjamin G. Bowden in 1946. It is rumored that only about 500 were ever sold. I am not surprised. Garish and quite inconvenient. But it’s not like I can ride a bike anyways…

Afterwards, we finally called it quits. It was the end of a successful and eye-opening type of night for me.

But it was not complete without seeing Brooklyn Museum’s infamous “piano tree.”

*pictures taken with a fish-eye lens which is why they’re slightly “morphed”

Movie on 9-10-13 at 9.20 AM