I heart New York
I absolutely love New York City. Everything about it. From the cranky morning coffee lovers to the huge skyscrapers that dominate the borough of Manhattan. Call me old fashioned, but I enjoy going on walks to random places in New York City. I’ve walked from Washington Square Park to the Empire State Building plenty of times. I’m a native New Yorker. Walking to arbitrary places, jay walking, and disregarding traffic lights are in my genes.
What do I LOVE about New York City?
Well,
1. I get to wake up in the morning and know that I’m in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and attend one of the best universities in the country.
2. I walk through the streets and learn something new about both myself and the people walking past me.
3. I have the opportunity to smile knowing that New York City is one of the few places in the country where I can run into same-sex couples walking through the streets holding hands and having the time of their lives.
In other words, NYC is the place to be. Hands down.
This blog centers around the theme of love within New York City.
Strolling through the Greenwich village one evening, I came upon various pieces of street art and so here they are:
“Till Death Do Us Part”
Well, what’s better than two sexy skeletons on a corner in the Greenwich Village? Although I was told to come up with a caption for each image by my professor, I took the first incentive to choose the first caption that came to mind upon glancing at the image for the first time.This piece is probably my favorite. Though two skeletons, I enjoy the romantic uniqueness of this piece. After asking a couple of friends what they thought about this piece they also fell in love with it. What both my friends and I agreed with was the fact that it’s difficult to determine the gender of the two skeletal structures. I admire the breaking of gender norms here. When I look at this image I think about passion, love, and how the two individuals in this piece seem to look deep into what used to be their eyes.
“Masked Mona”
Well I wonder how Leonardo Da Vinci would feel about this piece. This piece is interesting in that I don’t understand why someone would add a mask, resembling that of some superhero, to the Mona Lisa. Some clarification would be great. It’s almost as though the Mona Lisa could be apart of the Justice League. Or can we spice it up and say that she’s a bandit of some sort? I chose this piece because I once read an article that spoke about the Mona Lisa’s smile and its power of enticing specific individuals. One man,Vincenzo Peruggia once said: “I fell victim to her smile, I fell in love with her.”
“Regurgitated Movements”
Glancing at this piece of street art for the first time I was honestly fascinated by it and instantly decided to snap a picture not only of it but with it. i thought it was interesting to see many different groups of people in one piece doing completely different things. The piece is odd in that it portrays distorted images of what appears to be humans. In an attempt to mimic the woman wearing a tutu in the image, I’m aware that my hands are completely opposite, oops.
“Two-Faced Passion”
I first had a hard time figuring out what exactly I was looking at. Looking at it a second time, all I see is two distinct faces looking directly into my eyes. Though a wall full of lines, I feel that this piece provides a lot of meaning and depth in what it is trying to convey. I get a sense of passion and dedication when I glance at this image. The woman on the left seems to crying and the man on the right seems to be staring at the viewer directly.
“Skeletal Whale”
Heres to my underwater animal-lovers! I really had to take a moment and step back far enough to realize exactly what I was looking at. This piece is interesting in that I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. How someone had the time to stand and create this image while paying attention to specific details really blows my mind.
“My City, Our City”
As a child I remember asking myself how someone managed to create these images from a spray paint bottle. While looking at the artist creating this piece, I became both curious and interested in how he managed to incorporate so many different colors onto one small canvas. The colors are well dispersed throughout the canvas and really pop out. This to me really conveys my love for NYC in one image. Someone, somewhere by now must own this image and its fascinating to note that one artist managed to capture so many images into one canvas. Bravo to the street artist who makes a living from these, honestly.
“Love Spectrum”
Why this piece is not hanging on a wall in my dorm really makes me upset. It was really interesting to run into this piece because it’s a picture I’ve only seen in black and white. I love the different colors that surround the two people. To me, the spectrum of different colors represents the diversity within the Greenwich Village and around New York City as well.
“For the love of coffee”
This piece made me think about the struggles of waking up in the morning and craving a nice warm cup of coffee. A profound shoutout to all the coffee lovers in New York City. A shoutout to the students who binge on coffee and the “Don’t speak to me in the morning until I have my cup of coffee” people.
“Caption-less”
Upon glancing at this image for the first time, I was curious to find out who the person in this piece is. Who is this person and why did the artist decide to incorporate vibrant colors in this piece? Though unclear of who this is, I really admire the range of colors that come with this piece. I believe that this image correlates with the rest of the images in that it captures vibrant, soft and enticing colors much like some of the other images in this blog.
Your “Mystery Image” reminds me of a lot of things. Two skeleton’s kissing seems in a way to be a slap to the words “Til death do us part,” because here the love is so strong even dead their remains are together. It also reminded me of something I had read, about two skeletons found hugging in a grave in Siberia or Turkey (if you google that exact descriptor you’ll find the images I’m talking about), however in these cases there’s no evidence to prove or disprove that the couples buried were lovers. I digress, It’s simplicity is what I like most about it. Two humans are stripped down to nothing but their bones, and they still have their love even in the afterlife.