Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

Before visiting the museum on Wednesday night, I was nervous. I was thinking to myself that nothing could surmount to the amazingly beautiful works of art that I saw this summer in Rome and Florence by artists like Michelangelo and Raphael. I was imagining that I would never be able to feel such emotional connections to works of art again. On top of that, I was nervous that I wouldn’t even have the chance to try and feel some sort of connection to the art around me because I would be too busy conversing with my friends.

Turns out, I was completely wrong. The night at the museum was nothing I was expecting. I found a way to look inside myself and search for my own meanings inside the works of art. No, the painters were not Michelangelo or Raphael, and I was not standing inside the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, or in front of the David statue in Florence, but I was in Brooklyn, in a museum, and I was enjoying every single work of art that I saw. I cannot name any specific work of art that was particularly my favorite, but the entire experience as a whole was very enjoyable. I loved creating my own interpretations to the paintings, as well as hearing what other people took from them.

The museum taught me to be open-minded when it comes to understanding and exploring works of art and that the painter doesn’t have to necessarily be worldly “famous” in order to speak to me and convey a specific message. I learned that every individual grasps different concepts and ideas from different art works and that’s why it is important to converse with people and try and understand their perceptions of art. Even though I’ve never been such a fond lover of museums, Wednesday night inspired me to educate myself more culturally in the world of art.

I remember sitting in my air conditioned office on a hot July day, reading an email about the Macaulay Night at the Museum. What immediately came to my mind was the movie ‘Night at the Museum’, but with artwork coming to life rather than historical figures.

Having been to the Brooklyn Museum before for a school project, I was eager to explore more artwork that I had missed during my first visit. I immediately ran to the third floor, (not realizing that we were required to report to the third floor) to admire the monet paintings I saw last time I was at the museum. I was shocked to find over 500 Macaulay students sitting in the center of the floor, texting answers to questions posted on the bulletin board.

Discussing the artwork was the highlight of my night. At first I was a little bummed that we were walking around in groups to discuss the art; I wanted to appreciate and explore the artwork on my own. But I was wrong. Walking around the museum, meeting new people, and discussing  the artwork was literally the funnest experience I’ve had. I love art! I hate to draw and paint, but I love analyzing other people’s work of art. I literally didn’t give people in my group a chance to speak because I was so engrossed in the painting. I wanted everyone to know that I thought Monet did a fabulous job depicting the building’s reflection on the lake. After realizing that I was literally shouting and standing too close to the painting (the security guard made it her mission to let me know that I was doing this), I took a step back to listen to what my peers had to say. I was suprised that I enjoyed it much better when I actually listened to their opinions on the painting and was excited to share more of my opinions. I look forward to learning more about arts in NYC.

Having been to the Brooklyn Museum before on a few occasions with my family, I wasn’t sure what to expect going there with my friends and the entire freshman Macaulay community. I was surprised to find it an enriching experience, even though it was difficult at time to stay entirely focused on our assignment.

Both of my parents are very worldly and moved to New York to partake in the various cultural experiences it has to offer. They’ve raised me to appreciate my access to this cultural diversity by exposing me to different events, museums, exhibitions, music, and foods. Going to the Brooklyn Museum with my peers and discussing my appreciation of art was a great opportunity as it not only allowed me express my interpretations on art and cultural, but it gave me the chance to hear others’ insight on the artwork in the museum, and how others interpret art and culture in general.

The “Night at the Museum” was a very different experience from the times I had been to the Brooklyn Museum, or any other museum, before with my parents. Discussing, or even simply viewing, artwork with people my own age found me comparing and contrasting my opinions on art with others’. How I interpreted a painting of Cairo painted by an American artist was different from how my group-mates did. I found our speculation about the purpose of the painting to be really interesting. We each had something different to offer to our combined effort to understand the artist’s meaning. It was also interesting, and funny, to hear conversations other groups were having about artwork they were viewing. Sometimes my group would comment amongst ourselves about what they were saying.

It was obvious at times that our group dynamic led us to quirky conversation about the art. However, I felt that this was as important as our more “academically-inclined” discussion because it showed some of our true feelings about the artwork in the museum and our personal definitions of art. Since we were in the museum alone without adult oversight, I think we all felt more comfortable speaking our mind, even if we just didn’t like a work, an artist, or art in general.

As I try to come up with a concise, eye-catching introductory statement, I’m forced to think about what I truly gained from the Night at the Museum in just a few words. But now that I took a copout route, I don’t have to do that anymore. I will, instead, begin by saying that I like art. I like observing things, anything, and thinking about them. Analyzing things has always been a fun mind game for me. The Night at the Museum was different though; I didn’t just have to think, I had to converse.

I was in a group of people I had never met before and I didn’t know how we’d get along, if things would flow easily. Conversation isn’t always easy. But I soon discovered that conversation about art is. One work of art contains so many conversation topics, from the technical details of the brush strokes and line placements to the greater messages those lines and strokes convey. There’s a history conversation latent in the clothes the subject wears and a psychological one in the expression on her face. Conversation flowed naturally, and that was exciting. Containing thoughts to my head isn’t as fun as letting them flow and bounce off of others’ ideas, each one building on top of another, creating stronger concepts and analyses. Maybe in real life I have very little in common with those five people. But in the museum, those differences aren’t noticed. And if they are, it only enhances our collective observation of the work. Each person looks at the same work of art with a different eye, and allows us to see a different aspect that we couldn’t have seen on our own. That’s why art is beautiful.

I’m trying to think of one work that really stood out to me, but I don’t have one specific one that comes to mind. The forced conversations made each work we discussed stand out in my mind when they hadn’t before. Talking about something really made me just like it better. And I think that’s awesome.

Art makes you think. Museums make you discuss the art that makes you think. By physically speaking out loud with others, a completely new world is open to the observer. And it serves as great bonding when small talk just doesn’t cut it.

I’ve never been such an art-museum type of person- I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever been to an art museum, or if there even was a first time. When I first heard about the Macaulay Night at the Museum, I was excited to go to meet new people. The art, I thought, wasn’t going to be the highlight of my night; it’s just an excuse for us to get together in a posh setting. That’s what art museums are for, right?  I didn’t know anything about analyzing art! Were we supposed to guess what the artist intended and pretend that we understand the message he or she was trying to convey? Isn’t the Mona Lisa just a testament to Da Vinci’s skills, nothing more?

Maybe that’s a bit dramatic. I guess I never actually appreciated art, nor did I ever really feel the need to. But discussing the art with my group really changed that. One person’s thought sparked the other’s, and I found myself seeing things in the works of art that I didn’t see before. I loved where my mind was going, almost too quick to voice all at once.

In the beginning, we all just wanted to say what we thought, saying really simplistic and sort of cliche interpretations of the work that was before us. But as we continued to walk through the museum, and as we learned to really listen to each other, the conversations became deeper, more stimulating, and definitely more intriguing. One of the last works that we discussed was called Cops and Headlights V, painted by Jane Dickson. When I first saw it, I didn’t really see much more than a bunch of cops and a bunch of headlights, but my peers started to pose questions and bring forth their ideas and thoughts, and there were so many unknowns! So many uncertainties I am still trying to figure out! What’s so significant about those cops and headlights? Just… WHY?!

Perfectly placed right in the middle of a very overwhelming first week of college, this event really helped me use my mind in a new way and meet new people who enjoy thinking and learning. I really enjoyed that!

So when I first heard about the “Macaulay Night at the Museum” I thought we were having a sleepover. I honestly believed the entire 400+ Macaulay students were going to bring sleeping bags and camp out underneath the paintings of Van Gogh and watch the cinema classic  that is “Night at the Museum.” I was quickly informed that my feetie pajamas would not be  necessary, and the event was redefined to me. Regardless of a sleepover or not I was excited to attend to event,  and once it was over I was more interested in art than I was before.

I liked how we were free to explore the museum and pick our own pieces of art to discuss.I saw certain groups gravitating towards the more obscure interesting works, while others wanted to discuss the more classical and traditional paintings. The Egyptian exhibit was my favorite out of all of them because the art itself was created for some purpose beyond simple aesthetics, and I could see how it was crafted by a human hand hundreds of years prior. The sarcophagi in my opinion were so cool and intricate that I probably could have spent the majority of the night looking at them. I had a fairly large group of six individuals, but we broke up into groups of three to discuss two different art pieces. My threesome observed an African tribal costume of fertility, and the other looked at a painting that symbolized the French Revolution (Vive la France!). At first the tape recorder was awkward to use, and there was a brief moment of panic where I thought I erased the entire six minute conversation, but after we all got into the art I found that the pressure of having something to say into the mic just fell away. I wished I had more time to look around the museum and talk to the other students because personally I didn’t get to meet as many people as I wanted to.  There were a lot of different styles of art that I didn’t know existed and I found myself constantly questioning how someone had the idea to make this? What inspired them, or what were they thinking when they created this work? I will look forward to other events like this, especially if it involves art because I now know how to actually talk about the work without trying to sound like an art critic. I heard a lot of other students saying that they want to tour the museum again on their own time to explore more and I feel the same way.

So in sum, I enjoyed my night at the museum even though it wasn’t a sleepover.

So the common event at the Brooklyn Museum was really fun. At first I wasn’t sure how it was going to work and if  would like it or not. I was probably leaning more towards the not liking it side since I had no idea how I am supposed to comment on a work (not piece) of art. Not only did we have to comment on the work of art but we were given the time limit of 5 minutes. Five minutes?! I thought that I wouldn’t have anything more than one sentence!

Little did I know that it was much easier than I thought it would be. When my group and I started off we were basically yelling on top of each other what we wanted to say. We kind of thought it was somewhat silly as well. That lasted only 1 and a half minutes. The next work of art we wanted to try to discuss the art for longer, making sure that we take turns speaking and listen to each other as we talk. What a great idea that was! Seriously though. Since we spoke one at a time it naturally came out to be longer. That’s good, right? Not only that, but since we listened to each other speak we were able to think of our own idea about the work of art based on what the person before us had just said. That kept us going on and on.

By the end we were really into it. We started just spontaneously commenting on random paintings, only noticing halfway through that we weren’t recording our conversation! It was just for fun and for our own enjoyment. I really liked this event. It helped me acquire a new technique for observing and analyzing art. It allowed me to appreciate each work of art more, even the ones that really don’t look like anything special to me.

[quicktime]http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/ugoretz14/files/2014/09/Movie-on-9-5-14-at-2.33-PM2.mov[/quicktime]

[quicktime]http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/ugoretz14/files/2014/09/Movie-on-9-1-14-at-6.16-PM.mov[/quicktime]