Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

Having been to the Brooklyn Museum many times, I knew what to expect from this trip. I’ve gone to the museum many times with my parents and have also been several times with friends of mine. Every time I visit the museum, I find something new and I am always captivated by the wide variety of art that is on display. However, like most people who visit museums, sometimes I would find myself spending only a few minutes in a room, just walking past each painting without giving it much thought beyond “I like this” or “I don’t like this.” I wouldn’t stop and really look at a piece of art and think about the details or what it might mean in the context of history.

I really enjoyed the night at the museum and I felt like it actually got me to think a lot more about the art that I see around me. Even though I have loved and looked at art all of my life, I found that pushing myself to really think about the piece as more than just a pretty image has changed my entire mindset while looking at art.

I also really enjoyed the fact that we were having real, thoughtful conversations about the art. This was especially helpful for me because when I discuss ideas with other people, I am inspired by what they have to say. They may have noticed something on the piece that I didn’t notice, thus furthering my understanding of the piece.

One painting that I was particularly excited about was called “End of the Working Day” by Jules Breton. I had seen this painting before at the museum and instantly fell in love with it. I remember the first time I saw it. I was with a good friend of mine, and we stood there staring at the painting silently for about five full minutes. You can spot it from across the room–there is a setting sun slightly off-center that reflects a beautiful, warm light onto the faces of three women who have just finished their day of working in the fields. Not only are the colors in this painting phenomenal and vibrant, but there is so much subtle emotion shown in the body language and face of each woman depicted in the painting. My other group members also found the painting to be really beautiful and subtle, and I had a lot of fun discussing it and even gained some new perspective on the painting, from thinking differently about certain details that my group members pointed out.

Overall, I really enjoyed the night at the museum and found it to be an enriching experience. I’m now pretty excited for all of the other art events we’ll be attending; I think this seminar will expose me to a lot of culture that I would not have had access to before.

I didn’t really know what to expect from the Brooklyn Museum; I had no idea what kind of art it contained. I think having no preconceived notions was a good thing. It prevented bias and promoted open-mindedness. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the Beaux-Arts court. I immediately began circling the room, trying to find my favorite painting, and indeed I did. “In Danger” by Mesdag caught my eye for its intense and captivating portrayal of the harshness of Dutch waters. It depicted a dark, ominous sky, and intimidating, choppy waves. Just barely visible is a sailboat, evidently in great peril, attempting to navigate the treacherous waters. This being one of my first impressions of the Brooklyn Museum, I was contented when I sat down to began the nights proceedings.

The rest of the night was equally as impressive. I forced myself to look at the paintings, see the artists’ emotions, opinions, and biases, rather than succumb to my short attention span. I’m quite thankful I did this. I realized the incredible significance of those paintings; I realized the power a painting can wield. In many cases, they were protests and commentaries, portraying sympathy for the subject. In Eastman Johnson’s “A Ride for Liberty-The Fugitive Slaves,” escaped slaves are depicted on horseback, the horse galloping wildly. It is clear they are riding for their lives and the lives of their children. This piece is powerful. Johnson conveys his sympathy for the slaves and his disapproval of the institution of slavery. Seeing these kinds of pieces made me understand the attraction of art and the profound effect it can have on its audience.

I came away from Night at the Museum feeling confident in my ability to perceive and analyze art. I also felt like I acquired an appreciation for the labor, both physical and mental, that goes into creating a meaningful painting. Night at the Museum allowed me to be impressed with myself and with the institution of art as a whole.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of our night at the Brooklyn Museum. Visiting museums is something that I usually experience on a personal level, not a social one. I go with my grandmother, and as soon as we get there we each go our own separate ways and meet up at the end. Being bound to walking around a museum with three other people was intriguing enough, but the fact that we had to discuss each piece of art we selected for five minutes apiece was entirely a new concept for me.

At first, I found the assignment awkward and uncomfortable. My group had a difficult time choosing two pieces of art, and once we agreed on our selections we realized that we didn’t have much to say. On our first attempt we only used a minute and a half of recording time! However, after a while we all noticed that we were overanalyzing the situation. After all, art is art! It’s supposed to be something that elicits emotion and is interpreted on an intuitive level. We loosened up and just started talking about the art we saw instead of thinking about what we were going to say ahead of time, and I ended up having a blast! Hearing other people’s feedback happened to be extremely interesting. I learned that everyone truly does see things in a different light. Overall, I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience art in a whole new way.

Going into the Brooklyn Museum I wasn’t really too excited because I don’t really like going to museums. I feel like art is something you create and discover on your own, it’s a journey where you find what evokes you, not what someone has put in an area and labels art. As I walked around with my group members I saw the typical pieces of modern art that I was familiar with. As the night drew to an end I encountered a piece that really caught my attention I believe it was on the fourth floor? Anyway, when I first saw it I thought I didn’t have my glasses on because it was very blurry. But when I realized I did have them on, I laughed to myself because it was crazy how this work of art made me question myself. As I looked at it I thought it may have been the artist trying to represent the future. It seemed futuristic with the jet black background and the blurry crystals which may have represented uncertainty. But when I read the information posted along the painting it told me that the artist wanted to portray the effect on AIDS and the ‘crystals’ were actually blurred hands and faces. They represented the people who lost their lives from this disease. I love how he didn’t use the color red at all even though that usually represents AIDS. It was such a great way to express loss that even though it was meant to be sad the painting actually made me smile. I feel like I shouldn’t have been smiling, but now I realize that no matter what works of art will stimulate different responses regardless of what the artist paints. It was the highlight of my night.

Painting: Green Hands and Faces
Artist: Ross Bleckner

Hi, I’m making a post about my view towards art and the Brooklyn museum. To me, art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What I mean by that is that it’s the viewers of art that really make it art. For instance, an abstract work of art can bring about different opinions as to what the artist was trying to portray and it’s these different opinions that make it art. What some people might not see as appealing or worthy of being art might not be the same to someone else.

I guess the reason I feel this way kind of showed during my trip to the Brooklyn Museum. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the Brooklyn Museum especially since I haven’t gone to a museum or years and so I had a dislike of museums for that reason. When I got to the museum I was worried that I would be staring at a work of art with nothing in my mind except “What’s the point of this?”, but I’m glad to say that wasn’t at all what happened. When I got into my group, we started out looking at the Ancient Egyptian Exhibit. There we saw all kinds of art…even stuff I wouldn’t have considered art like a chair. Not only that but I also was able to have a conversation about these different works of art that didn’t just involve saying what I see. I actually thought about the reasons behind the painting and why it looked the way it did. I didn’t even think I could look at art from different perspectives but what a surprise. I’m definitely glad I went that day and despite how I could barely walk towards the end, I would probably go again. I look forward to what’s in store for next week.