Now hush, we can discuss the originality – or lack thereof – of that title later. I have pictures to show you, my friends. Lots and LOTS of pictures.
I apologize wholeheartedly for my extended absence. As you may be well aware, we are less than a month away from the end of the semester. Like this young thing, commence your weeping now.
But in all seriousness, it’s absolutely mind-boggling that we are so close to completing our time in New York City. It seems like just yesterday when I was a mere kid, trying to navigate that confounded grid system that I have now mastered so well I could recite it in my sleep (in fact, I have dreamt about it. BAM) (no not really, but it sounded good, right?) Back to what I had started saying, finals season is terrifying close, and for the art childrenz that means an exhibit at Flux Factory in Brooklyn, opening April 24th and on view until the following Wednesday. We’re reaching that “final crunch” phase that involves little sleep and copious amount of coffee. Le site:
Pretty sweet, right? Seven art kids, one gallery space, five days…sounds like a cheesy reality show if there ever was one.
I realized after my last post that I really haven’t given y’all a decent idea of what we do here in NYC. Now, granted, it changes depending on what day of the week it is, but we have a rather packed schedule. One of our favoritist (yes, it’s a word) activities, living in one of the largest art-influenced cities in the world, is visiting galleries. Our primary gallery-hopping goes down every Friday, when all of the folks in Anthony Graves’ “Contemporary Art in NYC” class wander around New York exposing ourselves to all sorts of art – and when I say art, I mean the good, the bad, and the ugly. One such gallery we recently swung by was Luhring Augustine in the downtown Chelsea area. They currently have a show dedicated to collaborators Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, and all of the pieces were interactive:
I think the guard was disconcerted by my frenzied picture taking.
Sava Demanski (BFA ’12) listens intently to the decidedly spooky recording on the other end of the line talk to her about spiders. Yes. Spiders.
Jackie Zdrojeski (BFA ’11) and Chase Wilson, right (BFA ’12) making their own personal symphony with a set of drawers that when pulled out, blasted individual recordings of music, voices, and the like. It was music to our ears. Literally.
Sarah Sanders (BFA ’12) stands next to a very, very large sculpture. This was at another gallery that we visited that day, which I, like a champ, forgot to get the name of. In spite of this slip, you have to admit, that is one inneresting work of art.
Anthony Graves gazes up at the massive beast.
As you may have guessed, we do far more than visit art spaces. We also talk. A lot. We’re sometimes lucky enough to engage in discussion in the beeeautiful outdoors, as such:
Professor Douglas Ross and Sava hypothesize as to why her sandwich is delicious.
A brief lull in the conversation. Fear you not, we were back to intense chatting faster than you can say “sammich!”
Critiques are also a big part of being an art student. They’re invaluable to our work, as they provide the artist with the chance to get multiple opinions on his or her work. Good or bad, it’s part of being an artist to want to know what your viewer is thinking and feeling when they view your artwork.
Professor Ross discusses Chase’s piece. Hand motions are an essential part of any halfway decent crit.
Jackie expresses her thoughts on Kay Lee’s (BFA ’11) work.
Add to all of this craziness an internship at a professional practice every Tuesday and Wednesday and an art history and drawing class as well, and there you have one heckuva routine week for the art students. I have yet to get any action shots of those last three, but with some luck maybe I can show you what those days are like sometime soon.
In rare moments of free time, we also try to squeeze some fun adventures in there. I’ve been doing some Dora the Explorer-type escapades lately, and though these voyages have been in conjunction with a semester-long art project (don’t worry, you’ll see pictures of said work in due time), it’s been a great experience to see what exists beyond our 17th street studio.
Flowers bloom amidst the backdrop of a cemetery downtown. The brightness of the flowers against the gray of the tombstones was stunning, in a grim kind of way.
Well hello there Wall St.!!
Today Sarah and I stumbled upon this little gem: a street fair down by NYU. To say there was food (and cool little knick-knacks) a’plenty is an understatement.
Feast your eyes on that deliciousness! Right before we devoured our cinnamon-butter-sugar crepe. Now I want one again…
So, that’s all I have for now. Well actually, I have plenty more, but I think I’ve provided you with enough to get the perfect glimpse of what I’ve been up to these past couple weeks, and for that matter, in general. Coming up on “Little College Student, Big Town: The Adventures of Nellie in New York City”: the conclusion of my internship, setting up the exhibit Flux Factory, and our opening. Brace yourselves, darling readers: it’s going to be one busy week!!! Until next time,
Yours affectionately,
Nellie