Museum of Moving Image- Blog Post

      I've been to the Museum of Moving Image countless times in the past. This museum is my absolute favorite one in the city and I often find myself wandering there when I need a dose of inspiration! My favorite exhibit in this entire building is one that is recently added, the Feral Fount by Greg Barsamian. 

Barsamian's 3D sculpture is essentially a really big zoetrope. A zoetrope is a a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that when it is viewed through slits with a cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous movement. The "Feral Font" exhibit is like this...but on a grand scale. Strobe lights take the place of the slits in a dark room, which gives your eyes resting time to make the sculpture come to life. This illustrates the phenomena of "persistence of vision". A characteristic of human perception where an image remains on the eye's retina for a quick second after it disappears, allowing us to see continuous moving images event thought it is not actually moving.

This is always the coolest thing to view for me. When everyone was looking at it I felt just as excited as they did like I was seeing it for the first time! 

Right next to this exhibit the museum offers an interactive area in which you can create your own flip book- which I also find to be super cute for younger kids!

I love that this museum is really interactive and intend on taking advantage of the free pass we were given really soon (especially since they have a Cat exhibit now!)

Audio Portrait!

Assignment #2: "What I Hear"

As someone who works from home, while living with six people, it is safe to say that sound is something I am often challenged with. This assignment was incredibly stimulating for me because I would never (unless prompted by my Media class) sit down for an hour and just listen to what I would call ‘dead air’. Born and raised in the city makes us all exceedingly insensitive to the things we hear, and even the things we see- since we hear and see so much at such a fast pace. The hardest part of this assignment, besides of course sitting down for an hour with no motive, was having to choose where to go. Of course I naturally wanted to choose an environment that would be the most interesting to write about like Times Square but then I remembered that something I want to get out of this assignment is a change in perspective, so I chose to sit in my living room for an hour. As I mentioned I live with my family, which consists if six unforgivingly loud people, two cats, and one really curious Beagle.

I decided to sit down on the couch at the crossroads of the apartment (the living room) during peak hours (5pm).

I grabbed water and just sat.

And sat.

And sat.

This was by far the longest hour I’ve ever endured (College hours included!)

As time went on I remember thinking about how many different sounds create the comforting home I am so used to. My nephew playing video games, my mother watching re-runs of her favorite TV narrative, my sister and her husband laughing in their own space, my dog playing with his favorite toys... so many different sounds that had so many different meanings. It made me realize that my apartment was a mix of many different textures, many different emotions and many different voices and it created what I believe to be a collage of emotion for me, as it never had before.  I thought about what makes this specific space, in this very large city so special to me personally and then I was reminded of the answer with every single small sound I would hear. 

I went into this believing that listening to dead air was going to be a grueling task and although I probably would not voluntarily do it again I can honestly say that this task make me realize that no air is dead- there is always something to appreciate if you just listen.

Define a Space Project!

Click here to view my "Define a Space" project!

Artist Statement!

I'm not really the 'traditionally' creative type (but what does that even mean these days, right?)

  I just know that when people look at me they don't see the next Frida Kahlo or Patti Lupone but, I don't care. I learned early on in my academic career that life is about letting the right things into your heart, especially if you're obligated to sit in a class room for months on end- which is why I declared myself a theatre minor in my sophomore year. Theatre has taught me that emotional response is not only acceptable but an incredible sign of strength, ability and discipline. It has inspired me to stand up and accept myself for whatever I wanted to be, in any role that I wished to play. As a young girl, growing up in the South Bronx made me appreciate the beauty that is associated with struggle and grittiness. I always loved the idea of creating pieces of script that completely challenge what people think is normal or obvious because I feel like I do that myself every single day. There is something appealing to me about turning things upside down and giving them a bit of a shake. 

Blank pages makes me happy. 

Blank pages inspire me. 

The blank lines on a piece of paper mean freedom and boundless possibility. 

My experiences and the ideas I often find myself spitting up on paper are always those memories that I never considered sharing out loud...how exciting is that?

This is ultimately what I need to show you-my world, through my eyes... 

So let's go! 

-E