English 1102Honors: Taking it on the Road
An Art and Theater Adventure in Atlanta
On Sunday, February 23, 2003, we headed off at dawn: two vans, lots of pillows, and plenty of sleepy heads. We arrived for our healthy lunch at our first cultural institution, Atlanta's Varsity, four hours later. The pictures that follow will give you a sense of the scene:
Next stop, The High Museum of Art in Midtown Atlanta. My original plan had been to travel to see Shakespeare's R&J at the Alliance Theatre next to the High. However, when the students learned of the Impressionist exhibition from the Musee D'Orsay next door, they elected to dedicate the "lunch money" awarded by the grant for museum tickets. Talk about food for thought... We arrived in time to spend a few hours at the exhibit and participate in the audio tour.
I had seen the exhibit before myself. This time, though, I saw it anew with my students and heard which paintings they appreciated and why. Some of the group had never been to a museum before, and because of their enthusiasm and company, this second visit of mine was much richer.
Student Reflections:
"I liked the painting entitled "The Floor Scrapers." It was
a realistic depiction... The agony on their faces showed the grueling nature
of the work. The artist is saying that art is everyday life." Jina H.
"Art is the expression of real life and people. Two paintings come to mind for me when I think of the definition of art. The painting wtih the floor scrapers and the painting of the woman and her children being escorted by policeman define art. These artists depicted realtiy and emotion within these paintings." Dana R.
"The artist with the carpenters working on the floor was showing a common aspect of life that is usually not painted. It shows the pain and labor of life whereas most paintings are happy and soothing. So through art the artist changed what the 'norm' was... Life isn't just grassy hills or a bowl of fruit." Amanda S.
"Based on the painting of the three men scraping the floor, I feel that art is an expression of human feelings and emotion felt during a specific moment or time in one's life. Art expresses reality by portraying a particular thing of reality. Art can be whimsical but usually it is very grounded." Michelle A.
"My favorite painting from the exhibit was Manet's Absinthe... It was like a snapshot of deviant behavior--something society frowns upon and wants to hide away from view. Manet challenged that and shocked his audience.... Manet took something from the everyday realm and made it art. It was like he captured a little of the essence of human beings: their reality, their complexity... This painting is art because it wants to show us something about human nature..." Karla R.
"The fact that this painting was criticized for showing a drunk woman, no mention of the man, captured me and showed how the artist managed to center all of the attention on her... Art is a safe haven to express your feelings really without being looked badly upon by society..." Fernando S.
"The painting by T. Lautrec really impressed me. I remember it from my Survey II textbook last semester, but seeing it in real life was so much more... I don't really know how to describe it. Overwhelming and amazing..." Tatyana Z.
"In this painting (Manet's Lady with a Fan), art was a real woman who was tired and art was not always about men." Shannon L.
"My favorite painting was the lit up Eiffel Tower. It was the one with reds and blues against the dark of night. I liked this painting because it was different from all of the other views of the great tower.... This painting exemplifies what art is because art to me is about creativity and unconventional perspectives. It is looking at something in a new light; it is allowing someone to view something in a way they never have before." Michelle T.
"The painting of the family represents art as a portrait of life. Art is a reflection of life and encompasses all aspects of life." Lawrence L.
"Art based on what I saw at the museum is the celebration of everyday common life. Such an example would be Monet's 'Independence' it was painted while the actural celebration was occurring..." Ashley H.
"The contrast of the brightly colored flags with the dull black of the buildings puts the focus on the flags. This implies the importance of the flag and patriotism." Travis C.
"Some of the life-size portraits were so real that it seemed that the painted person was looking at you. It was hard for me to believe how alive and human an artist could make oil on a canvas and the true ability a person must possess to accomplish this in a painting." Somfong R.
"It would seem that the art is the artist's impression of the world (and its events) around them. The degree to which details are portrayed depends on the artist and his view of reality." Natalie W.
"According to the French Impressionists art is a mixture of several things: beauty, raw emotion, and a realistic depiction of a certain moment, on either a massive scale (Paris) or a minute one (a person)." Chris S.
"Art is the self expression of the artist or creator." Melissa C.
"'We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless.' - Oscar Wilde in Dorian Gray." Chris M.
"The impressionist exhibit at the High seemed to show a movement away from formal, aristocratic art to depicting the common man and woman... It illustrates a changing society. It illustrated and defined an era." Kristina B.
After our visit to the museum, we went across the lawn to the Alliance to see Shakespeare's R&J. Set in a Catholic boys school, the minimalist, five prop play opens with four boys changing from class to class reciting the conventional lessons they were learning about the appropriate ways to be a man, to conjugate the latin verb "to love," and to be a catholic. Once the day was done, and night set in, things were not so clear cut: The students discover an outlaw version of the play Romeo and Juliet and perform it for themselves. The controversial play within the play revealed the many levels Shakespeare's original text could operate on in a modern setting. It explored the barriers between races, sexes, sexualities, and behaviors that can be confusing to adolescents and adults, then and now. The same sex, interracial production was shocking, moving, and intense. The group had lots to discuss afterwards and I learned a great deal from their insights.
Student Reflections:
"These boys find a copy of R&J that is forbidden to them. A good way to get young people to read a book is to ban it. These boys find that love is a dominant theme as the book leaves the play and they put life into Shakespeare's words." Chris M.
"I believe the play displayed literature has to do with more than just acting, reading, and writing. It also deals with issues in society." Shannon L.
"This representation of Romeo and Juliet was almost a parallel with the play itself. In the play, Romeo and Juliet weren't allowed to be together because of their family names. In the modern version, the two guys were not allowed intimacy because they were two males. The main theme of star-crossed lovers remained, while the conflict between them was different." Dana R.
"...[I]n the production the four students learn new things about themselves through their interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. That play serves as a catalyst--unlocking their innermost thougths and feelings, bringing them closer, and making them question all the things they have been taught at their school. Literature can change us by broadening our mind, making us doubt what we believe is true and perhaps prompting us to seek truth us a result. It can also change us by bringing us together--if we can find a bit of ourselves in teh literature we might find others who do as well and that bridges gaps between people." Karla R.
"Today whose 'house' someone belongs to is of little importance but whether homosexuality is allowed is. Today the love between two people of the same sex is held (by a large part of the population) as wrong and shouldn't be allowed. This is reflected in the idea of 'two star-crossed lovers' in the play." Amanda S.
"Everyone is aware of the conflict between R&J's families and why they can't be together, so the director paralleled this to modern times by using black and white characters as well as an all male cast." Ashley H.
The fact that no women participated in the play was very much like in olden times when there were no women actors." Somfong R.
"From the Director's point of view, literature was probably the ability to spread a message or idea through creative means in order to change the way we look at ourselves as a society. One issue that I believe was paralleled by the director was the idea of forbidden love. In the context of Shakespeare, all actors were males. This play was a return to that period, and while it was not focused on homosexuality, it had subtle undertones... This was not the central focus of the play, however, and I believe that those playgoers who left before the finish merely showed their ignorance." Travis C.
"I think the perfect example of the society's influence was when a few people left the theater after the intermission because of the scene of two guys (a white and black one) kissing was too shocking. It was quite shocking for me too, but that's the point--it should be shocking but one shouldn't turn away from it." Tatyana Z.
"It was an interesting twist because at those points, the actors were no longer themselves but had become characters in the play. The director and the actors really showed that while literature is set in stone, unchanging, interpretatiosn of its words are not. Using some of Shakespeare's ideas such as a centered stage and an all male cast tied in the past and the present." Natalie W.
"Literature is our freedom of expression...." Fernando S.
"Life is made up of all these thing [emotions, toils, happiness]; therefore, literature is a depiction of life and the struggles and luxuries that are experience as people go through life." Lawrence L.
"It gets the audience or reader involved and evokes some kind of emotion from the reader or audience." Melissa C.
"It should provoke thought and cause someone to make their own judgements. Thsi play definitely made you question your beliefs." Michelle T.
"Literature can be interpreted in so many different ways, but I think that a lot of writers intend for a sense of ambiguity. Literature is never completely straightforward; there is always room for personal interpretation, as illustrated by the play R&J." Jina H.
"Based on the Alliance's R&J, literature can defy and challenge any set standard. Friendship, religion, race, sexual orientation, and gender were all addressed in this play... Also literature's principles (just as theis play's principles) can only be activated if the reader or audience allows themselves to believe and open up to suggestions." Kristina B.
After the day was done, we were homeward bound... but not without a few urban legends to round out the trip. This group of vampires who began the day so sleepy kept me awake and laughing the whole way home. Who knew that the story of the escaped convict with the hooked hand was still haunting us? I guess this myth and the whole trip goes to show that stories, whether visual, theatrical, or oral, create communities and reflect communities. In capturing a moment, they provide something timeless. I am so glad that we traveled together to remind ourselves of that, and I know as we travel on in our respective journies this trip will be one we will remember.
Thanks to everyone who made our journey possible, particularly Dick Nordquist and the Faculty Development Committee, but most of all, thanks to the students who are always a "trip" themselves.