When I was a freshmen in high school I visited the Whitney, and it was quite the adventure. Walking up to the clay grey building, greeted with an array of lights and appetizing scents of the food court by the entrance. Inside the lightbulbs filled in an illuminating array on the ceiling and the instantly the allure of the interior was prominent. However, revisiting the Whitney in its new building in the freshmen year of college, I am not as pleased.
After walking into the behemoth room that is the entrance, you’re instantly greeted by the staff directing you to the appropriate ticket booth. In the old design the people gathered by the entrance of the building made a rather welcoming entrance as you made your way to the staff. The new design feels rigid or forced. A wide open room with no lingering bystanders, it may be neat and organized, but it was also restrictive and mundane. On the website they advertise the elegant transition from the outdoors to the building with wide open view room, which is free of charge. Might sound appealing, but what you’re left with isn’t all too great.
Walking around you get the feeling that the art was the utmost significance with large white space rooms displaying 4-7 pieces per room. The pale walls stand idle with a single piece of art to ornate the insipid surface. Only accompanied by a small card with a brief description about the piece. The ceilings lined with covered hooks for hanging art, whenever it may be necessary. With the new building, the priority was to be able to present the most amount of art without the experience feeling cluttered or rushed. Taking a look around at the faces that walked past the priceless canvas’ before them, as their eyes read the painting, analyzed its features, and arrived at an impression. The interior architecture worked spot on in that case. I found it rather dull, but to be fair the old design wasn’t all that better. I guess the fault lies with me, as the assumption that’s implied is the art is sole attraction, and I look around searching for another one.
Sure the outside of the structure is quite a marvelous site, but being regular day in the city, the urgency of getting to class on time took the pleasure of looking upon the building at first. Besides as I rushed toward the Whitney, I arrived at the back end greeted first by vile odor of city trash and the erosion pavement withered by negligence. Not the best first arrival. Maybe it’s an unfair review, from an unreliable source, but the was my experience upon my visit.
I didn’t really plan on going, but thought might as well get it over with. Greeted by the professor, I felt welcomed, regardless of the fact I had no idea what the words and numbers on the screens meant. He quickly explained how this $2000 product was so useful. However walking into the room he had to disclosed only some of the computers could run the program. Some proprietary colored keyboards that took advantage of the software with useful shortcuts at arms reach. A quick search for Vista Card a history of the companies earnings and the companies projected income for the years to come, made from highly calculated guesses from financial analysis. I just sat there thinking “Is this what businesses majors entail?” I was in awe of how bored I felt, I realized in all the talk of marginal revenue and extensive company research at my disposal, I didn’t want to work in this type of career. Something so monotonous, lacking basic interest, day in and day out sitting behind a computer to look at these arbitrary numbers for some larger financial vendetta. During the workshop I felt a bit more certain about what I wanted to do.
