Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

Jackson Pollock: Autumn Rhythm, 1950

Visiting museums nearly always yields a contemplative and fascinating experience, and it is all the more fantastic that we are able to witness with our own eyes the great works comprising intellectual thought and cultural expression for our higher education. My group chose to spend the duration of the trip on the fifth floor exploring the Shattered Identities exhibit. It was a blast seeing the composition of competing artistic styles and their inherent juxtaposition with one another in certain cases. Take, for example, the landscape painting of the famous artist in the 19th century who is known for capturing incredible depictions of nature’s awe-inspiring majesty, placed next to a work which appears to be in the same style of a Romantic depiction of nature, only with the actual painting hidden mostly from view due to the appearance of the artist having set fire to the whole work.

Mention of this reminds me of an observation I made during a previous visit to MoMA: How does the nature and place of the exhibition alter your reception of the artwork? When you see two pieces of art side-by-side, one work is bound to alter your perception and consideration of the other work, which is perhaps an idea that was intended by whoever is responsible for the layout of the exhibition (the same can be said of the building’s internal architecture and even simple design decisions like color of the walls). I also noticed something else–the lack of music in the gallery. This is perhaps due to the very aforementioned effect, of one piece of art fundamentally altering your perception of another piece. Perhaps music would have too transcendental and powerful of an effect, imposing its own creative influences and artistic perspective on your own and on the expression of the respective art pieces. To illustrate, I can imagine that looking at a Jackson Pollock piece while listening to Beethoven in conjunction could instill the idea of a ‘grand design in the beautiful and exquisite chaos of Pollock’s imagination,’ versus looking at the same piece while listening to some derivative of Screamo-death-hardcore-heavy metal could perhaps invoke a sense of ‘chaotic savagery in what ultimately amounts to Pollack’s madness.’

These concepts have led to an even bigger question–how was a particular piece of art intended to be displayed? Do museums conform to the artist’s intentions or do they accomplish something more–a commentary of, or rather service to, society? Do we, or are we even able to, understand the artist’s original intentions? Consider a museum where each artistic instillation, each painting, each work is housed in its own blank room with neutral aesthetics. Could it be said that this is the most “pure” way to experience the art?

Hi everybody! I hope I am writing in the correct section.
I have to say that I can officially call myself an amateur when it comes to jazz- I have never really listened to it- ever. However, I found last nights performance to have been phenomenal. I absolutely loved it.

Besides for it being so soothing and relaxing. One of my favorite pieces was ‘Ah, Rio’ because it was upbeat, fun, and just sounded so different than anything I have heard- in some ways, I was able to paint a scenario and story in my mind.

What amazed me was how these 4 instruments came together and played those songs. For example, I never heard the Bass specifically and never knew what its importance and role it played in music but after last night, jazz wouldn’t be jazz (in my opinion) without it. While Carl Allen had his drum solo, you were able to faintly hear the Bass in the background, and when it stopped, the whole piece didn’t sound the same. It amazed me how much of a role each one of these instruments played in the show.

I also liked how the music was in a way, unpredictable. The songs I listen to have words, therefore making me know what part of the song would be next. I usually know if it is rock, slow, pop, and so on. In many of the pieces last night, I found that there was a mix in each piece- starting off slow and then getting fast and pumping… and I didn’t expect that! Anything went. At some points, when only the drums and piano were being played, I actually thought it was weird how both played a different tune or different melody that brought a different mood, but when they call came together, that was the beauty of it.
(Sorry for all my rambling…)
Lastly, the 4 men really engaged in the music and that also made it more enjoyable. For example, when 2 of the men had a solo, the other two gazed at them smiling and looking like they were enjoying the music and even when playing together, there excitement and happiness was almost tangible.
Overall, a great night with a great experience 🙂

I’ve been to many museums throughout my  18 years of life. This is mostly because of my mom’s enthusiasm with going to museums and my internship that I had going into my senior year of high school. However, as a kid my mom and I always planned on going to the Brooklyn Museum, but it just never happened. I was very excited that the first major event at Macaulay was going to Brooklyn Museum, especially at night because it wouldn’t be overcrowded with other people besides the Macaulay students.

I am part of Monet and my group decided to head to the American culture part. I honestly wasn’t expecting to say much because I am not that into talking about art. I am more of the type to just look and appreciate in my mind. I didn’t know what to say and my comments were just so bland. After we finished with what we had to do, we decided to joke around and look at a sculpture by Malvina Hoffman called “Ivan Mestrovic.” Hoffman decided to dedicate an entire (bigger than life sized) sculpture on her mentor, Mestrovic. Using the tape recorder, we made analysis jokes based upon the work of art. However, as we kept going, it became serious. I had so much more to say and I didn’t know why. I had noticed things that I thought I would’ve kept in my head or wouldn’t have been able to express in words, but I did anyways and it was very exciting.

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”

Hello everyone! I have had previous experiences with art, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Natural History Museum, Madame Tussauds, the New York Hall of Science, and others. However, during my visits to museums, I would usually walk around slowly, examining paintings and displays without commenting aloud. I would tilt my head this way and that, walk around the painting or sculpture to view it at different angles, and make my own assumptions. My experience at the Night at the Museum Macaulay Event was surely different than my usual experiences with museums.

The whole museum was ours, and six hundred Macaulay students piled in. We were instructed to record our interpretations, opinions, and discussions of the works of art within the museum on a recorder. When my group formed, we received our recorders and began walking around the first floor. At first, my group was mostly silent as we looked around and tried to decide which painting we should start off with. One of the paintings on display caught my eye and I tried to understand why it appeared to be so familiar. Then, it clicked, I was looking at the Portrait of a Lady, by Giovanni Boldini. We began discussing the painting and after approximately five or ten minutes, we realized that we were actually doing the assignment and should be recording our thoughts. A member of my group clicked the “record” button on our recorder and we launched off into a very deep and interesting discussion that I had, honestly, not expected.

After the first painting, my group and I began to discuss every piece that caught our eye as we made our way through the exhibits. Occasionally, we recorded ourselves and found that our conversations gradually became more insightful, detailed, and longer. Because of this experience, we began paying attention to the minutest of details and began asking each other questions to gain another viewpoint. We discussed the backgrounds of each painting and how our dialogue may have been different if we didn’t know the story behind each painting.

I learned that communicating between one another is a more efficient method toward understanding the significance of a painting as a whole. Additionally, I met many new people and enjoyed the night’s proceedings very much. I look forward to attending many similar events in the future.

-Elizabeth