Day 3: "The Artist is Present"
The morning got off to a rocky start when I woke up slightly sick, but a few Tylenol later I was ready to go. Since I was taking it easy, I left a lot later than I wanted to. My intention was to take the cruise around the harbor and get some great pictures and the boat leaves at 11, 1, and 3 and I left Monica's place at 10 when I needed to be in line for the boat at 10:30.
So I got to Times Square at 10:27 and still had a few blocks before I would be at the Pier so I just decided to wait for the 1 p.m. I needed some stuff from the drugstore so I did some "shopping" and then because it was such a long wait I decided to walk to the pier rather than catch the bus.
After all that I still managed to get to the Pier before 11--I must really be adjusting. So I sat in the terminal watching the dock move and a couple of the ferry's come in and out until about 11:45 and walked back over to Pier 83 where the Circle Line leaves. I decided to not leave the Pier because it wasn't as much time as it sounds and I have this tendency to get miserably lost and I didn't want today to be a repeat of yesterday even though I was slightly more flexible today.
At Pier 83 I decided to take a few pictures of the Pier and realized, when my camera wouldn't turn on, that I had left the battery in the wall plug-in in Queens.
F.
But I got in line for the tour anyway because I figured why let the ticket go to waste. It was then that I remembered that the ticket doesn't expire for one year from when I got it so I can wait. So my plan is to do that on Monday, with the battery in my camera and hopefully get some amazing photos from the water.
Once I realized I didn't need to do the tour I decided to head back to Times Square to see what kind of shenanigans I could get into. So I got on the bus back and went to the New York City Public Library.
I. Am. Crazy!
It is a beautiful library though! The architecture is amazing and the ceilings are all painted; it is, by far, the most gorgeous library I have ever been inside. Not very accessible, but amazing, yes. I was walking around on the lower level and I saw a sign that said guided tours and then I saw a big group of people walking through the hall and figured my timing, for once, was perfect.
It was a tour of the library for a group of French tourists. The whole tour was in French. They were all touring together. They knew I hadn't been with them the whole time. They knew I didn't speak French.
I have no idea what any of the stories behind the library are, but it is lovely.
When the tour was over, my group left to continue speaking French and I re-read the sign and it was a guided tour for the exhibit that was behind it. So I grabbed a pamphlet and went inside. "Mapping New York's Shoreline: Celebrating the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's Exploration of the Waterways of New York." It was pretty interesting, my favorite part was that a lot of the lighthouses were originally operated by women.
I decided to head over to Museum Mile. It was 2:30 but I knew I would need all the time I could get to figure out what train I needed to be on and to get down there.
I got off the train right in front of Central Park on 5th Avenue and walked towards the Plaza Hotel where they have all the horse and carriages lined up down the street. I think it's one of my favorite parts of the city so far. I caught myself doing the baby-talk-dog voice that I do when I talk to any dog to a giant horse that was wearing a pink pom-pom on his head.
I walked down 5th Avenue past all the really expensive shopping stores like Louis Vuitton and Bergdorf Goodman; Trump Tower is on that street. I finally go to the Museum of Modern Art and was relieved to see the line for Free Friday nights was only 15 people and started to walk to the back when I noticed the end was roped off. The line continued after the driveway and wrapped around the block. But I was early enough that they let us all in and the line moved really quickly. I like Modern Art, and even if I didn't it's the MOMA!
It was amazing!!
I read a review on the MOMA and the writer said to take the elevator to the top and to work downwards to avoid a huge crush of people so I did that and it wasn't too bad. There were tons of people, but it could have been worse.
The sixth floor of the MOMA holds the special collections and featured right now are Henri Cartier-Bresson's "The Modern Century" and Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present." I really liked a lot of Cartier-Bresson's photographs. There were some really incredible shots, but the entire collection represented a majority of the world during a specific countries time of upheaval and what the landscape looked like, and how the people responded. It was brilliant.
Abramovic's collection is very different. She and her collaberator, Ulay, have experimented with sound and using their bodies as the subject of the piece. It's very unique and interesting. My favorite was a part called "Lying with the Skeleton," I believe, there was a girl lying with a skeleton on top of her. It may be on you had to see, but I thought it was very moving. All but two of the live human art were nude, which is possibly why we weren't allowed to take pictures. There was another one of a girl, totally naked, sitting on a bicycle seat lifted up on the wall with her arms stretched out. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that was. The rest of her art, what you've probably heard in the news or read in the papers was on floor 2 and I saw it.
The fifth and fourth floors are both dedicated to paintings and sculptures from the late nineteenth century to the present day. I saw van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "The Olive Trees"--I LOVE van Gogh. Jasper John's "Flag" was there and it's gorgeous! I didn't understand Jackson Pollock before, but I've never seen anything in person and now that I have I get it. It's really incredible. It looks like an elementary way to paint and like the pieces may just be total crap, but it's actually really technical and completely fabulous when you're staring right at them. One of the murals took up a good majority of an entire wall! It was stunning!
Norman Lewis is now my new favorite painter. Or at least the painter of my new favorite painting. Phantasy II is so incredible I almost touched it. It looks like Jazz. It looks exactly the way Jazz looks in my head when I hear and sing it. I've included a picture at the end.
My favorite floor was the third. It was all photography and the featured photos were all taken by women. There were some amazing pictures! I've included pictures of my favorites down below, but I spent a lot of time in this section.
The second floor holds the Picasso collection and Picasso-inspired works and abstract art which really isn't my thing but it was great to be in the same room with Picasso.
But! Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present" was continued on this floor. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen! She sits in a chair and interacts with anyone who wants to be apart of the art. By interacts I mean the person sits in a chair opposite her and she stares at them. I was determined to figure it out or feel something so I was going to watch one person from beginning to end. I only lasted 30 minutes watching one guy before I had to see the rest of the museum and leave because I was starving. I walked to the rest of the second floor and out to the garden behind the museum. Sat down there for a good ten minutes before going back inside. I decided to see if there was a new person in the exhibit, but it was the same guy! I walked around the entire exhibit again; it was interesting to watch her face and then see it from the sides and his face. By the time I left the museum he had been sitting there for 50 minutes.
I don't get it.
But it was great to see. It's a part of history now and I saw it! I took pictures before they told me it wasn't allowed!
I walked back out towards the park to get the train back to Queens and bought a hot dog. Off a cart. And I was so starving I didn't get a picture of it. It barely made it back to the stairs in front of the water at the Plaza Hotel. It was just a regular hot dog but I haven't eaten since Monday so yeah. It was the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.
When I got onto the platform to get the train someone asked me for directions and I gave them! They were right too, I know they were!! It was easy; the guy wanted to know which side of the platform to be on if he was going to 34th St. and since I was going to Queens he should have been on the other side. I. Am. Awesome!
Kidding, that was bare bones basic. Every time I get on the platform it's the wrong side so I don't know anything.
Tomorrow's goal: I have a ticket for The Phantom of the Opera tomorrow at 2. I will be sitting outside the Majestic at 12:30 waiting for it to start so I don't get lost and am late because I really will toss myself in front of a cab--the yellow ones really don't stop. And the Guggenheim has a pay what you wish time from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. and since tonight was such a wild success I'm going to try that one. The Guggenheim. I love it already.
A few of my favorite pictures:
Bergdorf Goodman window display. Gorgeous!
Marina Abramovic's "The Arist is Present." The artist is in the white dress.
Banner outside the MOMA.
Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night."
Norman Lewis' "Phantasy II" It looks like Jazz! I LOVE it!
Jackson Pollack "Full fathom five thy father lies;/Of his bones are coral made;/Those are pearls that were his eyes." Who sees the button?
Andy Warhol.
Jan Groover. I like this because I take pictures like this.
So I got to Times Square at 10:27 and still had a few blocks before I would be at the Pier so I just decided to wait for the 1 p.m. I needed some stuff from the drugstore so I did some "shopping" and then because it was such a long wait I decided to walk to the pier rather than catch the bus.
After all that I still managed to get to the Pier before 11--I must really be adjusting. So I sat in the terminal watching the dock move and a couple of the ferry's come in and out until about 11:45 and walked back over to Pier 83 where the Circle Line leaves. I decided to not leave the Pier because it wasn't as much time as it sounds and I have this tendency to get miserably lost and I didn't want today to be a repeat of yesterday even though I was slightly more flexible today.
At Pier 83 I decided to take a few pictures of the Pier and realized, when my camera wouldn't turn on, that I had left the battery in the wall plug-in in Queens.
F.
But I got in line for the tour anyway because I figured why let the ticket go to waste. It was then that I remembered that the ticket doesn't expire for one year from when I got it so I can wait. So my plan is to do that on Monday, with the battery in my camera and hopefully get some amazing photos from the water.
Once I realized I didn't need to do the tour I decided to head back to Times Square to see what kind of shenanigans I could get into. So I got on the bus back and went to the New York City Public Library.
I. Am. Crazy!
It is a beautiful library though! The architecture is amazing and the ceilings are all painted; it is, by far, the most gorgeous library I have ever been inside. Not very accessible, but amazing, yes. I was walking around on the lower level and I saw a sign that said guided tours and then I saw a big group of people walking through the hall and figured my timing, for once, was perfect.
It was a tour of the library for a group of French tourists. The whole tour was in French. They were all touring together. They knew I hadn't been with them the whole time. They knew I didn't speak French.
I have no idea what any of the stories behind the library are, but it is lovely.
When the tour was over, my group left to continue speaking French and I re-read the sign and it was a guided tour for the exhibit that was behind it. So I grabbed a pamphlet and went inside. "Mapping New York's Shoreline: Celebrating the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's Exploration of the Waterways of New York." It was pretty interesting, my favorite part was that a lot of the lighthouses were originally operated by women.
I decided to head over to Museum Mile. It was 2:30 but I knew I would need all the time I could get to figure out what train I needed to be on and to get down there.
I got off the train right in front of Central Park on 5th Avenue and walked towards the Plaza Hotel where they have all the horse and carriages lined up down the street. I think it's one of my favorite parts of the city so far. I caught myself doing the baby-talk-dog voice that I do when I talk to any dog to a giant horse that was wearing a pink pom-pom on his head.
I walked down 5th Avenue past all the really expensive shopping stores like Louis Vuitton and Bergdorf Goodman; Trump Tower is on that street. I finally go to the Museum of Modern Art and was relieved to see the line for Free Friday nights was only 15 people and started to walk to the back when I noticed the end was roped off. The line continued after the driveway and wrapped around the block. But I was early enough that they let us all in and the line moved really quickly. I like Modern Art, and even if I didn't it's the MOMA!
It was amazing!!
I read a review on the MOMA and the writer said to take the elevator to the top and to work downwards to avoid a huge crush of people so I did that and it wasn't too bad. There were tons of people, but it could have been worse.
The sixth floor of the MOMA holds the special collections and featured right now are Henri Cartier-Bresson's "The Modern Century" and Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present." I really liked a lot of Cartier-Bresson's photographs. There were some really incredible shots, but the entire collection represented a majority of the world during a specific countries time of upheaval and what the landscape looked like, and how the people responded. It was brilliant.
Abramovic's collection is very different. She and her collaberator, Ulay, have experimented with sound and using their bodies as the subject of the piece. It's very unique and interesting. My favorite was a part called "Lying with the Skeleton," I believe, there was a girl lying with a skeleton on top of her. It may be on you had to see, but I thought it was very moving. All but two of the live human art were nude, which is possibly why we weren't allowed to take pictures. There was another one of a girl, totally naked, sitting on a bicycle seat lifted up on the wall with her arms stretched out. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that was. The rest of her art, what you've probably heard in the news or read in the papers was on floor 2 and I saw it.
The fifth and fourth floors are both dedicated to paintings and sculptures from the late nineteenth century to the present day. I saw van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "The Olive Trees"--I LOVE van Gogh. Jasper John's "Flag" was there and it's gorgeous! I didn't understand Jackson Pollock before, but I've never seen anything in person and now that I have I get it. It's really incredible. It looks like an elementary way to paint and like the pieces may just be total crap, but it's actually really technical and completely fabulous when you're staring right at them. One of the murals took up a good majority of an entire wall! It was stunning!
Norman Lewis is now my new favorite painter. Or at least the painter of my new favorite painting. Phantasy II is so incredible I almost touched it. It looks like Jazz. It looks exactly the way Jazz looks in my head when I hear and sing it. I've included a picture at the end.
My favorite floor was the third. It was all photography and the featured photos were all taken by women. There were some amazing pictures! I've included pictures of my favorites down below, but I spent a lot of time in this section.
The second floor holds the Picasso collection and Picasso-inspired works and abstract art which really isn't my thing but it was great to be in the same room with Picasso.
But! Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present" was continued on this floor. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen! She sits in a chair and interacts with anyone who wants to be apart of the art. By interacts I mean the person sits in a chair opposite her and she stares at them. I was determined to figure it out or feel something so I was going to watch one person from beginning to end. I only lasted 30 minutes watching one guy before I had to see the rest of the museum and leave because I was starving. I walked to the rest of the second floor and out to the garden behind the museum. Sat down there for a good ten minutes before going back inside. I decided to see if there was a new person in the exhibit, but it was the same guy! I walked around the entire exhibit again; it was interesting to watch her face and then see it from the sides and his face. By the time I left the museum he had been sitting there for 50 minutes.
I don't get it.
But it was great to see. It's a part of history now and I saw it! I took pictures before they told me it wasn't allowed!
I walked back out towards the park to get the train back to Queens and bought a hot dog. Off a cart. And I was so starving I didn't get a picture of it. It barely made it back to the stairs in front of the water at the Plaza Hotel. It was just a regular hot dog but I haven't eaten since Monday so yeah. It was the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.
When I got onto the platform to get the train someone asked me for directions and I gave them! They were right too, I know they were!! It was easy; the guy wanted to know which side of the platform to be on if he was going to 34th St. and since I was going to Queens he should have been on the other side. I. Am. Awesome!
Kidding, that was bare bones basic. Every time I get on the platform it's the wrong side so I don't know anything.
Tomorrow's goal: I have a ticket for The Phantom of the Opera tomorrow at 2. I will be sitting outside the Majestic at 12:30 waiting for it to start so I don't get lost and am late because I really will toss myself in front of a cab--the yellow ones really don't stop. And the Guggenheim has a pay what you wish time from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. and since tonight was such a wild success I'm going to try that one. The Guggenheim. I love it already.
A few of my favorite pictures:
Bergdorf Goodman window display. Gorgeous!
Marina Abramovic's "The Arist is Present." The artist is in the white dress.
Banner outside the MOMA.
Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night."
Norman Lewis' "Phantasy II" It looks like Jazz! I LOVE it!
Jackson Pollack "Full fathom five thy father lies;/Of his bones are coral made;/Those are pearls that were his eyes." Who sees the button?
Andy Warhol.
Jan Groover. I like this because I take pictures like this.
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