Extra credit-George Eastman House

Last week, I have a chance to visit the George Eastman house. I never expect there are so much interesting staff in the museum. The museum was built to memorial George Eastman and the whole photography history. There are different sections in the museum. A project called “The Birmingham” is displayed in the project area. Dawoud Bey, an artist based in Chicago, was invited by the Birmingham Museum of Art to create new work for the 50^th anniversary. Bey honored four girls died in the bombing and two boys died in radical violence. The project was combined of two parts-the photos and the split-screen video. This series of photos were consisted of the image of young boys and girls which is the same age as the victims in 1963 and the images of elder people who would be the same age as dead children if they still alive. The whole series of photo have a huge contrast and even shocking. As for the video, it enlightens me about this project. First of all, I did not pay so much attention to the video. The randomly arranged slow motion frames of a barbershop, beauty parlor, luncheonette, and schoolroom. Later, I think it works so well in the project. They are exactly the footages of the girls and boys if they did not die. The feeling of watching the frames those dead children would never have a chance to see is quite complex. This was the most emotional part of this visit. Also, it is a good example of multimedia. The combination of slow motion footages and solid photos creates a picture that the innocent victims were just standing in front of our eyes.

Another part I loved in the museum was a series of photos called “The Disappearance of Darkness” by Robert Burley. This section is all about the old buildings in Kodak Company. The shabby construction could not tell us more about the sad fact about this Kodak. The signboard was as bright as usual, but the depression could be seen everywhere in the company. One picture I loved so much was a man standing in front of the old building. He was absorbed in the building.

There are still other interesting parts of the museum. The history section gives us a sense of tracing back to when the first camera were invented. I could see the evolution of Reflex cameras and the Leica cameras. The innovation in photography history is a section that made photography closer to daily life.

Extra Credit: Elephant Man

During my Thanksgiving break, I went to New York City and saw a play entitled Elephant Man. The play itself was based on a true story of Joseph 'John' Merrick. John Merrick lived around the late 1800s in England, and suffered from a genetic disorder that caused his body around his bones to have growths and tumors, with the exception of his left arm and hand, although he was never officially diagnosed. The play tells a story of a small segment of his life, and death. After being displayed around in a traveling circus-like environment, he was disregarded, and ended up in the care of a scientist named Frederick Treves. Treves helped Merrick obtain a special circumstance of permanent residence at the hospital, and the two became close friends. Merrick's intelligence far preceded his looks, and attracted the eye of many wealthy and powerful people. The play shows Merrick's relationship with Treves and several other people and the impact of science, religion, sex, and conformity effect on an individual(s). Due to Merrick's condition he was forced to sleep sitting, as the weight of his head was too heavy. Merrick died, trying to lie down regularly, from asphyxiation.

For the purposes of this blog post the story is important, as performance of Merrick is extremely relevant to the class. The play began with Treves' explanation Merrick's condition. Bradley Cooper, who played Merrick, stood next to Treves' character. As Treves' explanation continued Cooper's stature became more and more disfigured and peculiar. Cooper himself did not have any makeup to disfigure his face, he was forced soley to rely on performance, which I feel is extremely relevant to our idea of what performance entails. Cooper forced himself into an bent slant, forced his fingers in an uncomfortable position to portray a lobster-like hand, and spoke with a peculiar accent with odd mannerisms of his mouth and body. Being able to contort his body, and perform this multiple times a day, many days a week is extremely taxing on the body as Cooper has said on several occasions.

From this play, I learned how much it physically takes to authentically perform in a piece. I witnessed a reminding example of how caring deeply for the subject matter can enhance performance. As Bradley Cooper was a major force in making this play possible, it would appear he is emotionally invested in the performance of it too. A performance's authenticity relies heavily on the actors/actresses ability to form a connection with the subject matter and their willingness/ability to accurately portray a character, fictional and non-fictional.

 Linked is an article from the New York Times on Cooper's performance, as well as a Wikipedia article on Merrick:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/theater/bradley-cooper-gets-ready-for-the-elephant-man-on-broadway.html?_r=0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Merrick

Extra Credit: Nick Marshall

I attended Nick Marshall's talk and exhibition in Wilson Commons on Nov. 27th. My first impressions of his artwork were that they were somewhat simple to make, but after hearing his explanations I became much more intriuged. It seems that he is less concerned with the actual process of creation than with expressing some sort of thematic message. For instance, his bi-chromatic paintings did not take a large amount of skill to create, but Marshall's idea of combining paint titles involving water and sky to create horizons is unique and creative. As a current film student, the most interesting parts of Marshall's talk was when he discussed his college days. He described art classes in college as "a whirlwind of creation," a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly. It is good practice to make so many projects, but sometimes it is hard to stop and think about one project and make it as good as it can be, as there is always a deadline approaching and another project looming afterwards. After the event, I stayed to discuss the economics of being an artist with Marshall. His advise to me was to network as much as possible. He is not an idealist who believes one will succeed in the art world simply by creating excellent art. He talked about the need to promote oneself, and probably to have another source of income as well. Marshall currently works at the George Eastman House.