The Arts in New York City

I remember going to the NY Hall of Science when I was in elementary school. I had so much fun there then that I had always wanted to go back. I can still remember running around the place wildly, fooling around more than learning about science. When Eilene, Aniruddha, and I planned to revisit the Hall of Science, I was a little worried that I would not find it an exhilarating experience like I did ten years ago because I am older and more mature now. I also worried that I would not find art there. After all, it is a Hall of Science, not a Hall of Art. However, I found that the Hall of Science contains a variety of exhibits that not only engage visitors in creating their own art, but also is extremely appealing to people of all ages.

I remember playing with my friends in a slanted room with a checkered floor ten years ago. I did not imagine I could still be able to fit into that room ten years later, so I was very surprised when I was able to go to the end of the room where the distance between the floor and the ceiling was substantially smaller than that at the entrance to the room. Ten years ago, the slanted room was nothing but juvenile fun to me, but now I discovered the room created illusions. When Eilene stood at the end of the room, she appeared to be huge. When she stood at a corner next to the entrance, she appeared tiny. When I stood outside of the room and watched as she walked from one side of the room to the other, she appeared to be growing. This is because the floor is constructed to converge with the ceiling at a vanishing point, and the checkered tiles on the floor display perspective because they are smaller near the end and larger near the entrance. We all took turns taking deceptive pictures in this room that gave the illusion that we were either gigantic or tiny.

We had all sorts of fun doing things like staring at spinning disks and then seeing colorful patterns on a white wall, and making our own music by turning frequency knobs. The most exciting activity we engaged in during our visit to the Hall of Science was imprinting images of our bodies onto a large screen. The piece called Recollections utilizes a gray wall made of tiny reflective glass beads, a large video screen, a black and white television camera, and a very bright light. The light continually hits the wall until someone steps in front of the wall, blocking the light and causing a shadow. The camera records the shape of the shadow, which is then stored, colored, manipulated, and projected onto the video screen. Eilene, Aniruddha, and I created our own art of Bodies in Motion by moving around between the wall and the screen and taping down the impressions of our bodies on the screen.

I walked out of the Hall of Science that day feeling younger and satisfied that I had captured so many great photos and videos on my camera. To me, the best form of art is that which involves its audience in its making. It is one thing to simply view and appreciate art; it is a totally different, stimulating experience to participate in making the art. I wholeheartedly recommend visiting the NY Hall of Science to people of all ages, whether to learn about science or to create some art, because I enjoyed it at the age of 18 as much as I had at the age of 8.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Wendy Huang, WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.