I can honestly say enjoyed this event, was completely enthralled in it and was able to relate to it well because I am also Jewish. That said, I felt that a lot of people in the class at the end of the show couldn’t understand most of the things being talked about because they did not grow up with it causing sort of a rift in appeal.

A few things really made me enjoy this show. Firstly, i couldn’t stop laughing when one of the owners of Zabars advertised his company and skewed a question around in order to try to do such. I enjoyed the talk of many european jewish food because as stated above I’m a european jew. Imagining Kasha Varnikie and Matza Ball soup immediately reminded me of my grandmother’s house who i went to every shabbat night for dinner before she passed away so that brought back some strong memories too.

In conclusion, this event went better than expected for me as I was expecting something fairly bland. On a cold wednesday night however it was truly nice to go out and experience this public forum.

Earlier in the year we as a class went to columbia university to look at the history of comic books in America. Although it was slightly bland, i did enjoy quite a few parts of it. First and foremost, the thing i really enjoyed was looking at the comic from the late 1700s when the Columbia students tried to make their teacher’s life miserable. In this comic, we see the teacher having an affair and getting an asian woman pregnant, then offering her a large amount of money to get the baby aborted. I found it mind numbing that truthfully nothing much has changed over the last 300 years as we still have the stories about affairs and offering a lot of money to a woman to abort her child. Another part i liked was the cosplay of the Red Dahlia it was so well made i was shocked that someone wouldve put that much effort. One thing i didnt like is that i was expecting more comic books about superheroes like Xmen but apparently the curator is more of a fan of historical comics as opposed to hero comics. I guess this shows the importance of a curator in the development of an exhibit as it can completely change the atmosphere of the show.

This was one of the most anticipated events when I was told we would be going to many culturally stimulating events and attempting to broaden our artistic horizons. All I can say is that I was in complete awe to see how one person can master her instrument. I felt the emotion within the musician and I saw how much work she has poured into something that has truly shaped her life.

My favorite song and movement was Vivaldi’s four seasons specifically the winter one as I just loved the change in tempo while still illustrating the harsh winds of winter.

This trip to see the “off” off broadway play was arguably one of my favorite cultural experiences that happened within the class. When Professor Ugoretz told us all seats were great seats in this theater I simply wasnt expecting it to hold up true. However, all seats were in fact good seats in this small but certainly nice theater. Although I did not know what to expect prior to the play I was excited to find out what the Taboo subject that was talked about earlier within the play. It turned out that this subject was a sex change and how it effected a whole family and nearly 6 peoples lives. I was completely enthralled into the performance seeing how each actor showed how characters would act in the situation and they did it perfectly. All in all it was a great play and very well written.

The past 2 weeks the Macaulay honors class visited the Lincoln Center to appreciate the art forms of ballet and Opera

BALLET

Although my younger sister is a dancer, going into the ballet I honestly did not know what to truly expect. That said when we first began to walk into the building as a class I was definitely astounded. It is by no means an architectural marvel yet the building gave up a sophisticated vibe. When the Ballet started I certainly wasnt expecting the silence that came right after the band started playing. The three dances were absolutely impressive and I was clearly able to see the amount of talent and practice that needed to go into the performance and make it as great as it was. I preferred the second dance about the temptress because I really enjoyed the orchestras slow songs and felt at ease during the performance as opposed to the first which i simply did not like as much and the third which i was surprised about because it wasnt the classic ballet. The Ballet truly opened up my eyes to a new classical world, as previously stated i did not know if i would have enjoyed the show but overall, I can say that it broadened my horizons. If i was given another opportunity I will most certainly go again.

OPERA

Without a doubt the Opera was a huge surprise for me. Walking in I believed I would hate every second of it. That said I took the advice the Professor and Amanda Hicks said and “let it in”. I was astouunded by the performance of Carmen and really loved the story. Being surrounded by friends helped ease me into the situation but i enjoyed the opera much more than i thought i wouldve. 2 things really stuck out to me; If the show was shorter I wouldve liked it much more and that my favorite part was the interactive stage that moved in a circular motion to fit the scene of the show. As Previously stated, I did not believe I would like the opera yet i think the mix of classical music (something i have an affinity towards) and a beautifully written story truly broke through my personal barrier. I loved seeing how every word had true meaning and how their connotations were expressed through the show. I also loved the foreshadowing and was able to really follow along making me know for a fact that I would go to another opera if given the chance and if it is not 3.5 hours long.

Midterm Questions

1) Should a photo of something be considered the artistic piece; or should the actual thing being photographed be considered the art?

2) Is the emotion brought upon due to art the real epitome of the beauty of the piece? or is the actual artwork the beauty?

3) Can a sociopath truly appreciate the beauty of art if there needs to be an emotional connection?

This is a photo outside my home in the abandoned areas of Staten Island New York

Earlier this weekend on a seemingly warm end of summer day I decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for only the second time in my life. Normally I do not go to art museums but I had to check out the late Garry Winnogrand exhibit there and I was thoroughly impressed and moved.

Personally I absolutely hate when people take staged photos, I feel that they are tacky, bland and way too common. So chances are the reason I absolutely loved the Winnogrand Exhibit is because his art of photos were so real, so lively and so powerful. In art like his when he captures not only true emotion but also the whole surrounding setting is full of life as well. That is what I really love about his pictures, they are full of life even years after Winnogrand is dead, they are lively and full of the very essence of the people captured even after all these years when they are now much older.

This was one of my favorite pictures seen its called “Coney Island” and it perfectly exemplifies what I spoke about above. This photo is full of life and not just the people who are the main fixture of the picture but also everyone around them such as the little boy on the left as well as the water.

Brooklyn Museum of Art Entrance

When choosing Macaulay honors we were promised impressive events to begin to meet new people and to experience new things that many of us have not done before and if we have it is unlikely we did it in our free time. To begin these events the Macaulay Honors class of 2018 kicked off when we visited the Brooklyn museum of Art. Originally i was a bit wary with the idea of going to the museum; not because i dont like museums but because I dont truly think i know how to appreciate certain kinds of art. Prior to this event my criteria for looking at pictures was if it looked cool (Psychedelic like Jimi Hendrix) , or had a nice landscape of nature. However, when being put into a group that essentially required me to interact with people about some art that i have either only talked to a few previous times before or nothing at all it really opened my eyes about the cliche that a picture is really worth a thousand words so i really enjoyed the whole day and event.

**Disclaimer Night at the museum was a good movie i just dont like Ben Stiller except in the first meet the fockers movie and along came Polly**

[quicktime]http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/ugoretz14/files/2014/08/Movie-on-8-31-14-at-12.01-PM.mov[/quicktime]