Baltimore Museum
of Art
Samuel
Williams
Yesterday,
I visited the Baltimore Museum of Art with a couple my roommates, and it was
more annoying than I thought it would be. The Museum was much larger and had
many more exhibits than I was expecting considering the size of the building
from the front. Thankfully there was no entrance fee because I don’t want to
pay for anything I don’t have to.
The
exhibits that I enjoyed the most were the tile floors from around the 3rd
century and the modern art exhibits. I enjoyed these exhibits for two very
different reasons. I liked the tile floors because I thought it was amazing
that those floors were so intricate and are still intact after such a long
period of time is such an astounding concept. I specifically enjoyed one floor
where there is a tiger stalking a deer like animal. I liked this one the most
because it was the most detailed of all of the floors I had seen. The only
thing I didn’t understand as much is how archeologist are able to transport the
tiles in one piece and then proceed to hang them on the wall.
The modern
art exhibits were interesting for another reason, the simplicity of some of the
pieces was ridiculous to me. There were some paintings and sculptures that were
so simple and basic that I felt like they could have been recreated by almost
anyone. For example, there was a painting that had two rectangles, one on each
side of the canvas, and they were a solid grey. It just annoyed me that someone
could pass that off as art and make money on such a dumb simple painting. It
made me realize how much I could dislike some modern art that is considered
abstract, but in reality, is a square on another square.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman
is about this woman who is depressed however her husband is a physician and
does not believe in such mental conditions as there is no cause. They go to a
country house and she is basically under house arrest and she slowly goes crazy
due to loneliness and the fact that she was not being treated. I think that the
constant denial of her condition prevented treatment and therefore worsened her
case. Her husband was arrogant to think that she was getting better by
rejecting the obvious signs of her mental condition, which also may have to
with the fact that he wished her better. Despite his reasons for denying her
condition it is evident that she was crazy when she started to tear down the
wallpaper.
The
poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William
Wordsworth talks about the connections and inherent beauty between man and nature.
He compares himself and others to clouds and daffodils in the first stanza
which is what connects humans with the theme of nature. Then he continues through
the poem describing the beauty of nature. I believe this poem also speaks to
solitude and how it is not nearly as bad as people may think, but can be as
peaceful as nature.
In
The Birthmark by Nathanial Hawthorne
a scientist and philosopher marries a woman who is exceptionally beautiful except
for a mark on her face. He decides to try and make her “perfect” by removing
the birthmark, and she reluctantly agrees. When they move to his laboratory the
narrator starts to talk about all of the insane claims that he says he can do,
along with his many failures. This foreshadows her impending doom. I think that
this story speaks towards perfection and how it is unattainable and we should
find perfection in imperfection.
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