Today was AAAAMARRRZING! First day of the tour and I am already totally inspired. Woke up, got ready, had lunch downstairs and went outside to meet Mark and the rest of the group. Our first stop was NYU. We were able to meet and chat with Alex Jovanovich, the coordinator of undergraduate programs. He was definitely a character and very personable. This is what I got from my NYU experience:
· That the artists here are inspired by the city and very aware of its ‘power’, nothing compares to this city for artists.
· We talked about the undergraduate programs and how they are structured. I think a lot of people were surprised by the immense fees that students here pay. Alex said he paid $45,000 a year. Gah! I already knew the fees were exorbitant from movies and my own research into study here.
· The change of Dean in recent months has had an impact of the future vision of the Arts program and many try to make the program in an image of themself. I guess I can understand this, everyone thinks that their vision is right and will be the best. However, so many changes in focus and direction can also be problematic. Learning that NYU was a part of the scandal recently where they had invested money into this person and then lost it must have been devastating for them. I can only imagine what kind of losses they would have incurred, with their reputation and financial standing.
· That there is a shifting discourse at the university with the changing of staff and during these uneasy economic times.
· I found it really interesting that the students teach, right from Semester 1. It is really encouraging in a way and probably terrifying for some of them!
· Alex spoke about the importance of space to be creative and that NYU is able to do this for its students. They don’t push for their students to CREATE. Alex said it’s like “a philosopher playing in the sand”.
· New York is made for and by artists. It really is an artist’s city.
· Alex on the people, suburbs and culture here: “the highest of the high butting up against the lowest of the low”.
· Alex also jokes about anyone wanting to live in New Jersey. This really goes back to what Ash and I discussed in our presentation on people’s perceptions of different areas. I found it amusing that this perception was affirmed by someone who lives in New York (or rather, the Northern Bronx).
· Further to the previous point, he discussed the changing of neighbourhoods. He talked about Chelsea coming from a heroin colony to the new stylish neighbourhood it is today.
· Another interesting point that relates directly to our presentation is the attitudes and behaviours of the people of New York. He says he finds New Yorkers friendlier than people from the Mid-West (where he is from). Aggressive, but friendly.
· A major aspect of what he talked about is risk. That risk is an integral part of art. Any art really.
· Walking around the building after the talk was like being in a maze. It felt like performative art.
Over all, I felt inspired by our NYU visit and it was also really affirming.
Ash, Natalie and I then headed to Times Square to the Hershey’s store and M&M’s factory. It was cool. I don’t know if there is much more to say about it. There was a lot of chocolate. !.
We then made our way to MoMA. Very exciting! I headed straight up to the DeKooning exhibition on the 6th floor. I quite liked the “Breakthrough Years”. The blacks and whites and the simplicity of it was more aesthetically pleasing to me than the colourful works. I found some of it graffiti like. I also really enjoyed “The woman on the Seat”. As a non vis. Art person, I found the progression of his work really interesting. However, overall I don’t feel like it was very cohesive. I put that down to change in art practice and age. Like with any artist, we find things that inspire us that may take us away from what we originally intended. I like that he seemed to work with multiple art forms.
I found the array of people at MoMA interesting to watch. There were the art aficionado’s, art classes and tours, people walking around with the audio tours and the reluctant, being dragged around by more enthused partners.
I also liked DeKooning’s “Black and White Rome M/S/T”. It was simplistic and peaceful. It was an extensive collection that was a little overwhelming. In the end, my favourite image was of Willem DeKooning himself. Taken by someone else. It was a photograph of him in his studio in Springs, NY 1968. He was staring at an artwork with other pieces on the walls and floor around him. There were multiple paint pots and he was deep in thought. I found that this piece was the most representative of him and his work.
Monet’s work was immense and astounding. I was happy to sit and look for some time. Picasso’s work was more about seeing Picasso’s work than actually liking the work itself. I think a better understanding and an explanation would have helped me here. I really enjoyed Joan Miro’s “The Birth of the World”. The Frida Carlo pieces were evocative. I have seen the film by Selma Hayek and was really moved to see the pieces up close. The life she lived and what she did was incredible. Marcel Broodthaers work was really interesting, especially “Literary Painting. English Scenes”. I could see me with this in my house! Actually, as I walked around, I found myself deciding what I would put where in what house. I liked Joseph Kosuth’s “Titled (Art as Idea and as Ideas) The Work “Definition””.
When I saw Jackson Pollock’s “One: Number 31 1950” I read his notes on how he worked. I think, more than the work itself, I was drawn to his process. He described how he would lie the canvas on the ground and paint around it, so that he was in the painting. He was closer to it this way, and it was a part of him. I can relate to this, if not the art piece itself.
In the photography section there was a piece about the Lunar cycle where each section was given a letter value and the artist had written a sentence using the cycle. It looked cool to J
These are my final thoughts on MoMA:
Even if I had come to New York and not gone to any of the art galleries, I still think I would feel the “culture” of the city. You can feel the need to express yourself, and the need for others to do the same. Knowing that you can do anything at any time is a powerful and invigorating feeling.
Sitting on the first floor of MoMA, waiting for the girls to finish their tour, I was surrounded by different languages and accents. It is nice when it comes to art that everyone speaks the same language. We don’t all have to like the same things, art is subjective after all. But, the unity and shortening of space between me and the patrons sitting beside me was comforting.
I left wanting to paint!!!
After MoMA I headed back to Times Square by myself. After the experience I had just had, I wasn’t ready to go home! I went shopping in Forever 21...he he he. I really enjoyed walking around by myself and taking in the city. I grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and went home. A good day J
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