May 4, 2008

Data Processing

I've been postponing reflection on our trip to NYC for about a month and a half. I had some pretty negative reactions to being in Manhattan, and feeling like I was going around consuming art in the same way that I consume imagery on the television or internet. I'm still working out my thoughts surrounding that, actually. In the meantime, I wanted to go through the notes I took regarding art we saw that was actually interesting or inspiring to me, just as a way of digesting some of that massive amount of input from visiting 3-5 art spaces/day for 5 days.

I think one of my clearest realizations about my experience in New York was that I felt like I could have taken in quite a bit of that information online, and that I didn't have to go to the place itself to take in the information. On top of that, I really have never enjoyed myself in New York, the place. I would rather go to other places that were more concerned with things like the environment, livability, affordability etc. Or maybe I'm just not wealthy enough to enjoy NY, to consume what it offers. It felt so commercial, and so concrete. I can't figure out where the romance of it is. Not sure. I'm still working that out.