On September 9th, I visited the MoMA (with my girlfriend) and it was quite an experience. I’ve never really liked modern art for frankly I thought it was pretentious and lacked skill, but I had a turn of opinion. First I began by lying about my age and saying I was 16, and still going to high school, so I wouldn’t have to pay for the admission. Luckily I shaved the three hairs I typically have on my face and passed their very rigorous security checks pre-entering (it wasn’t rigorous, I’m making a joke, I hope you think I’m funny). Excited by the success of my deceit (and saving 14 bucks, which served as a meal at chipotle later), I enter and begin to feast on the art and have my mind blown by the genius and humor of it all.
I enter and the first thing that catches my attention is how dusty everything is, especially the helicopter that’s hanging in the air. But in all seriousness, I saw the genius in the art. What defines modern art is its originality and its dedication to simplicity (there are acceptions to this, but in this instance, it was the simple that caught my attention). What I learned of was the beauty in the simple things and how anything can really be art (as m.mohamed3 mentioned in her post). In the pictures below we see two pieces of art. One is a glass jar with my girlfriend and I reflecting on it (I was trying to be artsy and be in the cup, but I’m a horrendous photographer) and the second, a wall of pictures of the ocean meeting the horizon. When I saw the jar I laughed at first, but then I looked at it longer and saw something more. I saw the curves in its creation, the lighting, and power of its emptiness. I might sound like I’m on something, but I assure you I am a very good boy and refrain from such behaviors. The jar was beautiful, it’s as simple as that, as soon as you see the point of a piece of art and how the object is more than it truly is, it becomes beautiful. The next piece is a series of pictures that show the ocean meeting the horizon and what I loved was how simple and beautiful it was. Its something many of us have seen before, but how often do we truly admire the perfection and beauty of what we see? The artist did admire that and he wanted to share his admiration with all of us. I absolutely loved the art there, even the Warhol’s soup cans, which I only appreciated and liked when I noticed they were, in fact, all different flavors and varieties.
Now, what does this have to do with being at Baruch? That’s a good question and one that I’m still thinking about at 11:06 PM. It’s 11:09 and I’ve figured it out. Nevermind. Okay, it’s 11:11 and I’ve truly figured it out. Having actually gone to a museum was something I’d typically never do and this class made me do that. Having the experience of going actually change the way I perceive and view the world is something else and that’s partly what college does. The few weeks that I’ve been to Baruch my perspectives and attitudes have changed so much on many things. In addition, after a stressful week at school, going to a museum was a great aside from it all. After going I began to appreciate a lot of the simple things more, for they all have some beauty in them. I’d like to thank FRO for giving me an incentive to go to a museum and having my perspective on so many things be shifted for the better.
PS. I’m sorry for the pictures, I forgot that it was a requirement so none are directly of me. However, I have provided a series to hopefully serve as sufficient evidence for my attendance to this marvelous museum. Oh my goodness, I’ve written too much. Oh well, I really enjoyed writing this :).
