Noora Rahman
Arts Scholar
Pentathalon Semester 1
As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.
Film: Cinderella Live Action Film
On September 10, 2020, I watched the Cinderella live action movie on Disney Plus. This was the first time I watched the live action film. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and felt as though they did a great job turning the lovable, animated version into something just as amazing. They made the animals, especially the mice so realistic-looking. As a child my favorite part was when the Fairy godmother turned everything around Cinderella into a carriage, footmen, and horses with help from her animal friends. Disney made that favorite moment very special for me again. One thing that made me really interested in after watching the movie was how well the actors and actresses acted with the animals I assume were made with CGI. They made each scene seem so real even though CGI was also used. Animation has little to do with my major, but I am interested to see how their initial drawings and animations for this movie incorporated any CAD drawings which I use a little in engineering as well as 3D printing.
Theatre: Live Theatre Performance of Pipeline
On September 27, 2020, I watched the show Pipeline that was filmed live at the Lincoln Center. This show focused on the challenges of a single African American mother and school teacher who is taking several efforts in raising her troubled son. I was very interested in everything that went into creating this production and bringing the script to life. Between the set, costumes, and lighting it was so intriguing to see how he script I once read was brought to life. In addition, amidst he black lives matter movement, I am becoming more educated in this topic matter as I continue to watch and read more about this movement. Although this has nothing to do with my major it is amazing to see how the arts are connected to the social injustices around the world. In addition, how the arts can bring more awareness and educate more on these injustices.
Music: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Opera Music
The event pictured above is an opera I watched from The Metropolitan Opera. The name of the opera was called Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and I watched this October 19, 2020. This particular opera was very long, and took over four hours to complete, however, despite the length of the opera, it was very much engaging and enjoyable. To put short his opera was about several poets and musicians who all compete to win a daughter’s hand in marriage. However, unaware of this arrange marriage the dad makes, the daughter falls in love with someone else, specifically a knight. The knight has to learn how to impress the father through artistic talents, and eventually wins the daughters hand in marriage. I personally enjoyed this opera because it was cool to see how this story line unfolded through music and art in a medium I hadn’t been exposed to. I’ve learned that operas are very similar to plays, but the music makes each scene more dramatic. I look forward in attending an opera similar to this in the future because I found this one very enjoyable. Although this opera has no correlation to my major, I am expanding my list of interests that mostly consist of sciences and maths.
Presentation: Hayley Levitt Who Decides what Art Means
On November 09, 2020, I watched a presentation through a TED talk regarding who decides the meaning of various art pieces. The name of the TED talk is “Who decides what art means?,”by Hayley Levitt. Last fall, Art Scholars spent a few classes discussing the importance of art and how each person’s perception of art is very much valued regardless of the authors intent through critique. However, not all people agree with this. Some consider the authors intentions the only meaning of the work since they are the one who created the piece. I feel as though this is not necessarily true because if the author left the artwork to have no specific intentions, who is stopping someone from interpreting the art in their own way. This TED talk explored the various views on this philosophical topic, and while I agree that everyone’s interpretation is important, I believe it’s important to examine others people’s standpoint on this issue. I hope to watch more videos and discussions regarding this topic in the future to get more insight on the various interpretations of art. In addition, art critique is most important for scholars right now as we prepare for our capstone project. We are all filled with so many innovative and creative ideas. It is important to utilize one another and give constructive and helpful feedback in order to create the best version of our project.
Arts Scholars: Chill With a Quill
On November 18, 2020, I attended the Art Scholars event called Chill with a Quill where we focused on poetry and writing a letter to our future self amongst the given topic ideas. The whole event was very chill and comforting. As we wrote our letters, Amy, who was in charge of the event, music playing in the background. Finally, after we wrote our letters we shared what we had written if we chose to in small break out groups. As busy and stressful as my academic schedule is, it was nice to take an hour out of my day to self reflect and write as if i were a form of mediation. For my capstone project, I am focusing on art therapy and how it can be used as a tool to relieve everyday stress. One of the projects i am planning on trying is journaling and meditation, and I may reuse some of her prompts that I didn't write about as on of my projects because it was a very calming activity. Amidst everything going on with the coronavirus I think it is important to take some time out of your week even if it is only 15 minutes to focus on your mental health and well being. In addition, it was nice that this activity required my to write things down and not stare at a blue light screen which can really strain your eyes.
The Cinderella film was watched through Disney Plus. Pipeline was watched through an HBO subscription. The opera performance was watched through Met Opera on Demand Student Access. The TEDx talk was watched through the TEDx website. Finally I attended a live Arts Scholars event.
Pentathalon Semester 2
Follow along this semester as I document my arts experiences this semester.
The Social Dilemma: Netflix Documentary
#Film February 3, 2020
This past week, I was able to sit down and watch the Netflix Documentary The Social Dilemma. I had heard so many positive remarks from this movie and was wondering what the hype was regarding this film. After watching it, I now understand why this movie had so many discussions. The film focuses on educating viewers on the issues surrounding social networks including all social media platforms. These issues include our privacy and agency. The movie highlighted the scary fact that these networks know so much about you regardless of how much you put out there for the world to see. Something that surprised me the most was the algorithm these platforms follow that traps you into becoming a product they sell for money. For me, on instagram I tend to get ads regarding new clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. Even if I do not click on the ad, my viewing the ad is how platforms such as Twitter and Instagram make money. The film was constructed in a way where they incorporated clips of interviews they hosted with former social media directors, such as the director of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Uber, Twitter, etc. The other part of the film followed. a fictional story of a young boy. The film explored the content the boy was viewing from his cell phone from the perspective of the boy, and from behind the screen. Although the film was exaggerated, there was a panel of people behind the phone screen taking note of everything the boy watched or viewed. If he was scrolling through photos of him and his crush, the panelist would send his phone a notification of his crush being active on xyz social media platform. The art in showing how he was a puppet that these social media platforms profit off of scared me, because me and those around me are falling into this same trap. As someone who is fairly active on various social media platforms, this movie was a good reminder to myself that my "privacy" is really being invaded. I recommend this movie to everyone so that more people can be informed of this ugly truth and find ways to change the way we live.
Art Therapy Project: Gratitude Collage
#Visual Art February 22, 2020
This past week I completed a Visual Art art therapy activity. When scrolling through the list of art therapy activities I could complete I came across the gratitude picture collage idea and decided to try it out. As we approach the one year mark of being quarantined in our houses and not being able to see friends and family as often as we'd like, I decided to create a gratitude collage containing pictures of all of my loved ones who I really appreciate in my life. 2020 was a year of reflecting for me in terms of what I want for myself and how I would like to live my life. I thought a lot about ways I could improve myself and focused on the aspects of my life that make me the most happy. Having to celebrate every holiday this past year with just my immediate family and not my extended family not only made me miss them all, but it allowed me to fully appreciate the fact that the five members in my immediate family will always be there and support me through every event in my life. I am a very visual learner, so crafting a collage filled with images of those who mean the most to me was the best way for me to fully appreciate each and every one of them. I don't often make collages of pictures through my major, but I am glad that I got to spend an hour on this project since it was very calming and reflective. I am hoping to assemble more picture collages in the future, and maybe create one for my final capstone project. I highly recommend completing this activity because it keeps you grounded, relieves stress, and it lets you appreciate all of your happy and fond memories you have with your loved ones.
2-for-1 Pentathlon Event
#Arts Scholars and #Dance February 28, 2020
For Pentathlon event three I decided to attend the 2-for-1 pentathlon event that counted as an Arts Scholars event and a Dance event. This event was held on February 28, 2020, with several members from Arts Scholars. The Arts Scholars event I attended was a drawing event done through zoom through the platform Scribli.io. Each group member had a chance to draw an object or an action, and the rest of the members had to guess what was drawn. The person who guessed the fastest several times won. The second activity I participated in was for the Dance event where a bunch of us learned a K-pop TikTok dance. Both of these events were a lot of fun, and it twas very enjoyable to talk and interact with some Arts Scholars students I haven't gotten a chance to talk with in a long time. With school being online, it is very difficult to talk to other Art Scholars members, and this activity allowed me to talk and joke around with them in a non-academic setting. Personally, I had the most fun the in dance breakout room because we were all struggling to learn the dance, but still enjoyed ourselves while learning. Through my major, I don't do a lot of drawing or dancing, so it was really exciting to take a break and partake in these two activities with friends. Since I am currently completing my capstone project, it may be helpful to use some of these activities in my art therapy project and test how effective they are in reducing stress. I am really looking forward to another Arts Scholars event in the future, since this event was so much fun.
Ted Talk: Can art amend history? by Titus Kaphar
#Presentation April 22, 2021
On April 22, 2021, I watched a very inspirational Ted Talk by Titus Kaphar about the importance of amending our history through art. He started off his speech with a narrative about his experience in a museum with his sons where his son pointed out how Teddy Roosevelt was sitting on a horse and the Native American and African American sculpture next to him were standing. His son brought up a good point about who decides who gets to sit on the horse. Now well all know how history played out, and to this day there are still many differences in justice between races. Titus wants to know how we can change this image. He mentions how it is impractical to replace images and sculptures of art regarding our history, but more importantly, how can we amend the art that already exists to hear more and see more about our African American counterparts. His Ted Talk got me thinking of ways our university can implement this amendment. It would be very interesting to see an art exhibit held at the university that is dedicated to amending pieces that originally highlight white people, and focus more on the African Americans or Native Americans that are being portrayed in that photo. Not only will this change the perspective and narrative the artwork portrays, but it will allow others to see this artwork from a different point of view. Although art doesn’t tie into my major, I think walking through an exhibit like this is important for all undergraduate students because college students' beliefs and mindsets change the most. This will make the university seem more as a community through this shared event and allow everyone, or most people to be on the same page about art and how it can amend our history.