My New Favorite Place, Alphabet City.

Can I just start off by saying that I want to move to Alphabet City? In my neighborhood there isn't very much uniqueness, every house is the same as the one before it. In Alphabet City it's the complete opposite, every street and building has character, peoples personalities shine through and theres always something to look at. I've been to the city hundreds of times since I was younger so the bright lights and craziness of it all lost its effect on me. It's been awhile since something in the city really amazed me but Alphabet city was like nothing I've seen before. there was so much culture and creativity put into every inch of it that I was left in awe. Something as simple as a coffee shop had that wow factor. Stores were painted neon colors and buildings had murals on them.

The community gardens were amazing. They really help make Alphabet city something special. They were beautiful, creative and sometimes a bit confusing. You'd be walking down the street look to your right and see  chickens, and now here I am standing on the sidewalk thinking "What the hell are these chickens doing in NYC?!" Thats what Alphabet city does to you, just when you think things are going to be normal then BAM! a chicken shows up. Each community garden was different none resembled the one before it. I became a bit attached to the gardens I didn't want to leave. I wanted rent one and start working on it right then and there. Now this got me thinking, we have so many courtyards in our school that go unused cant we just take one and make it into our own community garden? I think it would be a great experience and really give the school some character. Let's make it happen!

I almost forgot about the people watching! At one point while the rest of my group were taking pictures I just sat down on someones porch and watched people pass by. One minute you see a man walk by in skinny jeans and a leather jacket and the next you see a man in a suit with a brief case. The people who live there really show the transition the area is going through. Alphabet city used to be a place for people that I guess you call "punks?" and now wealthier people are moving there changing the city. Oh! how could I forget about the freaks?! from old ladies doing yoga with there dogs and people sitting on benches with their faces completely covered, you see everything.

I want to add some photos, maybe I'll do that another time.

Be Kind Rewind

I've heard a lot in the past about Be Kind Rewinds and I've seen a couple too, but I didn't expect them to be so much fun. This week we finally got started on them. We had an hour a day to work on them which isn't very much considering how much planning goes into making a film, no matter how short they are. Our daily schedule went a little like this:
Wednesday: We split up into groups, my group consisted of Matt, Alex, Zach, Mairead and Ellen. We worked really fast compared to other groups because we went into the thought process with a basic idea of what we wanted to do. Alex and Matt have had the idea of Mortachai Christ for a long time so we got started planning right away. By the end of the hour we had our whole story and characters down.
Thursday: We went location scouting to see where in the school is available and what periods we can use them during.
Friday: The most hectic day. We got to STAC sat down and quickly ate then we were off to go filming. The looks on peoples faces when you walk by dressed in togas is priceless. Freshmen would take one look at Zach and wonder "what the hell are these people doing?" It was the opposite with all the seniors, We were filming near the lounge and no one questioned us. I'm sure they're used to STACies doing crazy things by now.
Either than filming watching all of the other groups movies was my second favorite thing we did all week. I really had no clue what he other groups were doing for theirs so seeing all their props got me excited to see what they would be for. I'd love to do another Be Kind Rewind.

Titles really aren't my thing

In STAC art so far we've been learning about Bubsy Berkeley an looking at his different musical numbers. I auditioned for STAC with just a art portfolio of some of my drawings I've done over the course of the year, so I was excited to get started in STAC art begin creating art. When I first found out that we were doing art inspired by dance I was caught off guard. It wasn't anything like I expected us to be doing but I was intrigued as to how we were going to create artwork out of a dance. On Wednesday and Thursday we really got an idea of what we're doing. In many of Berkeley's works he would film dancers from above creating kaleidoscopic images that we are using as our inspiration for art. We pick a theme and create a kaleidoscope based off of that. I didn't come up with my theme until I had already drawn my first few shapes, but in the end it worked out. I can't wait to use color and maybe even make a sculpture inspired by his dance routines. 

This post is a little shorter than usual but I'm sure next week I'll have a lot more to say.

In These Blog Posts I Always Have A Lot To Say And This Week is No Exception.

I usual cover every day of the week but I think this time I'm just going to write about Friday. I've heard a lot about STAC trips and how much fun they are but it was much more than I expected. We went to MoMA (Museum Of Modern Art) to see Matisse and La Cage to see cross dressers. 
I've been on field trips to museums plenty of times but I've never been to one like this. On normal art field trips I'm stuck in a group with a bunch of immature high school kids who know nothing about art and really could care less, that was not the case this time. We arrive at MoMA and are given complete freedom, we got to choose who we were with, what we saw, how much time we spent there, it was great. Even though we were there to see Matisse it wasn't the exhibit that comes to mind when I think of that day. I really enjoyed all the photography because I like seeing the world through a lens. Every detail that went into making that picture what it is fascinate me. There was another section that looked like you just walked into Ikea, at first it confused me but after walking around a bit I realized how much work went into making those designs for all of those household appliances. I haven't ever walked into a Museum and have been excited about a piece of artwork that I see, Friday was the exception. We walk into a room see one of Andy Warhols Marilyn Monroe Paintings, look a little to the left and we see the Campbells cans he drew. And now this was what really got me excited I turn around and I see Roy Lichtenstein's "Drowning Girl". Last year in art class I did a project on him which involved a lot of researching and looking at his paintings online so finally seeing one of his paintings in person was amazing. I freaked out just a little bit. In that same section we saw a painting that just simply said "OOF" It was kind of dumb but in a brilliant way. It made you stop and look at it you couldn't just walk by. It was also the inspiration for my groups chant OOF OOF OOF!

Last thing I want to write about is screaming. While looking at all the paintings we would occasionally hear the eco of a scream coming from somewhere else in the museum which was a little concerning. We finally make our down to the first floor and see a single microphone in middle of a large room filled with people. We ask the security guard if we're allowed to go up there and scream he replied yes but only one at a time. One after the other my group gets up there and screams at the top of their lungs. meanwhile everyone in the room stops and stares at the group of high schoolers taking turns screaming. It was one of the weirdest and greatest feelings I've ever experienced. Getting up to that unplugged microphone and screaming when all our lives we've been told that in museums we need to act maturely and keep our voices down. All eyes were on us and if you looked around the room people had their cameras out and were filming us screaming. One thing I found really interesting was that even when given the chance to get up there and scream no one took the chance, even after seeing a group of teenagers do it. In the car ride home I was telling my dad about it and he was confused as to how that was qualified as art and what people don't realize is that the art is the people. It's an interactive piece of art, it make people step out of their comfort zone and feel something that they haven't felt before. It takes a certain type of person to get up there and scream.

My awesome group OOF OOF!