Okay, so that was my failed attempt at making a joke about my night at the museum being like the movie… don’t get it? Alright, moving on.
Upon being asked in class, I was ashamed to say that I never visited the Brooklyn Museum. But, fortunately with Macaulay, I am able to venture out of my comfort zone and explore all these places I have never seen before. After being soaked by the glorious Brooklyn rain, I dried off in the subway to the museum, not knowing what to expect, my imagination running wild with anticipation and excitement. However, as soon as I got out of the underground station, I was graced with a funny sight — a rainbow arching right over the museum. It had to be a sign, right?
But, to be real for a second, it was a very hot day, so stepping foot into the museum provided immediate relief – a rush of cool air. After standing on the crowded line and getting through the beginning procedures, my eyes feasted on so many pieces of art and I was inexplicably curious to know just their name/title, as if that would give me insight to their story. Sure, in class we talk about art almost every session, discussing art on the micro level by observing brush strokes, and even the macro level by talking about possible motivations for specific pieces art, but this experience was completely different. I am not sure that my words will do justice in trying to explain the feeling I had, but the art felt brighter, more alive, and relevant to me. Looking at art through a projector was not even close to coming face to face with someone’s original thought, their expression, their hand-made creation. Even so, simply looking at the art a few feet away didn’t feel as if it was enough. I wanted to touch the art, almost hoping to experience the same emotion perhaps the artist did when creating their masterpiece.
Walking through the museum with my friends, of course like typical teenagers, we goofed around and didn’t pay attention to every single piece of art, but when we did, it was a surprise to all of us. What I found most funny was walking through the museum and seeing something we learned or discussed in class and exclaiming to everyone else, “OMG, DO YOU REMEMBER THIS?” or “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE”, and even, “Guys, I got this. Let me tell you a thing or two about [insert art masterpiece here]”. In all seriousness though, it didn’t make sense because recognizing a piece of art should not make you so excited, but it was as if I was meeting an old friend – I knew things about that perhaps others didn’t, and that made it really special. But, I think my favorite part of the night was spending it with my friends. Instead of just talking to each other and having empty, virtually fruitless conversations as usually do, we were able to have real, authentic, intellectual discussions about art, which ended up opening us in an almost vulnerable manner, and bringing us closer — which was really nice, to put it simply.
But, wait, the coolest part was definitely the sneaker exhibit, which had every single sneaker you could think of, and the second coolest (or maybe a tie) was probably the special “light-up-neon-really-cool-fake-rave” exhibit (yeah, unfortunately I didn’t get the name of it by the end of the night), which showed New York, or so I thought, in the most ravishing colors and interesting images.
Overall, my experience at the Brooklyn Museum was one to remember, and you’ll definitely catch me there in the near future showing off this masterpiece in my new home, Brooklyn.
Here are some mediocre-iPhone quality images from the museum… enjoy!
As you can see from the gracious Snapchat tag, I was able to see the beautiful park slope not too far away from the subway.
Sneaker exhibition!
What I thought to be a really powerful piece of art, where the green glowing “dots” represented souls and spirits of loved ones lost due to HIV/AIDs.
“They’re definitely taking a selfie!”
I tried to be artsy with my angles…
“Angles” part 2.
P.S. There was some really awesome party being thrown for the director of the museum right near the Egyptian exhibit, so, uh, hey Macaulay, if you ever want to have a party for your awesome Class of 2019… *cough, cough*
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