oliviamcpsarts

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Last Sunday, to conclude my Thanksgiving break, my parents and I went to go see the movie Jojo Rabbit at our local theater. We don’t often go to the movies, but mother and I are huge fans of writer, director, and Hitler actor Taika Waititi, so we planned this trip. We even convinced my father come with us! I did not expect the movie to have many sad and serious moments (even though it’s about Nazis), but the ones that did occur made me very emotional. Taika Waititi effectively brought hilarious comedy to a subject (Nazis) that are often taken too seriously while also not making light of the atrocities of the Holocaust. The message was extremely relevant for today (cause ew, there are Nazis again) and the movie was thoroughly enjoyable, I highly recommend.

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Last Sunday, I was invited by a friend to see the UMD Symphony Orchestra perform Holst’s The Planets. I am a big orchestral music fan, so this was a big treat. It was the first time I saw something to this scale performed live, and it was totally awesome:10/10 recommend. In the symphony, each of the seven planets represented (no Earth and no Pluto) gets its own musical representation based on astrology. I thought that I was not that familiar with Holst going in, but to my surprise the main theme of Jupiter was immediately recognizable from a popular hymn. All in all, this was a really fun experience, the symphony was impressively good, and I am happy I took time out of my busy schedule to see it

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Over the weekend, I satisfied my hunger for fine art by visiting the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Asian art, which together make up the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art. This was my first time at the museum, and I know that I have to go again sometime soon, because the collection was so vast that I couldn’t see everything in the few hours I was there. Along with East Asian art, the museum also housed South Asian, Middle Eastern art, and peculiarly some American art that interested the founder Charles Freer. As an archaeologist, the preservation quality of some of the artworks astounded me, especially the wood and paper from up to 1000 years ago (like the guardian dog in the middle picture). The intricacy of painting, carving, and embroidery patterns also blew me away; the craftsmanship of each piece reflected an extraordinary skill set and dedication.In addition to ancient artifacts, the museum also exhibited more contemporary artworks, illustrating both style changes over time and how artists draw inspiration from past culture.

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Last weekend, I joined some friends at SEE’s showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As is tradition, we all dressed up (to varying degrees) - I wore a cape. Although we had all seen the movie on our own, this was the first time any of us experienced it in a theater. Rocky Horror is unique in that it encourages audience participation in the form of “talk backs” where we would shout specific words and phrases at the screen. A few of the other audience members knew all of the talk backs, and they added an extra layer of humor to the movie. My friends and I are already talking about going to another showing or live show this month. 

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Saturday night, at the Clarice’s NextNow festival, I had an incredibly fun time at the silent disc-glo. With two DJs blasting music of different genres into color coded channels of noise-cancelling headphones, there was music that everyone could dance along to. It was my first time experiencing anything of the sort, and I have to say that removing the headphones and watching people dance to no music, or hearing only an accapella rendition of the current song by hundreds of people, was a truly surreal experience. I went to the event by myself, and since dancing alone is never fun, I joined a random group of people and we danced nonstop until 1 am. Without even knowing each other’s names until the music stopped, we became friends and later exchanged contact info in order to meet up and keep the party going. Experiencing the arts doesn’t have to be limited to formal performances and displays, sometimes just dancing along to a DJ’s original remix of Country Roads is enough.

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On Friday, I attended the spring showcase of Ethnobeat, a multicultural and multilingual acapella group here at UMD. I went to support my friend Adriana, a fellow Arts Scholar, and I had a super fun time! On par with their group theme, the songs they sung were in languages such as Mandarin, Hebrew, Spanish, and Danish. I really liked their rendition of Circle of Life from The Lion King, which has the intro and backing vocals sung in Swahili, probably because the movie was such a big part of my childhood. The whole event, especially the lip sync battle, was very fun and I will definitely attend their performances next year.

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As it is probably clear to see by now, I really love visiting art museums. I went home for Easter this weekend, so I took some time to visit the Walters Art Museum up in Baltimore. Pictured above are three pieces that just blew me away (all captioned). For the painting, I was familiar with other artist’s depictions of this biblical story, most notably those by Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi, but the use of light in this one was unlike anything I had seen before. The bust of Othello amazed me because his body is made of bronze while his clothing is carved out of white marble. I have no idea how the artist put the bronze inside of the marble, but it surely is beautiful. The Rose Trellis Faberge egg, one of the 50 Imperial eggs, was originally made as a gift for the Russian Czar to give to his wife as an Easter present (how relevant). It is extremely beautiful with tiny details and is practically covered with diamonds. The Walters Art Museum also has a second Imperial Egg (Gatchina Palace Egg) and so many other amazing works of art that made for an amazing experience.

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Over spring break, on Wednesday the 20th of March, my mom and I visited The Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. I am a big art fan, so I thought that the museum was really cool. Dalí’s surrealist paintings were full of optical illusions; so I could spend a long time staring at a painting, take a few steps back, and see a completely new image. They had a special exhibit that I really liked that displayed the works of Dalí and fellow surrealist René Magritte side by side and organized by theme. While I do like Dalí’s works, I think that I prefer Magritte for his less chaotic designs and calming color palette that seem to pull me into the scene (also I like birds). In all, this was an amazing experience that will Persist in my Memory.

p.s. click on the photos to read the captions

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On Sunday, I went home to watch my old high school’s spring musical production: Chicago (high school version). I was heavily involved with the productions through all four years at the school, so I wanted to show my support. With a new theatre director, many things had changed since I’d left, but most things remained familiar. I have to say that it was really weird being in the audience instead of backstage; there were a few moments when I had to control the urge to fix mistakes myself. As a whole, the show ran smoothly, all the leads were brilliant, and it made me proud to see my friends and former classmates shine.

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On Sunday I finally got the chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody on it’s make-up showing (its scheduled showing was cancelled due to snow) and, like dynamite with a laser beam, it blew my mind. I’ve been trying to see this film since it was released in theaters, and I am so glad that SEE provided me with this experience. Completely transfiguring into Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek’s performance was stunning and deserving of all the awards and accolades. As a biopic, I truly think that this film succeeding in showing the true spirit of Freddie and Queen. Of course, the soundtrack was amazing as well. Overall, I had a great experience watching Bohemian Rhapsody and I highly recommend the film.

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For a pre-finals relaxing trip this weekend, I went down to the the National Gallery of Art. I truly am very fortunate to be so close to a free museum full of rich artwork. Although I’ve been going since I was a child, I always manage to find new treasures in the Gallery. This time, I stumbled upon this horse painting by René Magritte. At first, it seemed out of place next to the Picassos, but when I looked closer, I noticed the optical illusion and surrealism of the piece. The second find wasn’t artistically significant - it looks like a lot of post-renaissance Italian artworks - but I found the position of Adam to be humorous and memeable in the 21st century. I always enjoy some good art, so this trip was fun and a good escape from a busy week.

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On Saturday, I had the fun experience of going back to my old high school to see Anne of Green Gables. I did a lot of shows an theatre classes in high school, so it was really nice seeing my friends who were still there. As an added bonus, I sat with one of best friend. The show was good despite my general disinterest in Anne’s story. I am super proud of the actors and crew members; they worked super hard and it showed. It was a great night and look forward to seeing the spring musical in a few months.

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Tonight, I saw the Disney Pixar's Coco, a movie that makes me feel all the emotions. I’m so happy that it was chosen to be the coffee and crafts activity. I have to say that it was super fun watching the reactions of the people who were watching Coco for the first time. It is also much more fun watching a movie on a big screen with other people, especially when there are snacks involved. Overall, it was a great experience.

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This past Saturday (October 6th) I took some much deserved time out of my busy schedule to enjoy the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden down on the Mall in DC with one of my friends. There, we ate lunch on a bench before walking around the garden. While I have visited the Sculpture Garden before, my friend hadn’t, so it was very interesting seeing the art for the first time through his perspective. Out of all of the sculptures, two in particular stand out to me: Sol LeWitt’s Four-Sided Pyramid (1997) and Typewriter Eraser, Scale X (1998) by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. I like the pyramid because of it’s aesthetically pleasing geometric design, and because it is a modern version of the great pyramids of Mesoamerica or Egypt. On the other hand, I love the whimsical nature of the typewriter eraser. When I was little, I thought that it was a sculpture of a weird pizza cutter because the once common item that the artist magnified in the piece is now extinct.  

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This past Friday (9-14-18), my sister and I went down to East City Bookshop down in DC for an amazing discussion and Q&A with Ngozi Ukazu, creator of the popular webcomic and now published book Check Please!. The event was everything I wanted and more; Ngozi is such a funny and charismatic person, and it was an amazing experience meeting her. After a quick presentation of what the book is about, she took a sharpie and drew a few beloved characters on a large easel. One of which, as per audience suggestion, riding a shark. Check Please! is Ngozi’s debut publication, and this was the first event of her book tour, but she still did exceptionally well. After the Q&A was over, everybody lined up for a book signing. While signing my book, Ngozi did a little doodle of the main character and we were able to have a brief conversation that left both of us laughing. Everything about this event was amazing and i am so, so glad that I went.

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The 2018 NextNOW Fest at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center was a great experience. I had the pleasure of experiencing Osman Koc’s interactive art installation and musical performances by Ari Lennox and CupcakKe. 

1) Q: What did you see/hear/learn that was completely new to you? A: Walking into the dark room of Osman Koc’s exhibit, I could see the zippered line projected onto the wall twist and bend with each step. The virtual representation of noise with shapes and movement was a type of art that I had never seen before. I thought it was insanely cool how, with each word spoken, white bubbles would burst out of the center, leading the audience to experiment with noise in a completely new and creative fashion.

2) Q: What was your favorite performance/experience? Why was it your favorite? A: The CupcakKe performance was definitely my favorite because of the bright and energetic atmosphere created. CupcakKe has such a strong stage presence, that she could have sat down and read from the dictionary and the theater would still be packed. During her performance, I got to have fun with friends and experience the unforgettable. 

3) Q: How might one or more of the performances/experiences relate to the Arts Scholars theme of Migrations: Populations and Practices on the Move? A: Musical artists often have to spend a lot of time on the road, travelling from city to city for performances. CupcakKe is one such artist facing the difficulties of living on the move; over an hour late due to weather problems, she arrived at NextNOW straight from the airport. However, she still managed to give an admirable performance full of energy and unforeseen stamina.