On Wednesday, September 9, we went to the Brooklyn Museum. At first, I wasn’t too psyched to be spending my night staring at pieces of art. I can’t lie – I was more excited to see my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t bummed out or annoyed or anything, I just wasn’t too excited.

After the introductory session at the museum, I got a group together, and we began roaming around the museum. We took a look at a few paintings, and I read the descriptions for all of them. They seemed pretty interesting, but nothing too special.

As the night progressed, however, and I saw more works of art and read more about different paintings, I started to realize that I was actually starting to enjoy myself. I was no art critic, and I’m sure many comments I made sounded flat-out dumb, but I knew that these comments were my comments, and that gave them a genuine, pure feeling.

My favorite work of art in the museum was “Fallen Bierstadt”, by Valerie Hegarty. It shows a Bierstadt imitation, however, the bottom of the painting is burnt and decaying, with burnt pieces of the painting laying like ashes on the floor underneath. This painting stuck out like a sore thumb, yet somehow, it simultaneously blended into the environment, and seemed to be in its natural place. This paradox really fascinated me, and I was hooked on this painting.

Having lived in New York City my whole life, I didn’t even know Brooklyn had its own museum until I found out we had to go there as a class. I wasn’t thrilled to hear we had to record our conversations about art pieces, but I still decided to go. After almost taking the wrong train and finally making it out of the train station, I was surprised to see that the museum had some nice architecture, which made it a work of art itself.  Continue reading

There was this one time in high school when I got really excited, and then not so much. My art teacher had arranged for my class to see the Kehinde Wiley exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, but then the trip turned out be on the same day as my registration advising session for Macaulay. It was a real bummer, but everything worked out in the end. With this trip to the Brooklyn Museum, the college got a chance to make up for wronging me in the past. Although, the Kehinde Wiley exhibition was no longer there. :/

I think part of what really makes a museum experience meaningful is the group of people you experience the museum with. I had a good group so…shout out to my group. You know who you are.

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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*

The reasons I joined Macaulay were affirmed by my experience at the Brooklyn Museum. Even though I lived in New York City all my life, I haven’t fully took advantage of the rich cultural institutions and landmarks that it provides. I want to see them, and even if we go over a fraction, it’s worth it. Macaulay for better, not for worse, makes sure I will visit these amazing places. And that makes me extremely appreciative.

The moment I got out of the train station, I was already amazed. The Brooklyn Museum building itself was something straight out of ancient Rome. The building was beautifully designed and was much larger than I was expecting it to be. As I walked in to the friendly greetings by the staff at the lobby room, I already felt a sense of luxury. It’s hard to explain, and maybe luxury is not the right word, but it felt like walking into a 5 star hotel. Knowing that the museum was reserved to us really gave me a feeling of being spoiled. I was lucky to find my friends right away and when we joined together into a group to discuss the art, I think we really all entered the mojo of what it’s like to absorb and experience famous and exquisite art. When I entered the art exhibits, there were many pieces of art that I just glanced over, but to my surprise, the amount of times that a piece of art caught my attention exceeded my expectation. Sometimes when the art was vague and I really was mesmerized by the atmosphere it made me feel, I quickly pulled out my phone and opened wikipedia. I wanted to know more and that’s I think how you know a piece of art is really something special. It was particularly exciting when I was art that we discussed and saw on the board in class. It really is true that you can’t appreciate it until you see it with your own eyes.

If all our visits are going to be as special as my experience at the museum, then I know this class is going to really be something special and something that I won’t be forgetting. I’m particularly looking forward to the opera.