Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

Macaulay’s Night at the Museum was an experience unlike any other. This was my second visit to the Brooklyn Museum, the first being with my high school senior class. The latter trip was much more knowledgeable or more enriching than the former.

Visiting a museum is supposed to enlighten oneself. This is never the case for high school students, or students overall in that matter. A visit to the museum is just a time to get out of the classroom, hang out with friends, without many of the constraints placed upon them by their instructors. A school trip to the museum entails a more cursory glance at the art pieces, stopping at one for a couple of minutes, and simply “oooing” and “ahhing” at the pieces, without understanding, or trying to understand the piece.  Simply put, no one really cares about the pieces in front them.

This was not so at Night at the Museum. The over 500 Macaulay students that gathered at the Museum were there with a purpose: to thoroughly examine any piece of art they liked and discuss it. With  specific goal, I along with my group went on a hunt for pieces of art that peaked our interest. In this way, our eyes opened to the art in front of us, making us really look at what was in front of us. After thorough examination of three pieces of art we liked, we got into an intense analyses of the art, sometimes even digging into the artist’s intent in painting the work. Looking around, I could see everyone else doing the same. This was something that I had never experienced before.

Hi everyone! As you might have noticed, I was absent from class on Thursday. I did, however, find a piece of music that I believe is among the most beautiful I have ever heard. It may come as no surprise that my choice is a classical song written by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and commissioned by Great Britain’s King George II for a royal celebration in recognizing the official end of the War of Austrian Succession. It was written as part of a large work titled “Music for the Royal Fireworks” and is played during the third movement titled “La Paix: Largo alla siciliana”.

The piece itself (as performed by the St. Petersburg Radio Symphony Orchestra) lasts a mere two minutes and ten seconds, but within this time, it is clear why this composition is undoubtably one of the greatest displays of beauty. However, “beauty” as a core aspect of what it means to see life in the most appealing light surely needs defining. My current definition of beauty is as follows:

Beauty is that essence in things seen, heard, and felt that makes one feel younger and more lively that their age or impediments demand of them. Something that is beautiful is not the sole form of beauty, but instead beauty morphs in as many ways as the mind will allow and has the power to attract someone, who in turn find its way to that beautiful thing with no hesitation or concern for their surroundings. (Circumstances, however, can dictate the manner in which beauty is attended to).

This composition may be seen in many lights, but in each one there lies something remarkably beautiful and deeply moving; an upheaval of sorts of the mundane buzz of the average day’s doings. Categorically, late night studying at the library is a far cry from a royal party, but listening to Handel’s “La Paix” has showed me that music that is beautiful does not have to be questioned (infatuation aside). To make a corny comparison, this composition is somewhat like ice cream in that the reasons for its wonder do not have to be questioned; one must only sit and experience the pure joy that comes with taking in its perfection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE6Hdw2Lp50

My experience at the Brooklyn Museum was one I won’t soon forget. The amazing thing about Macaulay is that the events it plans for its students are ones that allow for amazing social and intellectual growth, and this was no exception. In the time leading up to our adventure touring the museum, I got to meet a number of students from different campuses and discuss with them, among other things, some of the highlights of the museum and what we hope to gain from the experience. When we split into groups, I had little difficulty finding students who were as eager as I was to begin observing the exhibits and sharing and discussing our on-the-spot perspectives.

Almost immediately, my group had a difficult time choosing a specific artwork to focus on for our recording, and only after our discussion came to a close on observing a peculiarly exquisite piece did we realize that its fluidity and natural delivery meant that we should have pressed the “record” button. We did, however, find a number of artworks to discuss with the recorder on. Yet again, we ran into another problem: we noticed that once our discussion got underway, someone always had an additional comment or observation to make, which usually sparked another wave of stimulating and exciting new ideas. (Curiosity is a sneaky and amazing tool, isn’t it).

Avarice, as was explained to me by my group members, means greed beyond measure for wealth and material possessions.

One piece in particular is a massive replica of the well known and widely studied Mayan calendar, titled Avarice. (An image of the piece accompanies this post). Of course this was not the original stone artifact, but instead it was one fashioned almost entirely out of corn kernels and other organic materials. Upon closer examination, we noticed that many of the details – some large and some nearly as small as a thimble! – were objects or symbols that only came into existence in the last hundred years (give or take a decade). The artist  featured many of the luxuries we take for granted, but also highlighted many of the social, political, and economic issues that our generation is now tasked with addressing head on. From this initial observation came one of the most exhilarating conversations of my recent academic career, and one that I am glad we recorded.

All in all, I am very happy that I had this experience and look forward to many like this one. If I ever come across incoming freshman students (including those enrolling in Macaulay) who have questions concerning how they should spend their free time or take advantage of what the city has to offer, I will be sure to mention that a few hours in the Brooklyn Museum is one of the greatest uses of one’s time.

When I first heard that this was to be our first event for Macaulay, I was actually quite excited. Although I don’t have much experience with art, I was looking forward to being able to have an open and intelligent conversation with my peers. I knew that this “museum going” experience would be different than the others I’ve had because I never really talked about the art in depth when I went to a museum. This lack of conversation made my museum experiences rather boring. Despite my initial excitement for this event, however, I also had my doubts. When talking to my other friends who would be attending Macaulay in the fall, I discovered that not everyone was as excited as I was. They were not looking forward to the event and thought it would be boring and awkward. Although this view did affect my attitude toward the event, I was still looking forward to it.

Upon arriving at the museum, I was amazed before even entering. The building itself is simply magnificent. It follows a Grecian model of architecture with columns at the center of the building. However it also has a modern feel with the glass ceiling over the entrance. The building was a very accurate representation of what awaited inside. Every section of the museum was absolutely amazing. The exhibits were very interesting and varied in what they contained. My group went from the Divine Feline exhibit to the Egyptians to the European paintings to the A World in Brooklyn exhibit. We had wonderful conversations about various pieces of art. One particular piece that is very popular at the museum and that amazed me was the piece entitled “Blossom.” It depicted a tree growing out of a piano and even played “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday. My group also had a very in-depth discussion about “Avarice” by Fernando Mastrangelo. This piece was an Aztec-type calendar made entirely of corn. Many of the things carved into the “calendar” represented the greed that takes over our world and the eventual destruction we will suffer because of this greed.

Overall, I have to say I was very satisfied with my experience. Despite the initial awkwardness, my group had great conversations, and the event lived up to a lot of my expectations.
~Nicole 🙂

Hi guys. To be completely honest, I have had no previous experience with art and had no idea of what to expect at the museum. I wasn’t too thrilled to go because I thought it would be boring. However, I was blown away just by the structure of the museum. It was beautiful and looked so majestic. my favorite piece of art was the River Seine at Mantes.  This painting, created in 1856, predicted the future of the world.  One side of the painting was luscious and green and full of life.  The forest was deep green and thick and there were no people on that side of the river either.  On the other side of the river, there was a factory in the background with smoke coming out of it.  The land was green, but with no trees and looked empty.  There were also 2 people on that side of the river as well.  The fact that there were people on the side where the factory and emptiness was, showed that we are the cause of such a life like that. Also, by depicting the two sides, the painter is showing that we have a choice to make about which world we want and if are smart we can have both.  As i continued to  explore the museum, I began to look at the paintings to find a deeper meaning behind them all. I had a pleasant time at the museum and look forward to going to many more.