Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

When we attended the play, I hadn’t realized that staged reading meant the actors would not be dressed in costume and they would not really be acting, rather they would be sitting. I thought that this would end up hurting the play and that I wouldn’t really like it, but it did not detract from the play in the least.

The actors were very good in reading their lines and thoroughly portrayed the emotion behind what they were saying. Many of the questions that came up during our class discussion were answered during the play or afterwards by Stephen Garcia, the writer. The actors were very good at becoming the character they were intending to portray even in the case of little Joe, who was supposed to be 8 yrs old but was played by someone much older. I think this was a result of how well they immersed themselves in the role and acted and spoke in a way that hid their true personality.

Not only did they draw the audience into the play, the actors elicited many responses of awes and laughter. In addition, the monologues helped clarify the scene and shed light onto the following scenes. However, I thought the ending was very sad and I had wished it turned out differently.

The play was different than I had expected, but it was a staged reading. I wonder if my feelings toward the play will change when the actors are in their costumes and the play is actually acted out rather than only written.

For my outside arts event, I decided on the MET. I had never been to the MET and I had tried to go once, but unfortunately when I finally arrived they were closed and I never tried again. They have a wide array of different art pieces and so I thought this would be a great chance to look at any art piece that I liked. My favorite art pieces are those that have to do with nature so those are the ones that I focused on.

The first art piece that I liked was View Of Toledo by El Greco. The Gallery Label stated “In this, his greatest surviving landscape, El Greco portrays the city he lived and worked in for most of his life.” The reason this painting really stood out to me is the way El Greco painted the sky over the city. The sky seemed to act as a veil of darkness covering the whole city. In addition, the city seemed to get darker as you go more in depth. The grass began to die, becoming duller, and the whole painting became almost black as you go further into the painting. The road was winding into the painting. This gave me a sense of difficulty and hardship and a negative feeling of the whole city. It seemed as if the further you went into the city(painting), the more difficult it was to leave and the worse it seemed.

The next painting was a View Of La Crescenza by Claude Lorrain. The gallery label stated “In its immediacy and breadth of handling, this small picture recalls drawings that Claude made from nature in the environs of Rome.” I really liked this painting. It was of trees, hills, grass and other vegetation with a fortress in the background. Even though it was in the background, the main focus of the painting seemed to be the fortress. It was almost as if the fortress was welcoming but at the same time depicted safety from enemies. In the front, there were four trees however, they seemed to bend exposing a passageway to the fortress. This contrasted with the previous painting because it used mostly light vs. dark contrast.

Last but not least, I saw The Titan’s Goblet. This painting really stood out to me since the subject seemed so unusual. In the painting, there was a huge Goblet to the right, with a small sea in front of it and mountains in the background. The nature around the Goblet seemed much smaller compared to the Goblet. The goblet was filled to the top with water and it seemed very old since it was covered in vegetation and water was leaking from cracks in the goblet. Below the Goblet was a sea with ships. This “human world” seemed much smaller compared to the Goblet. The Goblet also seemed unusual in that it fit in but also did not fit in with the overall painting. The vegetation made it blend in with the nature in the painting, but since it was a Goblet it really stood out.

Overall, I really liked the MET and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. This seminar really changed my perspective on art since I probably would have looked at each painting for less than a second before moving on to the next one. This seminar was not only educational but also interesting.

Thank You, Mr. Ugoretz.

P.S If you press the tittle of the painting, it will redirect you to a picture as a reference to what I am discussing.

Many of us can agree that cooking is an art. You need talent, passion, and creativity to create masterpiece. Only those who truly know how ingredients work together can create a dish that takes your breath away. But to what extent can we push this notion that cooking is an art? What about in the case of Walter White in the tv show Breaking Bad? He is a highly skilled chemist who creates blue crystal meth, which becomes so popular because of it’s aesthetic appeal along with its high quality. When watching him create this drug, the viewer is pulled in by his attention to detail, his swift and coordinated movements, and whatever good music is playing in the background. Of course, the process is dramatized and perfected for the show, but one cannot help but feel a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. White and his artistic talent, even in making something as awful as crystal meth. Many will argue that this isn’t really art, but what it really comes down to is asking ourselves: what IS art, and how far are we willing to push that definition? We can all agree that art consists of paintings, sculptures, music, etc. But where do those other things fall? The things that won’t end up in a museum?

Perhaps everything created by human hands that requires skill and creativity is art. But that’s just my definition. Art could be just whatever the individual considers to be art. Just like how beauty is in the eye of the beholder; art is whatever you want it to be.

Make sure you have piece of Starburst candy at the ready!