Category — Introductions

My Intro Video

by Jeanette Eliezer

[quicktime]http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/ugoretz14/files/2014/09/Movie-on-9-9-14-at-12.16-AM.mov[/quicktime]

September 8, 2014 1 Comment

Ana Luiza Video

by Ana Luiza Teodoro

ana luiza introduction

September 8, 2014 1 Comment

Night at the Museum-An Incredible Experience in Disguise

by Marielle Salem

To be completely honest, my reaction upon hearing about the “Night at the Museum” was not exactly a positive one. I thought of it as a drag, a hassle, and just another night to spend without my friends who chose other colleges. However, once I actually arrived at the museum, my perspective completely changed. I must admit that the enthusiasm of the Macaulay staff was quite contagious. I could sense the inviting energy from each professor and suddenly I realized that I was actually happy to be here. While having little experience with analyzing art, I didn’t have any personal assurance that I would be able to participate in a 6-sided conversation. I’m pretty sure all the times that I have visited museums were not by choice and were simply school trips. On these school outings, I didn’t really have an incentive to appreciate the art. The only art I knew was “arts and crafts,” and to 10 year old me, the artists in these museums didn’t really understand that concept. So, yeah, you could pretty much call me a “museum virgin.” Being one, I couldn’t help but worry that I would have nothing to say and wouldn’t be able to contribute any interesting input. Putting this fright behind me, I sat in my seat and faced 500 other brains who have probably had way more art experiences than I have.

As we lined up to collect our tape recorders, I joined a group of 6 students who pretty much shared the same enthusiasm as me. We were nervous how our recordings would come out and if we would even be able to say anything at all. When we first started recording our conversations, we found that:

1) we were clearly talking over and interrupting one another

2) and we were trying so hard to interpret the art that it came off forced and unoriginal

However, as we continued through the maze of this museum, we found that our patterns drastically changed. We waited patiently for our group members to finish speaking before jumping in with our own input. We also started asking more intriguing questions; these questions weren’t just directed towards each other, but also toward the artist. We constantly asked: “Why would he do that?!” and “What do you think he was feeling when painting/sculpting this?” We carried conversations of both agreement and disagreement and found beauty in art’s debatable factors. As a group, we shared a variety of emotions throughout this experience, such as anger, happiness, sadness, and confusion. In a way, this experience helped us bond and get to know each other a lot more than we would in class. It also helped me to slowly come out of my shell and be able to speak freely without any doubts in my opinions. I realized that it was alright having little experience with something like this because there’s a first for everything.

Analyzing art started to feel natural to me. It’s about speaking what’s simply on your mind and, at the same time, accessing a part of your brain that you don’t do on a daily basis. I have definitely come to appreciate this activity and am most definitely no longer a “museum virgin.” I sincerely look forward to the upcoming events at museums!

September 8, 2014 No Comments