Quarter 4 Museum/Gallery Visit

This summer I visited a gallery of one of Russian art colleges. Some of the things I took away from it were...

1) I walked in there thinking that it wouldn’t be that great. I mean, this was just an art college and these artists were just students. After my experience with Tate Modern where even a mirror was considered art, I didn’t expect much from people who just graduated from high school. To my surprise, I was wrong. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” proved to be right once again. I realized that even though such a famous place like Tate Modern was disappointing, it didn’t mean that a less famous place would be even worse. 

2) I walked out of there so incredibly proud of Russian artists, even though they were just students. What I saw at the gallery shocked me to the point of not believing that the displayed art was actually created by 19 and 20 year old students. This was one of the strongest moments of patriotism I think I’ve ever experienced. After visiting a number of galleries in different countries of the world, I realized that this was the most exciting experience. I was surrounded by such talented people and I was lucky enough to be the same nationality as them. 

3) I’ve never thought much of reproductions of famous paintings. After all, they were just copies that didn’t require any creative process. However, I saw how much these students were able to learn from copying famous paintings. The amount of skill needed to copy impressionist, romantic, and baroque works is incredible. And frankly, if I saw these copies at any other museum, I would think that these were originals, that’s how good they were. Copying great art does teach young students a lot; plus, after trying so many styles, it is easy for these students to discover themselves as artists. After working with different art, all these talented kids will be able to find a style that suits them and work in that style for years to come. 

4) Another thing that turned out to be different about making modern art was its predictability. One of the students said that sometimes, he thinks that what he is making will never become a good painting when suddenly, he realizes that the piece is done and it’s beautiful. For me, it’s never like that. If I think that my piece is bad quality, it will most likely be bad quality when I finish it. This says a lot about how unpredictable modern art is. You have no plan, no photograph to work from, no idea what’s going to happen next. I love this concept of spontaneity. 

AP 2D Design PowerPoint Anna Sorokina

Citizen Kane - the greatest of the great?

The reason Citizen Kane is considered the greatest movie ever made might be because of its incredible techinal achievements. Indeed, its use of deep focus, "prismatic" non-linear narrative structure, as well as the novelty of camera angles all contribute to the movie's "greatness". However, should a film without a central plot or an antagonist still receive so much praise? Perhaps, back in the 1940s, the level of professionality with which Citizen Kane was created, overcasted the lack of story and the audience's emphathy for the character. Nowadays, most movie-goers are spoiled by everything from The Godfather to Starwars, where compelling stories are combined with mindblowing special effects and thought-through angles. It is not so easy to impress one with a humble film from the 40s that cannot be easily understood by an average person. The reason it is "the greatest movie", however, is because it is rated as such by critics who have the seen the way this film changed world cinematography at the time. For those of us who aren't film buffs this fact would be rather unknown and therefore, underappreciated.