The Art:

My Comment:

In 2018, Banksy, the anonymous street artist known for his provocative works, shocked the art world when his painting *Girl with Balloon* partially shredded itself immediately after being sold for £1.04 million at a Sotheby’s auction. A shredder, hidden in the frame, activated just as the gavel dropped, cutting the artwork into strips. This act of self-destruction was seen as a critique of the commercialization of art, highlighting the absurdity of its commodification and the way it’s often valued more as a status symbol than for its message. What interests me the most about this piece of protest art is how Banksy completely transformed the original message the painting had to an entirely new one. The stunt resonated with many as a bold statement against the elitism of the art market, reinforcing Banksy’s reputation as a protest artist who challenges societal norms. Banksy’s choice to shred his piece of art immediately after it was bought forms his art into a completely different message of critique and disgust towards the value that society places on how market value defines how important a piece of art actually is.

                                              (Barry Scanlan for Art to Change the World)

This purpose of this image is to convey how large businesses and corporations disregard environmental consequences of their actions in order to extend their wealth and control. This piece of art is quite current (2018?) and its message is still significant as this is still a prominent issue. It is important for us as a society to acknowledge the importance of preserving the state of our planet as it is essential to our survival and our future. It is true that many companies and individuals who are in charge of these companies are motivated by their desire for money and power, with little to no care about how some factors of their operations (ex: high carbon footprints) impact the condition of the planet, environment, and climate. This resonates especially now because it emphasizes how people are so focused on becoming more affluent that they do not see the increasing negative impact they may have on our world.

 

This art by Leon Golub titled, “Vietnam II” (1973) stood for the strong popular position of being against the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war enlisted millions of Americans in the draft and hundreds of thousands of Americans died due to the tactical and witty guerrilla warfare employed by the Vietnamese. This piece of art is important because it symbolized a time where the United States of America was fighting a war that was very unpopular with its people. America right now is fighting wars that are very unpopular with its people, therefore this art piece is highly relevant.

This painting is known as the Pyramid Of Capitalism, and it was made to show the evils of capitalism. They show the disparity that the economy breeds and how the lower classes often have to do the hard work for the upper classes. The pyramid is reminiscent of feudalism in Europe, with the top benefiting from the people below, creating a system of the rich becoming richer. It was made for industrial workers and reminding the upper classes that America runs off the working class, and if they ever stopped working, the whole system would topple onto itself. It would later be used by the Soviets as a criticism against Capitalism.

Although I do not agree with the later uses of the painting, I do think that the painting itself brings up a great point about Capitalism. This point being that the upper class relies on the lower classes. Birth and status have a big factor in where you start in America, but what I think the painting fails to mention is the class mobility that does happen in America. Even though the class mobility in America is on the rarer side, it is not completely uncommon and with the right amount of work, and luck, people can climb on the classes to be on the top.

 

This piece by Mr. Brainwash makes Albert Einstein the center of the piece, a man who is widely considered as the smartest man ever. In a time of such divide and hatred, love truly is the answer, and Albert Einstein is someone who we look to for the correct answers. If everyone just loved each other there wouldn’t be racism, homophobia, etc… There is a lack of love in society today which causes such a great divide in our everyday lives and throughout history. The background of the image uses art from various time periods to bring about unity, and also uses bright colors to be appealing to an audience, and for me, I associate bright colors with optimism. Everyone needs love, and it creates such a feeling of happiness when you receive it, illustrating Mickey in the picture, also having him towards the center is a great representation of love as Mickey was caring, kind, and always had open arms to his friends and strangers. The simplicity of this piece is also the beauty, as it speaks such loud volumes with just a few words, and art.

This art work protests war, suggesting that resources be used elsewhere, such as art. This artwork is important in times of war, where there are major movements against the government’s cruelty in war or fake reason for war. This artwork still resonates now by expressing some people’s opinion about the war happening in Russia and Ukraine.

My trip to the Rubin Museum of Art was filled with so many eye-opening and interesting experiences. However, the art definitely grew even further on me as I write this blog post and reflect on what interested me the most. At first, I was very unsure of what to expect. I specifically chose the Rubin with the knowledge of its closing on October 6th, so I knew I had to go take the opportunity to see it one last time. As soon as I walked in and bought my ticket, I noticed the museum’s popularity immediately as it was substantially busy. I did no prior research as to what art pieces the museum held, so I went in with a very open mindset in what I was about to experience and see!

EXHIBIT 1: MUTED EXPRESSIONS, TSHERIN SHERPA

I wanted to start with the exhibit that truly resonated with me the most: Muted Expressions by Tsherin Sherpa. The bronze statue represents so much more than what is shown to the eye. It represents the effects of a devastating earthquake Nepal faced in April of 2015. At first glance, I was impressed by the size of the art, yet confused about why it was such a vocal point to the room.

 An employee of the museum approached my sister and me, explained the statue’s story, and pointed out the most intricate details only the trained eye could see. The employee explained the “rock on” and “peace” symbols shown in the front and back of the statue among the traditional hand poses in Hinduism and Buddhism. Seeing the employee’s passion for art truly inspired me to learn more about the Himalayan culture and how artists could incorporate both modern and traditional aspects of their respective backgrounds. I saw an example of this as well with a statue called the “Uber Rat,” in which the Buddhist sacred animal, the rat, is wearing headphones while looking like a yellow NYC taxi cab. All in all, learning about the inspiration and story behind a piece of art, however meaningful it actually is, truly transforms the image and offers a new perspective of a piece of art that one may have never come up with beforehand.

 (Different perspectives and details of the instillation)

EXHIBIT 2: COMPASSION, Jasmine Rajbhandari

Out of all of the paintings in one specific area of the museum, I was immediately drawn to Compassion the most. The red figures against the stark yellow background were extremely eye-catching and unique from a lot of the tapestries that were surrounding it. This painting’s visual aesthetic really intrigued me more than other aspects, and I really loved the vibrant colors of the paint. Looking closer, I saw the artist’s technique and how they strategically painted the yellow surrounding the figures in the painting. I remember admiring the effort and accuracy it must have taken to use such a bold color to surround the very intricate figures. After reading the description, the painting was about a Buddhist tradition called the Panchadan Festival that centered on men helping women and children during a war. Instead of representing human men assisting the women, the red figures in the painting actually represented the five Buddhist structures that would traditionally provide aid during times of war. 

EXHIBIT 3:

Lastly, the interactive exhibits were fascinating and entertaining. One exhibit that particularly stood out to me and my sister was the one related to scents. It was a fascinating and entertaining experience to be able to smell such specific scents coming out of machines. This reminded me of the way scents are pumped during rides at Disney to fully immerse the park guests, but in the case of the Rubin Museum, I was immersed in different scents and smells from regions worldwide. Some of the scents were unique and exotic, while others were familiar and welcoming. My favorite scent can be seen in the video with this link: IMG_7698 .

Conclusion:

All in all, the overall span of Himalayan culture represented in art is truly inspiring to see. At the Rubin, I saw Himalayan culture shown through gongs, scents, and even CGI characters. It truly opens your eyes to life outside of Western culture and the values that other cultures and religions hold. Referring back to what I said in the beginning, I recognized the art’s true meaning when I was able to see the blend of Western and Himalayan culture that the exhibits at the Rubin held.  As I learn more about the culture and story behind the exhibits shown above, the exhibits become more significant and hold an even deeper value. It is such a unique experience to be entirely surrounded by Himalayan artwork and culture in the middle of one of the world’s most bustling cities. I am so disappointed that I only learned about the Rubin due to its closing, however, my great experience has inspired me to further my journey in improving my knowledge of art. At the end of my visit, I wrote an inspirational message on a prayer flag that represented one of five Buddhist elements, which will be hung on the day the Rubin closes. 

This piece of art did not appeal to us because we were not able to find the meaning that the artist intended to convey nor participate in any dialogue with the work. The artwork appeared to us as an amalgamation of shapes, which didn’t symbolize anything-it merely inspired confusion.  The limited meaning which we were able to derive from this work emerged out of our befuddlement. The sculpture appeared differently from every angle, morphing as you walked around it. We connected this variance in the work to the idea that everything can be viewed from a variety of perspectives.

This piece does not represent our campus. Our campus is uniformed and organized, and this order creates a serenity which students experience. Rather the sculpture felt random and erratic, which made us feel confused and even anxious at our lack of understanding. This made the artwork feel completely out of place.

We think the sculpture is here because the college believes in the efficacy of abstract art. Abstract art is meant to foster critical thinking because the meaning of the work is not clear on the surface. A college education requires nuanced thinking and demands that students gain access to new frameworks for processing information. Abstract art requires out-of-the box thinking to acquire meaning, which resembles our college learning process.

This artwork was commissioned by Ralph Martel, who attended CSI. It is possible that one of the reasons that CSI placed the sculpture there is to show students that they too are capable of being recognized for their accomplishments just as Ralph Martel was.

Jackson Mushnick, Gabriella Cota, Sasha Smolansky, Wilson Wu

On our walk around campus, our group found this statue that we thought to be reminiscent of a dolphin. It spoke to us because, although it was abstract, we believed that it served perfectly as an emblem for our school’s mascot, the dolphin. Its abstract nature also lent itself to the diversity of the CSI community. Although we are all different, it can be representative of the fact that we are united as students of the same school. In a similar vein, it does represent our campus, as we are all CSI dolphins. I think it is there both to beautify the campus and to send a message about our unity as a student body. As to who put it there, we believe that it was most likely an alum or donor–perhaps both.

 

Adriana Ndokaj, Amanda Alencastro, Angie Mekki, Sophia Hart