The MET

Our last outing to the MET was quite an adventure, especially getting stuck in the tsunami before getting there. One thing that really caught my eye was the whole Central America room. It was full of my favorite, gold! The first two were from the tomb of the Sican people. It was a mask made out of gold and copper, used for funeral purposes. Next was a nose chain made by the people of Peru made out of silver, gold and shells. Another was what used to be a necklace made out of tiny Cast gold frogs from the Aztec people. Did you know, in those times frogs were a symbol of water and fertility. All of these pieces were amazing, especially because they were from a time where they didn't have the technology and equipment to make jewelry and trinkets like we do today. My favorite though, was the female lion pendant made out of gold and greenstone inlay. It was truly beautiful and it was only a privilege to have any gold in those times, only chiefs in Panama were able to get their hands on them.

Field Trip #4

Today, we visited the sculpture center right over the bridge. This museum was very different from all the others. The one exhibit that most interested me was the "Cyclone Fence" created in 1968. Not only was it the biggest one, but it was placed right in the middle of the huge warehouse. It was long strip of fence, twisted in an odd manner. The space that it was in, being so wide open, made it impossible not to notice it. Being that we were in a former trolley repair shop, the feel and look of metal was all over, so this work fit right in. I think if this work was in a different setting, it wouldn't quite fit and give you the same feeling. The other ropes and water filled wheelbarrows add to the excitement and give it a real construction-y feel.

Field trip #3 - Design In Our Lives

It's amazing how art controls so many aspects of our lives. Artists sometimes create things just to be gazed at and some artists have a different way of working. Functionality also comes into play when creating a work of art. Some artists create designs with purpose to be used as more than beauty and in the MoMA we see many different examples of this.

As soon as I walked in, the first one I noticed was called "Design for an Overpopulated Planet" by Anthony Dunne (2009). It was a group of odd green tubes and shapes that explored what it would be like to have to live off things that weren't exactly looked at as edible, such as grass. Using this equipment, we could live off of resources like animals do. The one that really caught my attention was worn over the face with 2 tubes coming down with a mouth piece and a long tube worn over your back, with a handle. Though they were cool to look at, I'm not sure the world is ready for this low functional art exhibit.

Next was the "X-IT Emergency Escape Ladder" by Aldo DiBelardino, Ezio DiBelardino and Andrew Ive (1997). Unlike the first design, this could actually be useful in our modern day world. It was an aluminum and fabric, a ladder that could be used to escape out the window in case of an emergency. Better safe than sorry!

Last, was the "Puma Bike" from the Puma Tribanded Collection (2004). This could potentially be really useful for someone who normally uses a bike as mode for transportation. This bike actually folds into a handheld bike you can carry; extremely functionally especially for someone living in a small apartment aka most of New York City!