Academic – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 CRA

My Whitney Experience

It wasn’t enough for our rising english teacher to just teach us about english. He proposed a class trip to a museum. Why? He wanted us to see in the language of art as he has shown in a video titled “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger. Go watch it if you want a glimpse into the world you have never seen before. Anyways, we ended up choosing the Whitney for it is less mainstream compared to the MOMA.

Just going to the Whitney is a experience itself. Not knowing where you are in a new neighborhood has it’s own terror and wonder. The neighborhood is laden with construction projects and probably 30ish floors max buildings. The Whitney is situated next to the Hudson river. Just sitting nearby and watching the sky and the people is art itself.

The Whitney itself rotates exhibits every season or so. Not all the art may be interesting, but you are bound to find something of interest. Each exhibit holds a new journey to be traversed through. I personally loved a exhibit of trash. I didn’t even know what was going on. Pitch black and just strobe lights and a handheld flashlight to guide your way through the heaps of garbage while a video played in our view. I loved it. Even though i don’t what i experienced. Thats what the Whitney can do.

Also the roof provides a luxurious view of mid-manhatten. I highly recommend going to the whitney cause art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. ~ some random google quote

Museum of Natural History

A group of friends and I decided to take a trip to the museum of natural history. It had been a while since I visited. I would go often with my father up until I was 6, then these trips would be supplemented by motor cross rides and other sports. I have fond memories of the halls of animals placed with beautiful detail, the titanic fossil structures, and the overall beauty of the architecture. The marine biology section to my view is the must see of the museum, there is a sense upon entering that you have actually become submerged into the depths of the oceans. From the shore dwelling creatures on the upper levels of the sea floors to creatures that live in environments so entrenched and hostile with adaptations that amaze. My second favorite place to visit is the rooms filled to the ceiling with fossils and representations of the creatures that lived millions of year ago. These powerful gigantic species are an awakening to the fact that very little species last long on the earth. The environment changes more rapidly than species can evolve, and as humans have had an increasing presence our needs have come with a cost. The cost: the extinction of countless populations. Soon it would not be crazy to think that bears, giraffes, lions, jaguars, and many other species in the museum will be presented to our children’s children as extinct animals of our past generation. The founder of the museum, Roosevelt, was a key proponent to the erection of laws aimed to conserve the animals that humans tend to forget about in their urban dwellings or for money. With his guidance America has lush wildlife habitats that exist through the establishment of natural parks. So while my friends, visitors, and I roam the halls in admiration, we must not forget that many of these beautiful creatures, separated by panes of glass, exist among us and are constantly threatened by our actions.

The Whitney Museum

Like many others in my block, I went to the Whitney Museum for my English class. All of us except for two people are in the same FRO class, so we planned to take the opportunity to use this class trip as our third blog post for the semester. I went to the new building for the Whitney Museum multiple times throughout high school, and it’s my favorite one. There are so many floors and the seasonal exhibitions are always so interesting to see. Also, the outdoor view is great, especially at night, and walking on the High Line afterwards is my definition of a day well spent.

This time, the exhibition that I visited talked about protests in America throughout history. There were so many art installations that went against the typical painting/drawing on walls. There was a room with a bunch of trophies that represented an incident of police brutality. Another piece that I enjoyed was actually a video. It was named Free, White and 21 where a woman of color talks about the different events throughout her life where she faced discrimination. At the end of the video, there is a clip where she wraps her face with toilet paper and puts sunglasses, gloves, and a beach hat while saying, “It’s O.K. though, I’m free, white and 21,” which made me laugh. I learned so much through these artworks and it’s always interesting to see how artists portray similar topics differently through different mediums. Every time I visit the museum a lot of their exhibitions portray groups of people that face discrimination such as people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, etc.

Whitney Museum

After coming to Baruch and especially the freshman seminar course, I have made a lot of new friends. Sharing an English class with the same people in my seminar class makes the experience at Baruch even greater. What tops this is that in our English class we had a chance to go to the Whitney Museum as a class trip. Last time I was ever on a class trip in school was back when I was in middle school, and that trip was pretty boring. This trip, however, was different from the rest. In college no one expects the professor to actually host a trip to a museum in place of a lecture. But our English professor incorporated this trip into his lesson plans to give us something we can actually enjoy in college. It was my first time to the Whitney Museum and with the tickets free because of the CUNY ID, it was even more of an enjoyable experience. We got to spend a whole hour and a half exploring the museum as a class. Not only that but the view from the 8th floor of the Whitney was amazing, something everyone should see at least once. It was on this trip that I got to learn more about the city I live in, and the many areas that make my head go crazy. Before this trip, I honestly never knew there was an A, B, or C train in this city. This trip to the Whitney has really taught me many things about a city that I thought I knew all about. It makes me curious to see what more this wonderful city has to offer and what more is there to come in the future.

Baruch Voices and Whitney

For my Final Blog post, I would like to talk about a recent class trip which my English block took to the Whitney. I will also discuss Baruch voices, the choice of choosing what to talk about was rather a difficult task since both of the academic life visits were one of my favorite.

“No to racists. No to Fascists. No to taxes funding racists and fascists. No mercy for rapists. No pity for bigots. No forgiveness for nativists. No to all of those. No hope without rage. No rage without teeth. No separate peace. No easy feat. No to bounds by genders. No to clickbait as a culture. No to news as truths. No to art as untruths. No anti-Semitic anything. No Islamophobia anything. No progress without others. No meaning without meaning.” Followed by “No means no,” repeated four times. Just read that, line after line, and let it sink in. That’s what you have to do when each line is so powerful and they come together as a whole as these very lines did. That’s what the Whitney Museum did, it plastered those lines all over the entryway making your eyes draw to the plain white walls with distinct black lettering. The protest exhibits on the 6th floor of the museum may be the closest thing to a well-rounded well-connected exhibit as it gets. Attending the Museum School, and traveling every Wednesday to all the attractions NYC has to offer, going on a museum trip was nothing new to me. However, The Whitney was a brand-new experience.

Overall, the exhibit was extremely thought to provoke, and many of the works included were surreal. It made one see, that although many of these are a thing of a past, they very much exist today. The Whitney incorporated this in a way that is not corny, such as when our favorite T.V shows try incredibly hard to implement real-world issues, but in a way that you understand what you are seeing. This was not an ordinary “oil on canvas,” but rather “then and now,” and a “how far did we come, and how much further do we need to go.”

Now let’s move on to Baruch voices. Let’s just say, each FRO class did a wonderful job choosing someone to represent them. Some of the monologues were passionate, sad, powerful, funny— it was like a whirlwind of emotions. Literally, ask Salma, we all were on edge. A particular favorite of mine was the guy who made his monologue on the iconic SpongeBob scene, but only a true SpongeBob fan would know what the scene is early in the speech. There was also this saddening breathtaking monologue that ended up taking us by surprise when the man reading it said it was made up. That one really got to me. Overall, I’m so happy I went to Baruch voices, it was a great time. Shout out to Flint by the way.

Baruch freshmen at the Whitney

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.

At the Whitney Museum

Nestled between the bustling streets and the wisping clouds rests the Whitney Museum, a building with a breathtaking view. The museum is positioned in an urban location surrounded by several New York landmarks, such as the Hudson River, the High Line, and the Sugar Factory. The geographical positioning of the building reflects its structure and visitors: it is of modern design and the flow of museum-goers consistently appears to be made up of fashionable, chic city-dwellers and similarly-mannered tourists. The Whitney Museum boasts a modern design, modern-minded visitors and modern art. One cannot visit the Whitney Museum without being left speechless after experiencing the view from the top floor. After taking an enormous beautiful elevator upstairs and stepping out from the cafe onto the outdoor platform, the visitor is greeted by a jaw-dropping bird’s eye view of the city’s Meatpacking District spread out and around on the street level. Turn to the left, turn to the right, a new sight meets the eye: the Hudson River in all it’s roaring glory, waves rolling against docks, sunlight reflected in the glimmering surface. The museum’s positioning could not better enhance, display, and celebrate New York’s urban beauty. Several of the museum-goers are young adults and elderly people; indeed, the demographic appears to be quite lacking in children. The visitors all appear to be dressed quite nicely, respectful of the building’s glass-cast beauty and adding their own sprinkle of color. Their classy outfits go well with the simple black-and-white color layout of the walls in the building. Some visitors walk slowly, stopping before each piece and regarding it with thoughtful admiration. Others carry around cameras, preferring capturing the art on film and admiring it at a later time. Some even have accents; they may very well be tourists to the city who have chosen the museum as a desirable travel destination. The art comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes. With expansive wall and high ceilings the rooms complement the art and add to the modern feel of the museum. The serious, dark, and taboo exhibition had walls which were pure black, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The lighter-toned art was hung on walls of the purest white; many of these white-roomed pieces are actually paintings. Several of the pieces displayed are photographs rather than paintings, a nod to the current preference of digital experiences rather than hand-to-canvas connections. The Whitney Museum is a modern creation in a beautiful location.

Whitney Museum Madness

On Friday the 13th, our freshman block got the opportunity to visit the Whitney Museum thanks to Professor Goodale. The architecture was really simplistic and relaxing but the art was very confusing to me. What got my attention as I entered, was this gigantic elevator with huge doors. It was about four times the size of a traditional one. During my tour around the museum, I saw two paintings that intrigued me. A painting that was red and another one that was black; that’s it, only one color. I always thought of art as something that took years to learn and would be hard to reproduce but these two paintings did not appear that way. However, there were also other paintings that made use of lines and three dimensional shapes which I genuinely enjoyed. Paintings were not the only art they had on display; they also had sculptures and statues throughout the exhibition. One specific 3d art I appreciated was a bunch of stuffed bags lying on the floor. They resembled dead bodies of soldiers during war, one lying on top of another. It stood in the middle of an exhibit with tape surrounding it to make sure that nobody damages it. They gave off an aura of the past, something that we wouldn’t not get to experience ever again. Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the presentation more than the actual content itself. Having the freedom as a cuny student to get in for no cost was also another benefit! I am able to freely access all the museums during my free time to learn about some quality content thanks to this. I definitely plan to revisit other museums throughout my school years.

Translanguaging

Normally I don’t go to targeted centers that help with writing. I usually just get my writing done the way I feel is best and just submit. I am always open to feedback, so I went to the translanguaging workshop at the Writing Center. Translanguaging is the use of other language resources in order to enhance writing. The first thing they did was discuss write ins. This is like the task to get us to brainstorm and think of ideas to start the workshop. Thinking of languages and how we would change the concepts we brought in was the task here. Since we were discussing translanguaging, we had to shift our ideas into different languages. I took Italian in high school so that helped me. I took 4 years of it but I never had to convey ideas between languages. Saying one thing like in Italian and relaying it to the other in English was difficult. For example talking about certain slang words have no direct translation in Italian. The paper I brought in to work on was filled with this. The challenging part was translating these ideas between the languages. I brought in a piece of classwork writing from my English class and that is what I used for the workshop. In the middle they discussed certain strategies like using people as resources to help translate languages. Not all words and ideas would have direct translations so you need to figure out close relations. Translanguaging really helped show how converting ideas between the languages can expand the writing to give it a bigger feeling.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Last weekend, a friend and I decided to tour around New York City and one of the events we attended was an exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. As we walked through the expansive hallways, we came across countless murals and sculptures that presided there. One of the more memorable paintings that I noticed was No.16 by Mark Rothko. As I looked at the painting, I felt myself immersed into the painting. It was as if I was trapped within the confines of the medium and experienced a multitude of emotions that it elicited. I felt very compelled by the piece and looked it up online as I was there. I had learned that the artist was a very famous pioneer of an art movement called Abstract Expressionism. One of the defining attributes of this era was the avant-garde approach to art. He had many conditions for his paintings when they were displayed such as dark lighting, close up observance, etc. The reasons for this were because Rothko wanted his audience to experience the juxtapositions of elation and anger through the contrast of colors. This was significant because it taught me that like college, life comes has many moments of anxiety accompanied by the novelty of it. From this, I managed to mitigate my anxiety when meeting new people and adjusted to the new school environment. I stood in front of the painting once again and viewed it under such conditions. The feeling was completely different; it felt very eerie and as if I was being dragged into the darkness provided by each brush stroke. To conclude my day, we moved on from Rothko’s No.16 and viewed other parts of the gallery.