While at the MOMA I observed an exhibit of Russian art that explored new ways of abstraction between 1912 and 1935. The work was very different from what I was used to. I feel like the European and American style is of art is very forward and focuses on beauty, while the art I observed seemed to have a deeper purpose. All of the work was abstract art but it seemed to have this revolutionary feeling as if the pieces were making more than one point and breaking all the rules all at once. Some of the pieces made it evident that they were done by Russian artist, but even though it was all from the same region, every piece was different in their own way and told their own individual story. The piece that I was drawn to the most was Alexandra Exter’s Theatrical Composition. It was full of color and seemed to have this way of drawing you away from all the other pieces just to have you bask in its glory. It wasn’t just one particular thing within the painting that caught my eye. I believe it was the style of the painting, as in the way in which Exter capture what may seem to many as a simple scene. The painting shows two people staring out of their windows at, but shows this at different angles and dimensions. One could view the painting at different angles and even though they may have a different point of view one will get the big picture.

There was one painting that I was interested in MoMA today.

The name is Panting, 4 by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde who was born in India. This painting made me feel calm and peaceful at first since I was a little tired of studying for the final exams. And I also started feeling depressed from this painting due to the dark colors and some objects that are blurred beyond recognition in the painting.

In the 1950s, with much of Europe in ruins after World War 2 and numerous countries facing the challenges of rebuilding during and after periods of civil unrest, artist around the globe began to look beyond traditional forms and to develop new stakes for art. And I assume that this painting represents the nature destroyed in India. The British Empire in India is the most striking example in the history of the world of the domination of a vast territory and they destroyed India’s. In this painting, there is nothing else except for a few objects which are colored by some dark colors. And those colors make me feel gloomy and the sadness of India at that time. For example, the dark, dull blue color at the center of painting looks like a bruise on their breast and the background which is colored by ocher expresses the land that is empty and useless because of the British.

“Tomorrow is Another Fine Day”, writes Argentinian artists Rikrit Tiravanija on a page newspaper shaped as a hat origami. This piece of art is so simple and basic but the writing on it catches your attention and manages to give you a warm feeling in your heart.  Walking around in the Moma you notice a lot of very unique and time consuming pieces of art, each with a deep story behind them and their artists. Then you have this piece. “Tomorrow is Another Fine Day” stands out to me. The quote reminds you that no matter what is going on in your life, things will be ok. It reminds you that tomorrow is a new day and you decide your happiness. All you have to do is build your own happiness and convince yourself that no matter what, you will be just fine. It doesn’t take different brushes and different colors and hours of work. Its the simplicity of the art and the words included that bring a smile to your face.

The piece of art that I chose is The City Rises created by the Italian painter Umberto Boccioni it was created in 1910 and caught my eye instantly. It took a second for me to comprehend what was going on with all the wonderful colors, to me it looked like horses and chaos in a city. The main object that catches your eye is this a huge red object that looks like it is lunging into a crowd, that object is a horse.  After further inspection there are a few other horses in the painting, and bodies seem to be falling. At first this painting looks beautiful with fluid, the colors are really what caught my eye. The rustic reds and blues and whites blend together so nicely. But this painting isn’t really depicting a beautiful image, it looks so be some sort of uprising within a city, this painting definitely has a Spanish/Italian feel to it and is something that I personally love. The more I looked at it the more details I noticed, like the chimneys in the back and all the other people in the city. I was never really into art work but going to the Moma really changed my outlook and I feel like I grew a great appreciation for all different types of art there is through out the world, new and old you can find a meaning behind it all and learn to appreciate it.

This painting of a strange, odd and unusual building depicts a coffeepot as if it was a coal furnace. The fact that the painters of this piece of art are Cuban, plays an important role in the translation of the piece. The coffeepot seems to be expressing the items made domestically, by hand, while the coal oven seems to be depicting a modern industrialized creation. Connection the two together, making them seem as one truly shows the drastic difference between the domestic handmade goods, compared to the modern makings and the connections that grew overtime. This can be seen through a perspective that states coffee making has become an industrialized business. There are countless factories and institutions processing and packaging coffee beans daily. Numerous companies have prospered due to such a high demand for coffee. In our city, practically every single block has a store (or five) that sell coffee. Whether it’s a Dunkin Donuts or a mini mart, coffee is present. This used to be a raw material that was freshly grounded, mixed with hot water and was drank that very day. These days, this is simply not the case. We have people in countries such as Cuba, Mexico, Colombia that complete the process and we see the output at our local Starbucks. We don’t realize nor acknowledge the tremendous amount of hard work that it took for that packaged bag of coffee that we pluck off the shelf at our supermarkets. Coffee has become an industrialized business and is growing each and everyday.

This artwork was named “design 5”, it is a Cast hydro stone artwork made by an Austrian artist Erwin Hauer at 1956. The photo was my first sight when I saw it. Before I looked carefully, I thought it was a normal design with circle and angles. As I looked carefully, there was one sentence came to my mind, which was “simple is complex”. The shadow that it reflected looked like two separate masks. When I noticed this, I was shocked. How creative is it! Then I was confusing about if this is in purpose or this was just accident. In the description, the artist is focusing on the circular type of sculptures and also the lights. The shadow on the floor made me think the theory that one thing has two faces. The front side of the sculpture is normal, but after the refraction, its shadow became the evil mask. This is symbolic to our society. Every one in the world has different faces, and usually more than two. I believed if I change my position from the left of the artwork to the right of the artwork, there may be another kind of feature. I could not see it, because the right side of this artwork is a wall.

The art piece I chose is Lovers by Teiji Furuhashi.  It is a room in which images of the artist and members of his art group, Dumb Type, are projected on to the black wall.  The images are activated by motion sensors that are set off by viewers.  You can see the images, or “lovers”, run towards each other in slow motion, but they never meet; they simply run past each other.  Visual text is also displayed on the walls and the floor.  There are also whispers played with music in the background that gives a dream-like ambience. At the end of the piece, one figure stands with his arms open wide.  He does not have his arms open for a hug.  Instead, he falls away into the darkness and disappears, as if he was crucified.   At first this video art piece seemed to be about lovers unable to connect with each other.  However, this art piece tackles the issue with negative connotations.  Later in this piece, some figures simply disappear into the darkness.  Although there are other figures around, they all feel lonely and hopeless.

The art piece that I picked was an 8mm color film by an Indian artist,  Nalini Malani. Although this piece was made in 1969, it appears to be very modern due to its very abstract qualities. While often times abstract pieces bore me, this one really caught my attention due to its eye grabbing color schemes. The the various shades of blue accompanied with white cubes fading in and out makes for a very beautiful aesthetic. Just when you are ready to look away, the piece transitions slowly into areas of pink and red fading in and out as well and then returns to its original blue interface. After staring at this piece for five to ten minutes I couldn’t depict the intention of the artist however if I was to make a guess I would probably say that this piece resembles feeling anger and sadness at once. The plethora of blue shades at the beginning of the video definitely evoked a sense of gloom which was followed by a very intense transition into red and pink colors evoking anger frustration and conflict. The thin white cubes could resemble moments of clarity during an internal struggle not only because of the neutral color but because of its very scarce presence in the piece. This piece really caught my interest because it is abstract on many levels. Its lack of detail not only creates a lot of room for interpretation but also room for confusion. Not only was I uncertain of what this piece resembles, but I was also unsure of what emotions to be feeling.

By visited the Moma museum, when i saw this photograph, it caught my attention. In the first moment I saw this photo, the box in the middle made me confused, it is hard to tell me is it was throwing up or it was falling down. This photograph was by Japanese photographer Ryoji Akiyama who born in 1942. This photograph named “Empty Box in its Way Down to a Reclamation Area” and it took in Tokyo, 1969. In bottom of the photo, there showed a lot of paper boxes, some buckets and many other sundries besides the river. By looking this photo, thinking of the reclamation, reclamation meaning “the recovery of useful substances from waste products”. Look at the photo, we cannot count exactly how many sundries inside. In daily life, people made the immeasurable waste every day, so where these waste going to? Reclamation is a better way to save energy and protect environment, this can prevent human produces excessive consumption garbage on the earth. On the earth, the human is not the only animals, and there are many other creatures. They live in the nature like humans, and the extinction of any one species will affect the balance of the whole food chain. Conservation of biological diversity, is also protect human. So reclamation not only protect our environment, it also good for the whole nature. I like this photograph, it reminds people should think about the reclamation, people should protect the nature together and we should begin with reuse the reusable waste.

The artwork that had the most impact and impression on my was Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. This art piece is very abstract and has very detailed brush strokes with a combination of colors. At a far glance, it is very beautiful and pleasing to the eyes. The many colors and various shapes contribute to the ambiguous meaning of the artwork. I got a very sad feeling from this painting almost as if the artist drew it at his deepest moment. I am reminded of that because I can imagine someone overlooking the stars from a balcony and pondering about their life. This is the feeling the art gives me. I feel very calmed by it; the stars have that kind of effect on you. The waves inside in the painting and the various shapes make this painting very abstract. It reminds me of the artwork we viewed in class, of the man with the shocked face. That artwork is very similar to Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, as it uses the similar artwork style. It too has, many shapes, colors, as well as waves. Despite the overwhelming shapes and variations of colors in these types of artwork, somehow it has left a great impression on me. The Starry Night is really an amazing piece of artwork and honestly it was hard choosing one piece. I and the Village by Marc Chagall was another amazing abstract piece that I enjoyed seeing. After my visit to Moma, I was amazed at how much I was able to appreciate the artwork and I also found that my taste for artwork is more of the abstract type.