The Arts in New York City

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Having gone to the Met and MoMA for modern art, I decided to go to the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim Museum was special, not only because it contained modern art, but also because the building itself is a form of modern art. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it was meant to be organic art, or one with nature. Although the exterior was under renovation, the spiral design is well known throughout the world. On the inside, the spiral-like design is present again with a dome over the top. A striking issue I noticed was that there were no support beams holding the building up. Inside the museum, artworks from famous artists like Van Gogh and Picasso were present. The most interesting would be the “Word Arts” spread around the spiral hallways. It usually contained a short joke phrase such as, “My father was a drunk. The last I heard from him, he went to Canada to drink it dry.” The Guggenheim was definitely worth going because it combined some abstract art with modern art that was understandable.

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The Museum of Natural History does not exhibit history only. From my childhood memory, my impression of the museum was a shady place filled with scary images of animals and statues. However, this time, my biggest surprise came from the Milstein Hall with the sculpture of a giant whale hanging in the center of the room. The whale was undeniable fascinating in design. In addition to the whale, the overhead screen gave me the feeling of being underwater with its use of blue and white colors. The surrounding sounds and cool climate contributed to the impression of what life was like underwater. Even the polar bears on display had such discrete expressions, making me question whether they were artificially made or real life animals. With the help of technology, it was no longer about memorizing facts or names, but to experience them the way they should in their climate, or at least an artificial representation of it. In all, my trip was not only to learn about history, but to experience the artistic portrayal of history, especially with the help of technology.

When the latest games or hottest gadgets are unveiled, one term comes to mind; Japan. Over the past few years, Japan has been the source of eye-popping envy throughout the world. Every time there is a new hype, it is always connected to Japan in one form or shape. I wondered, is everything from Japan that attractive? This leads me to the Japanese section of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had high expectations of Japanese productions; even if it is old, I believe there are bound to be inspiring.
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Anyone that rides New York’s subway has for certain seen the magnificent art forms of the transit system. They are located in subway stations, on platforms, and even inside trains at times. Like most New Yorkers, I simply pass them without giving a second’s thought. However, one afternoon, something struck me. A young musician was playing a cello, at the 51st Lexington Ave. station. What caught my attention was the fact that it was so majestic, yet soothing at the same time. I had to explore why this was so. The musician had an amplifier, but what really made the difference was the location of where he was playing. The arch-like shape of the tunnel reflected sound perfectly right back to me; making the notes sound more lively than ever before. This peace of mind would be short lived because of the oncoming trains, but once they left, harmony was reestablished. This short period brings us, New Yorkers, a moment of tranquility from our speedy life.

On my next adventure to discover art, I chose to learn what kind of art is around me. Unlike Medieval or Renaissance art, which has captions stating its significance, modern art is ungraspable. I asked myself, where could I find modern art? Where else than the Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA). During my trip to the MoMA, I was bewildered. I remember spending most of time looking at the artworks, trying to comprehend what is being displayed. The lack of understanding was simply dreadful to bear. Before stepping into the MoMa, I had the impression that modern art was easy to understand. I am living in a socially advance society, so art should be more coherent than artworks created centuries ago. I was wrong. (more…)

Due to renovations, the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was moved to an underground gallery next to the cafeteria. After finishing the tedious tour, nothing beats sitting down and grabbing a bite right outside the gallery. Only a small portion of the artworks was brought down, according to Carmeta Barone, the tour guide. The tour, lasting an hour long consisted of only several artworks ranging from Early Renaissance to Post-Impressionism. Probably one of the most famous artworks displayed was “A Goldsmith in His Shop” by Petrus Christus. Upon seeing this painting in a concave section of the wall, I was surprised to learn that this painting existed within the Metropolitan. Previously I have had the luxury of seeing this painting in a textbook. Ms. Barone gave a lecture about this painting, which was quite dull to the ears because she was lecturing uninteresting facts. Personally, I was glad to have learned about this painting because it allowed me to look for specific aspects of the painting that Ms. Barone does not mention. The impression that I got from this tour was that Ms. Barone was rushing to get to as many of the paintings as possible within the hour. Currently I would not recommend the tour of the Robert Lehman Collection to anyone whom has no prior knowledge of the artworks. Without any prior knowledge, it would be hard to grasp the true intentions of the painters as well as appreciate the artwork within the four minutes allotted to each.

“The Big Draw”, presented by The Drawing Center as well as being part of the River to River Festival, made its second appearance in New York City. “The Big Draw”, a popular arts program in the United Kingdom comes to New York to share one day of free artistic fun with everyone. Spread over five locations in Lower Manhattan, “The Big Draw” provided unique activities at each of these locations. Such activities included discovering the secret of Asian Calligraphy, knitting and crocheting, ordinary scenery drawing, drawing objects in motion, as well as graffiti laser tag (which was cancelled). Most of these events were held at the same time making it impossible to experience all these events fully if one wanted to visit them all.

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