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The Arts in New York City

Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my!) is only absurd when placed out of context.

December 21st, 2007

Pappa Tarahumara’s “Ship in a View” surpassed the expected circumstances of a dance performance, and in that way it constituted a “crazy experience.” It was composed of unprecedented movements and bizarre themes. And raised questions that were not answered. Why was there a fish on a bicycle?
Repetitive absurd movements which were not related in any way composed the structure of the dance. Each individual created movements of his or her own, which constituted a story, and the stories of each individual were not compatible in anyway. Such elevated the human aspect of the dance to such a climax that it was no longer human. Individual nonsense came together to make a collective nonsense.
The dance troupe also used common, everyday actions and put them in such a context that they did become unusual. Things like eating an apple, riding a bicycle, or playing with a doll aren’t particularly bizarre until they’re enacted on stage, during a performance that is not classically associated with them, with such ferocity that the usual circumstances of these actions are surpassed. When one comes across a child playing with a doll, it typically it evokes a warm reaction, but when a man does it on stage during a dance performance, the reaction is much different. It evokes curiosity, and sometimes, disgust, if not whimsy.
The modernization of the dance had escalated to such a level that a lot of logical meaning was lost, and instead the dance’s effect relied solely on the emotions it evoked. These emotions were enthusiastic and crazed in the passion they contained. All in all, the term “crazy” is an appropriate in all of its meanings; the dance was insane, fervent, senseless at times, bizarre at others. And ultimately reconciled this confusion with a search for meaning.

- Mariola Szenk

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Final Question

December 19th, 2007

Matthew Bourne’s version of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake has obviously caused quite a stir by casting males to play the parts of the swans. This decision and implementation is no doubt a “sign of the times,” times of change and integration and acceptance and tolerance and evolution toward a more accommodating society. It is very intriguing to watch and compare the two versions of Swan Lake, classical and modern, on dvd. The thoughts and epiphanies seem to flow from the viewer’s mind as he/she watches females, then males perform basically the same parts in the ballet. Immediately, the viewer’s concentration turns focus from the qualities of the viewed art to what that art says about life. All great art, in some way (or many ways) forces the audience to step back from the art and think about “life,” life’s policies, life’s decisions, life’s moments, life’s events, life’s emotions. The spectator does this because the familiar emotions and thought processes evoked in art are the same ones that capture the spectator outside the realms of visual art. Audiences take the knowledge they have acquired from art and apply it to life, and vica-versa. In this, we create a “Columbian exchange” of ideas and statements, a river that flows abundantly and teems with life as long as we the viewers want it to. We escape from each to the other and, in art, learn from artists who almost totally escaped life and made art, which, ironically, has taken on a life of itself as critical to us as the pleasures and tribulations that accost us in life. The only difference in art is that we control everything: the pace, the concentration, the thought, the tendencies, the methods. We are at our best then, though we might not realize it. It is a great thing to get lost in any art, be it a presidential debate or Swan Lake or The Marriage of Figgaro or how the sun finds a way to weave through the window and flex its muscle to the watchers within. Granted, we seem to be more easily mesmerized by some forms of art than others. But, the question I have taken from this class is this: What is art? Is this art? What about this? WHAT IS ART? The answer is that anything we make art is art, anything from a starry night to dancing swan characters; it is art as long as it makes the audience asks questions. A question like, “Is this art?”

Tired of hearing the word “art”?

Luke

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The juxtaposition between the classical and the modern versions of Swan Lake

December 19th, 2007

The contrasts between the modern and classical versions of Swan Lake are easy to recognize. Matthew Bourne’s version presents new ideas about gender in ballet. Men fell in love with and danced with men. Men played swans, a generally feminine role. women still held na important role in the ballet, but they were more secondary in relation to the male dancers, like a reversal of roles found in classical ballet. Seeing this comparison helped me realize the importance art has to our culture.

Art is not just a high class form of entertainment, it is an indication of change in society. With the growing acceptance of homosexuality and transsexuals, gender roles have been changing. where there were normally women gliding on stage, interacting with men in “romantic” dances, now there are men dancing with men, and more intimate dances. These are symbols of changing perceptions in society. Gender roles used to be strict, women had their place, and men had theirs. this was translated in to dance as well, where women had their roles and their choreography, and men had theirs.

Art deserves moe credit than it is given. People see art as a waste of time and money, but if you truly want to understand contemporary culture, want to see the canges we are going through, what is accepted and what is not, the best place to go is an art performance. Art has always been
on the leading edge of our ever-changing culture, and it will stay that way.

-Jacob S.

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Music: Another Art Form

December 19th, 2007

Throughout the semester, we have studied different forms of art such as paintings, singing, and dancing. We have seen how music plays a major role in operas, ballet, and any other kinds of dancing; though, we did not have the opportunity to look at music individually as an art form. Music always seemed to be a secondary form of art or a complement to art. As any other art, music has evolved and changed through out time. Music has been different in times of war, prosperity, or rebellion. Music, like paintings, has many times been criticized by society. Music, as any other form of art, is able to reveal tremendous information about a time period, an specific individual or place. My point is that music shares various characteristics with other forms of art. For this project, my group members and I wanted to portray music as an art itself. Music, as any other art we studied this semester, creates different moods according to what you are listening. Different pitches, tones, etc. provoke different emotions and reactions. We decided to show the class how music can influence the way people interpret and feel about a particular painting. Our presentation showed how music can present the different perspectives of a painting. In our first example, the first piece of music portrayed heroic side of the painting in which the soldiers kill the enemy. The second piece, however, took the side of the victim. Personally, the second combination had a more powerful effect on me because it was more emotional, sad and depressing. This is only one example, but all the pictures and respective pieces of music created different emotions and interpretations.

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A man without tattoos is invisible to the Gods - Iban Proverb.

December 19th, 2007

    People strive to be recognized, to be seen, and to be appreciated. Something is in our blood that makes us want to be a part of a greater power or movement.  Through an outer skin marking can one gain access to a place in the world?  To a spot in the next world, the place of an afterlife?  Are permanent tattoos tickets to greater happiness later?  Is the tattoo a “painting” of sorts or are we giving it more significance than it deserves? Perhaps tattoos are no more than tribal patterns and designs; tattoos changing as time goes by.
The permanent distraction that tattoos create is in many ways irreversible.  Facial markings draw the eye away from the expected towards a feeling of insecurity. Perhaps one shouldn’t be staring?  Yet this disfigurement was a conscious decision, one the tattooed could think about, not a result of a genetic malfunction.  In fact tattoos blur the line between deformity and decoration.  Perhaps a large part of the beauty of tattoos is in their wretchedness.  The concept of engraving in skin is not a pleasant idea, let alone an encouragement.  Yet tattoos are and have been consistently created throughout the history of time, making their repulsion perhaps negligible.  Perhaps tattoos are important because they are constantly being made.  Tattooed people span the barriers of sex, race, and age making tattoos a phenomenon ignorant of a specific culture.
After seeing so many different types and styles of tattoos it is easy to find that there is no consistency except ink and skin.  Yet the origins of tattoos helps one to understand the metamorphosis of tattoo art over time.  Perhaps by recognizing the culture spanning power of tattoos, their purposes can also be allowed to be as diverse as the people that get them.  However the idea that a tattoo could be the ticket into a better next life or of just recognition sticks in my mind.  In some countries tattoos are self made skin carvings of names and ID numbers purposefully made so that their body can be later identified, an exhibition of hopelessness that is one of the most subtle.  Tattoos of love and of everlasting relationship are similar in their opposition of optimistic desires.  No matter the shape, form, or even purpose tattoo art’s involvement in diverse cultures and lands has made it a phenomenon that is not going to disappear soon.  Whether because of a desire for pain or an innocent need for decoration, tattoos will be there, ready and waiting.
-H.P.D.

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Art vs. the Flesh-Eating Disease

December 19th, 2007

From my point of view, any tattoo designed by the wearer that holds meaning for them is embellishment as opposed to disfigurement. People who put a great deal of time and thought into designing their tattoos can rightfully be called artists; those who just happen into a tattoo parlor, be they drunk or sober, and choose a piece of “flash” off the wall, however, are more than likely disfiguring themselves. I hold that a tattoo is worthless if not designed by the wearer, tattoo artist, or in conjunction between the two, as flash is drawn up with commercialism in mind. I feel that tattoos, flash and custom, are art, but being art does not make flash look any better. When I see people with pawprints/hearts with names and banners/Chinese/Japanese characters, I see people who’ve wasted a decent amount of money, time, and pain. Oh, your Japanese symbol there means courage? And you couldn’t come up with something else to represent courage? What a shame, paying so much for a bauble. Custom work can say any number of things, and I have greater respect for those who take the time and thought to come up with something truly original.

On disfigurement, however, one point to make. If a tattoo isn’t properly cared for in the weeks following the inking, it can and will get infected, and that’s about the nastiest thing I can thing of. A recent news report linked four unlicensed tattoo artists in Georgia to an outbreak of staph, which led to more than a few cases of necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease). Turns out they weren’t giving very good instructions on upkeep as the work healed.

Mike C.

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December 19th, 2007

Mayan rain god Chac Mul

My German host mother once told me that any type of piercing or tattoo is for the weak—that people use them as masks to cover up any kind of insecurities they might want to hide. As a 16 year old, I couldn’t understand what she was saying; I was still mystified by piercings and tattoos, and while I myself may not have necessarily wanted one, I didn’t think anything negative of them. Now, nearly four years and much life experience later, I understand what Ruth Ukena meant.

Tattooing seems to land on both sides of the “meaningful” spectrum (for lack of a better way to state this); there are people who devote themselves entirely to their tattoo, making it a reflection of all that is inside of themselves, and then there are people who, a year after getting a tattoo done (which is not very much time at all, as a tattoo is one hundred percent permanent) forget it’s meaning completely and try to keep it covered at all times. This kind of tattoo is what one of our interviewees, a tattoo artist of seven years on Saint Mark’s Place, refers to as a “trinket”, a tattoo with no real meaning to the wearer, a fad tattoo, something “cool”.

I think that in order to gain respect from people like myself who tend to doubt the genuineness of tattoos, feeling that the wearer is trying to suffice for a lack, either personally or emotionally, in their lives and just trying to be “cool”, one must devote themselves entirely to their tattoo, interweaving it into their sack that contains the soul. One must hold their tattoo in such reverence that it never ceases to provide a reminder to the outside world and the wearer just how much it signifies. An wonderful example we came across while roaming the East Village and Lower East Side for interviewees was a girl we met in a tattoo parlor on 1st Avenue. Of Belizean and Dominican descent, the girl (whose name we never caught) had her entire left upper arm tattooed in black with an image of the Mayan rain god Chac Mul, who is believed to hold the hearts of believers. Her tattoo not only is not only a representation of who she is ethnically, but who she is spiritually. Its connection to her Belizean roots and Belize’s Mayan forefathers, as well as its religious connection to the Mayan gods and perhaps her personal cosmological or religious beliefs make this tattoo, in my opinion, very worthwhile. It is her oldest tattoo, I think around six years old, and she will still proudly yank up her shirtsleeve to show it off.
To me, a tattoo such as this hold much greater meaning and purpose as a representation on the surface of the soul that lies within the body/underneath the skin than a “trinket” tattoo, which have unfortunately become the majority of what most tattoos are. Tattoo artists have therefore “sold out” to the industry, performing trinket tattoo after trinket tattoo to customers who have no connection to the image they are to wear and identify themselves with for the rest of their lives. However, whether the tattoo carry a great weight or serve as expression or not, every artist interviewed bluntly said “no matter what it is I tattoo, at the end of the day you gotta realize it pays the bills”.

-C Detrow

Trinket Tattoo

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Music is Art…and then some

December 19th, 2007

Many people see music as a form of entertainment, or a sign of the times. This aspect is very true, but music is also a major form of art. Just like how paintings have grown over time, with progressive artists constantly pushing the boundaries, music can be seen the same way. The music that people used to listen to centuries ago is nothing like the music that people listen to now. A difference is even apparent between now and decades ago. Rock-and-roll used to bee seen as rebellious music, and now it is accepted and rap is criticized.

However, as much as music has changed over the years, there are some things about it that have not changed in the way that things are perceived. When you listen to music, there are certain characteristics that change what emotions the music provokes. If you change the key f the music, you change the tone that it gives to the piece. If you make the notes shorter, or staccato, then the music id more dramatic and dynamic. If you make the notes longer, or lagato, then the piece is more emotional. A formada, or holding a note, can be a critical point in the piece, and different harmonies or themes going on at the same time can show different things, like conflict.

What we wanted to show was that music is similar to art in the way that it can be interpreted and has characteristics that affect how it is understood. Art has hues, saturation, styles, themes and other characteristics that determine how it is understood. Since we had learned about art in class, we figured we would try to use it to show the class how music is art as well. Art can never be interpreted in only one way. To show that music can provoke emotions and ideas, we used different music to bring out different ideas that were present in the paintings.

My favorite example was the first picture we had, of the one man being shot by soldiers. With the two different pieces of music, it was like hearing the two sides of the story of the events of that day. One piece of music was more like an arm march, very short notes and a lot of percussion (drums). This showed the side of the army, doing the right thing and killing the enemy. The other piece of music that we had was very emotional, like a funeral song. It had elongated notes, and the music was at a lower octave, more depressing. The key that the music was in was also more depressing than the first piece. It showed the side of the man being shot. It made him seem like he was a victim being shot by the evil army that had no reason to shoot him. I thought that the two pieces of music showing the two sides and how different the story could be really brought out our point that music can bring out different aspects and emotions, and can be interpreted or tell a story just like any of the forms of art that we learned about in class could.

~Dalya A.

war.jpg

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More Than Just Ballet…

December 19th, 2007

-”The art of ballet, like any other form of art, serves as a cultural encyclopedia and timeline; each is a guide to the social likes, woes, and acceptances of its time.”-

Matthew Bourne makes the viewers of his Swan Lake relive a classic play. Though cliché in sound, the experience is far from an ordinary remake. Bourne does not just modernize Swan Lake; through the reassigning of gender roles and integration of a new theme, Bourne transforms the ballet into a new experience that is to be enjoyed by an open, modern audience. Bourne’s work acts as more than just food for the eyes: it is a learning experience.

Bourne emphasizes through his work that all forms of art serve as forms of expression. With that, he also makes it known that it is not only the artist’s opinions, emotions, and thoughts that are being expressed. Those of the general population have a way of always making it into art as well. The art of ballet, like any other form of art, serves as a cultural encyclopedia and timeline; each is a guide to the social likes, woes, and acceptances of its time. Very explictly, Bourne attacks the social issues regarding homosexuality, in both our modern time and the time of the original Swan Lake. While Bourne critiques the treatment of homosexuals in older times through his Swan Lake, he also addresses the social acceptance of it in our time just through the presence of the critique. His art, like all other art, displays what society is willing to accept, or, often times, what society demands acceptance of. This revealing of ourselves through the work of artists speaks volumes to the importance of art in our culture. Its presence not only tracks, but influences, the growth of societies all over the world.

-Curtis

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Origins of Capoeira and Ballet

December 19th, 2007

My most interesting discovery when researching the origins of ballet involved the creators of this art form. I honestly did not expect to discover that its makers were men. I was also surprised to discover that members of royalty were involved in this art form. I thought they would be viewers, not the first performers. It amazed me that even Louis XIV was one of them. Like Amanda, I usually associated ballet with femininity. I now see it differently. I felt more connected to it when I saw it as a beautiful feminine expression of dance. This finding enforced the idea of living in a male-dominated and created world. Although this I am able to connect to it less, I still find it a graceful style of dance.
I enjoyed looking up information on Capoeira even more than looking up information on ballet. Capoeira is such a respectable dance form, in my opinion, due to its history. I find it amazing that slaves actually used it to practice their own defensive and offensive moves. When comparing it to ballet, it still has a graceful form to it even though it was developed in a completely dissimilar manner. When watching Capoeira, I like to pick out which moves are supposed to represent what. Analyzing Capoeira is as enjoyable as watching it. When I danced Capoeira a few years ago, it was as rhythmic as any other fast-paced dance and required even more concentration. Besides focusing on the steps, you needed to concentrate on maneuvering your body away from your opponent’s moves. I connect more to Capoeira due to the respect I have for participators who have acquired the skill necessary to perform it.

- Shaziya

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