"art"ists; memoir of class 1

With the sun striking us hard, we left the classroom to explore the campus of Yale on the afternoon of July 7th. It was only my 4th day since the first arrival, and my heart pounded with joy for the adventure to come. 

Music

Knowing the shortcut to walk through the Schwartzman Center to the Yale art gallery, we were able to have a little look at the Woolsey concert hall. 

The harmony of the brass band playing a rhythmic tune calmed me down for a little while. Knowing that the hall is scarcely open, especially during the summer, I truly felt lucky to be able to go in to see the astonishing view of the combined art of the architectural beauty and the sound they created in it. I could not stop wishing how great it would be if I was able to play a piece of orchestral music on such a beautiful occasion as I belong to Waseda's orchestra back in my home university in Japan, as a violinist. Since it was a brass band, I would love to see the orchestra at some point too. 

Good hall always contributes to the creation of great music - this was what the Woolsey hall had made me re-recognize. I loved how the hall seemed to even encourage us to listen to each one of their stories with the music too. 

Walking some more and as we headed to the art gallery, there was the secret building. Although I thought it would not be a secret if everyone knew it was a secret, the looks of it as a plain building, actually looked as if it were of a different nature. The Caligula effect worked well enough on me, that I felt like running to the door and discovering what people do inside. I was surprised to find my such a repulsive feelings. Usually, I do not mind being prohibited to do something unless it had a meaning great enough on me. When I thought of the reason, I came to understand that the normal life I spend here at Yale and in Japan is totally different, where I feel more freedom. This sense of being free may have caused me to go against it somehow. 

Digital art

As we turned the corner, we came across a workshop, where we were able to change our backgrounds into whatever collage that we had created with papers using the application Zoom. I've designed something that the view of the sea is on a frame, where right top corner is torn.  I am popping out of the ripped page. Although the completed format is not yet to be seen, the excitement is filling me up.

→ 6/13 I have got the picture now, and I realized that I was ripping a page more than I expected it to be! With the frame being a right square, more than I expected I saw the difficulty in the combinaiton between physical and digital art. 

My background was meant to be something with a frame, where I planned myself to be in the white area around the corner. Yet, it was still great to find out that being unable to imagine the completed format creates a new meaning when it is done!

Historical art

The art gallery was simply astonishing. Due to the time schedule, we were only capable of looking around the ground floor and some of the second floor. With myself having completed an art exhibition during the IB Diploma course, I was able to look a little into the curational work from a technical point of view. For instance, it was for the audiences to look into the eye of a figure in the work, when they turned a corner. The gallery seemed precisely planned. 

Moreover, each section had a different  theme, such as the form of art including The western paintings were lively with vivid colours as if telling a story of their own.

As I looked around the first floor, I was reminding the best friend of mine in Japan. She is currently a student, studying art to enter Tokyo University of Art. It is the most difficult university in Japan to get into, at least more than Tokyo University. 

Seeing my friend failing in the last year's exam (it's normal in Japan to fail in this university, in fact there are a lot of people who studys more than 3 years just to get into the university), I see and know how hard she is struggling to create a piece of her own especially around these days. She draws for more than 8 hours a day at the prep school almost without any breaks, and she even draws one after she gets home. She draws sculpture mainly and looking at those reminded me on how she may be drawing at the moment. 

This made me feel that I must be more open to whatever I could learn here at Yale. I knew I had to be trying hard too, otherwise, I would be ashamed of myseld. At the same time, I thanked her, for I know how to appreciate the work. I was aware that there are stories of people who struggled to create an expression of their own behind the works, and I could imagine a story. 

Later on, looking at the religious paintings, the question that I had been thinking for a long time has passed through. It is "who is a real artist?". In the past times, many painters were hired to draw the religous paintings and/or portraits of the high class. In religious cases, it was for people to easily picture the stories in the bible, and in portraits, it was to show they had power in society. It was until the time of Henri Matisse, that people attempted to pursue realism, as photos replaced the role of picturing one scene. However, seeing their technique as close as one centimeter, it was completed to every single detail. Today, artists are defined as "people with great creativity to express whatever they feel". However, I thought these painters who produced paintings with great techniques should also be called as "art"ists. 

With the diversing society with art, the definition of art today may become even broader. Art may become something of a borderless manner, not dividing them each by fields such as in music and visual art, but more of a creative piece.