First-Year Seminar 2017 – DMB

Rubin Museum of Art visit

Few days ago, I went to the Rubin Museum of Art. I’ve visited many NYC museums, but not this one. Honestly, I doubt I would ever go if it weren’t for the assignment. Especially since this month was so stressful in college. Not only that is hard to adjust to the new environment, new people, professors, but also, we have a lot of homework, readings and tests.

I decided to visit this museum after school, and since it’s not so far away I walked. So, this visit also gave me the opportunity to look around the city, explore and get to know this city little bit better. I didn’t even know what the exhibition was about so I didn’t really have any expectations. I entered the museum and started walking around. First thing I noticed is that it was very quiet and that is kind of most important for me when I go to the museum. Because when there is a lot of people you can’t really focus on the art and think about it. The exhibition was about Hindu religion and I’ve never been to this kind of exhibition. I’ve spent more than an hour circling around the museum. I didn’t expect to like it this much. At the end of my visit I was really amazed and felt good for coming here. On my way to home I decided to walk different way and see the city little bit more.

I think this was great experience and very surprising. I thought this was going to be just another task I had to do, but it was relaxing. Also, after that visit I felt like I want to visit more museums like this and to explore what NYC has to offer.

Visiting the Ruben Museum of Art Tyler Magrone

So far my experience at Baruch has been well, stressful. Ive had a difficult time commuting, juggling my schedule, work, just the usual freshman year struggle. With that I haven’t found the time to try and give myself a chance to explore clubs or the various dimensions Baruch and NYC has to offer. But I did get a chance to visit the Rubin museum of Art along with a few friends. In all honesty I was reluctant to go, it had been a long school day and I was trying to do as much studying as i could for and upcoming FDNY exam, but I knew I had to go and I sure am glad that I did.

After leaving school and having to tussle with a transit app, NYC crowds, and the glorious MTA system, we finally made it to the Rubin. I was tired and mentally fatigued, but as soon as walked through those doors, my senses where suddenly stimulated, the smell was faint and old yet refreshing, the atmosphere was quite yet I could hear the sounds of music and some array of vibrations radiating from one of the exhibits. As I walked up the stairs the sounds grew louder and I entered into the India and South Asia exhibits of the museum. The dark color scheme combined with the large prints and glass enclosures of many statues made for a comforting ambiance. After walking through the exhibit and taking pictures with some of the large prints, we took the elevator to the next floor. I noticed each floor was getting more intense than the next, this floor exhibit entitled “The World is Sound”was an interactive experience that allowed you to touch the art and feel the vibrations. It can only be described as a full body experience that pushed you to explore the art of sound. I truly enjoyed this the most, being able to feel the sounds and vibrations of unique artists was relaxing and definitely lifted my my mood. At the end of the day, although I was reluctant and stressed, the music, the art, and the people, created a much needed therapeutic experience. I would recommend this museum 10/10 times, it was different from other museums, it encouraged interaction and exploration and I greatly benefited from it.

Corey Chiu – FRO Blog Post (Social)

Recently this Thursday, I attended a DSP (Delta Sigma Pi) general interest meeting. DSP is a fraternity that’s all about business and other fields related in that category. With my major being business management, I was interested in this fraternity because it can offer me more connections in the field I want to pursue. I walked into the event room on the 9th floor and everything was really welcoming. I really didn’t know what to expect about this fraternity.

Once I walked into the room, I was welcoming with a big smile of a person and a nice firm handshake. Next the people of the fraternity had a table with a whole bunch of food and they were all offering us free food. Free food was such a bonus because who doesn’t love free food? Especially if it’s good food. The atmosphere was kind of awkward at first because I didn’t really know anybody and I am usually not the person to make conversation. However, the fraternity people were very good at making sure everybody was talking to each other and asking us about what we thought about college and stuff. They were talking to me as if I knew them all throughout high school or something and I didn’t really mind that.

The event on 9/14/17 was Community Service Day. All of us made peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the homeless. The experience was one to remember. I felt really comfortable in talking to people and meeting new people. Additionally, I knew that we were making sandwiches for a good cause. It felt good meeting new people and stepping out of my bubble for once.

The World is Sound- Elyza Craft

At the Rubin Museum of Art, I was able to experience the exhibition The World Is Sound. This exhibition combines sound art and Tibetan Buddhist ritual music, and explores different dimensions of sound and listening and its many functions in Tibetan Buddhism. This exhibit was set up over a couple different floors of the Rubin. Some of the experiences include listening to chants, instruments, and mantras of Buddhism. One of the rooms was called Collective Om, an immersive sound installation in which the voices of thousands of visitors were recorded chanting the sound of “om” and put all together to form a collective chant. I found this to be extremely meditative, comforting, and so powerful considering how many voices and tones I was hearing. After spending a few minutes in this room, I found my way into Deep Listening. I learned that “Deep Listening” is said to improve your sonic awareness and inspire creativity, connect you to your environment, enhance openness and compassion, and expand your overall consciousness to bring about new perspectives, perceptions, and ways of living. To try this myself, I found a seat in the Deep Listening room, equipped with foam walls to enhance all the sounds in the room, and completed the first guided meditation. This experience was truly relaxing and revitalizing for me. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting to feel any different after this, but I was completely wrong. I am so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to be exposed to deep listening. I will be able to use this technique in my everyday life as a stress reliever and a way relax after a busy day. I feel that it is extremely important to take time out of every day and just become aware; aware of your feelings, thoughts, physical body, and surroundings. School and homework has the tendency to cause me a lot of unnecessary stress sometimes, and I really think I have found the perfect way to relieve myself of this.

Aman Pawar’s experience at the Baruch Accounting Society GIM

Amaninder Pawar- FRO Blog Post on Student Life(Social)

A couple of days ago, I went to the Baruch Accounting Society’s very first general interest meeting. It was different from what I had expected. Coming straight out of high school, I had expected it to be a somewhat formal meeting, with stern faces all around. Though the exact opposite came to be true, everyone was extremely polite, and it was a very relaxing sort of event. They had an icebreaker, which made it easy to communicate with the other people near me. It was a sort of guessing game which made it all the more fun. They had even brought food! Pizza and cookies to be exact, along with water bottles. They had various toppings on what seemed to be around twenty boxes of pizza, and they also had chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, and double chocolate cookies. The event turnout was a lot larger than I had expected as well, upwards of fifty people had came, not that I was anxious or anything about it, but was just curious at the fact that there is such a disparity between attendance at different clubs. One of the clubs I went to beforehand, a certain organization within USG, only had four people show up!

Nevertheless, all of the events I went to were fun and informative. I even met other people I became friends with, though I highly doubt I’ll see them just roaming around campus, I am sure to be seeing them at the next club meeting.

Ilan Moreyn Trip to American Museum of Natural History

Ilan Moreyn Fro Blog post 1

Academic

On September second, me, and my friends Cristian and Brandon went to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. It was by far the largest museum that I have ever been in. Unlike the movie, nothing was roaming around, except the tourists, who seem to get slower every year. As soon as we got in, we had to wait in line to get our tickets. After what went by faster than expected, we went into the mammal exhibit. We couldn’t believe what we saw and the different mammals. On display, we saw bears, wolves, and so much more. At this point, we were all happy that it didn’t come alive like it did in the movie or else we would’ve been in trouble. The one thing that stood out the most was the group of elephants. It stood out the most because of the size of them.

Next we went to the aquarium part of the museum. What first caught our eye, probably like most people, was the huge whale that is on the ceiling. While walking around, we saw many creatures of the ocean, such as sharks, manatees, and dolphins. Sadly, it was not a live exhibit. Once we finished the viewing the aquarium part, we realized we had to leave soon. We all agreed that the last place we wanted to see was the dinosaurs. Once we made our way to that part of the museum, we were astonished. There were so many dinosaurs, and most of them were huge. We all agreed that our favorite one was the T-Rex. The hardest part was not reaching over the rail to touch the fossils, but we all felt as if security was watching us closely already.

Overall, the trip to the museum helped me realized that there are a lot of cool stuff to do in NYC. Growing up in NYC, I never really visited the landmarks. After visiting the museum, I plan on going to more of NYC many landmarks.

Joining the MOB – Joseph Viscuso

Today I attended the general interest meeting for the MOB (Marketers of Baruch), not to be confused with that shady crime organization. The experience as a whole was surreal to say the least. Up until this point, I had not been involved in any school activities, I did what I came to do and I left. So, this school had always felt more like a job to me than what I had originally envisioned for college. I saw something in that meeting room that I had not seen since High School. Genuine friendship. Many students at Baruch go about their day with little to no interaction with other students. Myself included. But after this meeting that is most definitely going to change.

Simply being at the meeting gave me a sense of belonging. I knew that these people would help me out, a total stranger, if I so desired it. And seeing other freshmen who were in the same position as I was very reassuring. All the members of MOB were extremely kind and caring when answering the questions I still had. The brief meeting went over everything that the club stood for and they constantly emphasized the social aspect of the club. Promises of days were members could just hang out and unwind from the work of school. I went into that meeting a stranger but left as a friend. Of course, free food is always a nice bonus.

Now that I have had a taste of what the clubs of Baruch can offer I fully intend to check out all the clubs that peak my interest. And to anyone who reads this, I cannot implore you enough to get involved. Take it from me, that quiet kid in your class, if something here at Baruch interests you, go for it.

 

-Joe Viscuso

 

Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum | Blog Post #1

The Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum is what one would describe as extreme. It features the extremes of everything in life in a wacky exiting way. When one asks about the first museum that comes to mind, this would not be it. The museum featured many levels containing a vast array of exhibits. When compared to other museums, it doesn’t fit the typical idea of what a museum is. This doesn’t happen to be the case, as one of the exhibits is a large chunk of the Berlin Wall, graffitied with the words “Made in Germany.”

The museum is located on 42nd Street, surrounded by theaters, and restaurants lit colorfully in the night. The moment you enter you are greeted by a massive elephant wearing battle armor, a Mercedes-Benz 300lL made of wood, and the world’s tallest man. The walls, and decor seemingly have no apparent theme, and are an attack on the senses. The whole museum was a mix of everything the world had to offer; individualistic in every sense of the word.

The piece that I found most relatable was that wooden Mercedes-Benz. Hand crafted by a german artist, the Benz is made of teakwood, and every part of it is was as good-looking as the original. It was the cost of the project that really interested me; 6,668$. That price is very affordable compared to the cost of an original, around 1,000,000$. The seer amount of detail that the artist had put into the car was amazing. How long would it have taken? While it may not function, it captures the essence of what the original was.

In regards to Baruch, it made me feel like anything was obtainable with enough hard work. While it may not be the original, being able to craft the looks of such an iconic piece of automotive history. That along with the immense amount of diversity, and history that can be found at the museum, Baruch, and the world.

Blog Post #1: Chinese Dissident Art at the Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery

Chinese Dissident Art

David Tawil

FRO 1000

Blog Post

9/7/17

Art

I recently visited the Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery in New York City. The exhibit displayed many works of art that were stunning and also provided deeper meanings. For instance, one of them is comprised of tools such as a mallet, axe, and hammer. The tools were three-dimensional models that were made out of metal and wood. The tools were also encased in a glass frame. The interesting part about these tools is that they have been “tortured.” The deeper meaning of tortured is that the Chinese Government was limiting the success of its people. This was because of restrictive policies that were implemented by the Chinese Government. The art is showing that the tools have not been as effective since the policies were established. This art exhibit has helped me with my academic work because it relates to what I’m learning in Art History class. Things such as the meaning of the art and the way it’s created were shown in the gallery and I also learned similar things in class. Another interesting piece in the exhibit was a painting of the Tiananmen Square Protests in China in 1989. This event is known in China as the June Fourth Incident. The protests were led by students who wanted there to be change within China. The students opposed the Communist Party of China. They wanted change in terms of more freedom and less government control. At its highest peak, there were one million people who all gathered in the Tiananmen Square. The protest ended when the Chinese military massacred hundreds of people using guns and even tanks. This was a very significant event in Chinese history because the military had never used such brutal force for a domestic event. This piece was created by Yang Jinsong, a Chinese dissident artist from Chongqing, China.

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