Other Pictures

View of Empire State Building from my window.

Central Park ("The Playground for the Wealthy")

"In the late 1800's Central park was named "The playground for the wealthy" because no one could afford to live uptown then unless they were wealthy. Central Park is known as "the most famous park in the United States and one of the most famous parks in the world." Although I have been to the park many times, each time I go there it reminds me how beautiful the nature is in new york city (behind all of those buildings). My favorite time to go is in the fall when the leaves change color and the weather is perfect. Since I've been living at the city I meet up with my dad (who lives near central park) at least once a week and take a walk through the park. There is so much to do in the park from just hanging out to different types of activity. There are great biking and running paths, free-lance artists, playgrounds, baseball fields, etc. "The construction of the park began in 1857", and it now covers over "840 acres", starting from 59th-110th street. It is such a great advantage to be able to turn your head from loud honking cars, and subways to simply beautiful nature.

Here are a few pictures I have taken in the park...

Citation: Kinkead, Eugene:"Central Park"  The Birth,Decline,And Renewal Of a National Treasure.

Fashion Night Out!

                 Since the first day of school at FIT, students have been raving about Fashion Week, and who’s doing what event, when, and where. Students have the great opportunity at FIT to sign up for internships or volunteer events where there are top models, top fashion, great networking for future careers, training and more. It sounds like a great experience, especially if you are interested in fashion! FIT students waited on lines that were up to three hours long to sign up for events. “The four fashion capitals of the world New York, Milan, London, and Paris all hold Fashion Week twice a year. The first fashion week was in New York City, held in 1943. It gives the opportunity to fashion designers brands to display their latest collections in shows and buyers to take a look at the latest trends”. Unfortunately, the event I signed up for was canceled but I was still able to enjoy “Fashion Night Out”. My fashion night consisted of my friend and I going in and out of almost every store on Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and Fifth Avenue at stores such as Macys, Barneys, Sax, Forever 21, and Steve Madden. There were some great discounts, few random model encounters, a DJ at almost every store, and even some dancing.

Even this little girl was ready for Fashion Night Out!

Citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_week

Chelsea

Today, I decided to check out the Chelsea Area. First, I went to 9th and 10th avenue and 15th and 16th street where the Chelsea food Market is. 

My intention was only to look around because my friend wanted to go in and I had already eaten, but I could not resist the aroma of fresh baked pastries every corner you turned. There were so many different selections of foods including fresh baked breads and Pastries. As I walked through the market, I read the platforms on the wall, giving me some insight on the history of food market. It has been around since the 1890’s and started as the National Biscuit Company. Eventually, the old ovens had to be replaced and have been working since at the Chelsea Market. Originally, the building of the market was the Nabisco factory, where the Oreo Cookie was created. and then in 1997 it became what is now Chelsea Market. Today, the upper level floors are offices for big companies such as “EMI” music production and the “TV Food Network”. 

After the Market, I headed over to the Chelsea Piers. It was really nice to get a change from the city and hang out in a calm relaxing scene overlooking the hudson river where boats have been docking since the early 1900’s. In fact, the Piers was the intended destination of the Titanic ship- which I thought was pretty cool! The piers hold many different centers such as a sports center, golf club, a spa, and a skatepark. 

Here are a few pictures of the Market and the Piers.

Citations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Piers

MoMA

        I decided to take a trip to The Museum of Modern Art, since well... we get in for free, and also because the MoMA has always been one of my favorite museums because of its variety of work including photography, film, architecture, paintings, and sculpture. Since I only had so little time before class I decided to quickly glance upon some of the contemporary artwork- which consists of work from the 1960‘s-present. I came across some of Andy Warhols work, and how he focuses on repetition. Much of his work consisting of repetition was inspired because of his “desire to be a machine

<--...as you can see from his “Campbell's Soup Cans” art piece.

& then again, in his "AIDS" wallpaper piece...-->

            

Modern Stairway in the Museum

              After checking out some other work i moved on to the Matisse Exhibit. Henri Matisse was a french artist who used various types of mediums to create artwork such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Matisse was known for his cubism artwork which was composed of mainly flat geometric shapes, and focused on space and form. I love the colors he uses in his paintings, and how they were not always in harmony with the natural color of the subject.

Here is one of my favorite works of art by Matisse. It is called “La Desserte” and it was copied from Russian painter, Jan Davidz’s original painting. 

(Here you can see how he uses Geometric shapes to formulate the composition).

Cites: www.moma.org 

Some volunteer work comes with awesome benefits.

               If you have a desire to learn about the french language, culture, food, or even see amazing french films for FREE I suggest joining the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). As I was recently walking between Madison and Park Avenue I spotted the school, and because I have always wanted to learn the french language I decided to join! Started in the turn of the 20th century, the Main goal of the Institute is to promote French culture, language, art and bring together French and American interaction. After joining I decided to volunteer for their “Fall Festival: Farm City Fair” which is an event held presenting work from new and upcoming french and american artists, and also celebrating Urban Agriculture, seeing the work of farmers, chefs, and architects. I had the opportunity to eat the most exotic foods i have ever tasted...(Baguette-Goat Cheese Ice cream)..sounds weird but it was so divine. Even better, I was able to try a delicious meal consisting of a poached egg, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, and the perfect amount of basil made by the famous chef, Wylie Dufresne. Inside the building there was some of the most unique and abstract art I have ever seen, created by french and american artists. 

http://www.fiaf.org/crossingtheline/2010/documents/CTL10-DufresneMenu.pdf

(Heres the link to Chef Wylie Dufresne’s recipe that I tasted at the Fair)

-This is a picture of compost getting ready to be set onto a canvas to become a compost painting, or a “natural by product”. This is done by compost painter Andrew Casner.

-These sculptures were created by French artist Mathilde Roussel-Giraudy. They were created with real grass grown and then sculpted.

Some More Pictures...

Body Exhibit

                For those of you who have not been to the Body Exhibit, you should go! It's located on the south street seaport Pier 17. If you want to know about your body, how it works and functions-this museum will teach you everything about the human body. I was a bit skeptical on the actuality of the bodies and how they were claimed to be "real" human bodies. However, they were REAL...every veign, muscle, blood, tissue, bone...etc. Most of the bodies had been molded in different ways to show the way bones and muscles are connected and how one thing injured in your body can trigger and affect other parts of the body. You really begin to learn about the wonders of the systems working in your body such as the circulatory, Digestive, and Reproduction system. The only part of the exhibit that really freaked me out was when they showed a real fetus and the development of the fetus. All of the bodies are fixed with chemicals to stop any decay and then preserved in a permanent silicone. The biggest wonder I had was where did these bodies come from? I attempted to find the answer, but couldn't get a legitimate response from any of the workers. When I went home I researched and found out there is a lot of controversy. "The bodies are preserved and cleaned in several factories in China and sent to the different exhibits around the world. As more factories open up in China there is more competition among body show producers"... and the exhibits have been questioned repeatedly on where the bodies actually came from. According to the New York Times 2006 article by David Barboza, "the museums are using bodies of mentally ill people and executed prisoners. Bodies were found in the city of Dandong, in a farmers yard. The people using the bodies were being paid by foreigners and illegally preserving the bodies". Besides the weird rumors and controversies, I thought the exhibit was very interesting!


Some Pictures...

Citations: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/business/worldbusiness/08bodies.html