Assignment 4

While exploring Angel de Quinta's Stage Door blog, I found a few broadway performances that I really enjoyed. I appreciated reading about the beginning of the Tony awards, however a highlight for me was Liza Minnelli's performance on the show in 1978. It was upbeat and happy throughout with her spectacular vocals accompanying the unique dancing. I prefer it over a performance like "The Eleven O'clock Number." Quinta's review on "The Color Purple" included details on its evolution from a book, to movie, to broadway production. The videos he posted included beautiful songs, each with different styles, the next more modern than the one before. He was correct to say that the cast of the original broadway production was the show's ticket to success. They were phenomenal in the videos I saw. I've also appreciated the blue's style ever since learning about it in a music history class I took. Finally, Quinta mentions that the world has always had wars, injustice, racism, hunger, and inequality, but during the rise of broadway, people began to mention it. The entertainment industry is a great outlet to express political issues and reach the audiences emotions. He explained how "Cabaret" showed the hardships during Nazi Germany and that is has become one of the most important musicals in history. After reading about it, I will be sure to watch it sometime in the near future. (And "The Color Purple," too!)

Assignment 3

Pjotr Sapegin's Aria, inspired by Madame Butterfly, tells the writer's story in a concise, but effective manner. I thought Pjotr's style was quite unique. The short film did not contain dialogue and portrayed its meaning without the use of words; something that is no longer common in films. The video ended with the doll disembodying herself which breaks the fourth wall. It was a sad end, non-conforming to the usual "happy ending" seen in most movies and stories. Finally, the creator's use of lighting and music was a great way to prompt the viewer's emotions. Because it's a sad story, that is an important aspect of the success of this work.

Assignment 2

First, I watched a video of Marina Abramovic explaining how she realized she can use any medium for her art. She realized it while painting two-dimensional clouds and military planes flew through the sky creating artwork in the sky. She was inspired to use different techniques to create dimensional art, one of them being the human body. I think art has many forms and creating three-dimensional art can feel more freeing because you're not limited to a canvas. However, she mentioned something that stuck out to me: if she were to make a hierarchy of art, music would be on top, then performers, then any other art. That is interesting because it is an unconventional opinion and, at least personally, music and performance would be in a different category altogether than paintings and sculptures. I think she was saying that they are all forms of expression and in comparison to each other, music and performance are superior. 
Then, I watched Pierre Huyghe in "Romance". Huyghe mentioned how thresholds can be redefined or overall removed from artwork and he tried to display that in his museum exhibit. It was an interesting play on the idea with literal doors moving throughout the exhibit that he related to the idea of culture and its boundaries. He uses music, landscape, lights, parades, puppets, and more to portray his ideas to others. He says he is trying to reach emotions in his techniques rather than a simple narration. Something that was interesting to me is that he is not interested in filming reality as it is given or creating fiction, he wishes to create a reality and to film his reality. That is a very out-of-the-box idea and its something very unique to try and construct. 
Neither of these artists are ordinary and it is interesting to hear the stories of nonconventional artists and their points of view.