Carlin Kennedy

Professor J. Miller

VSAR 316

12-05-14

#1 - Art/History Museum – Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam – Nov 11, 2014

This particular museum happened to be one I was most looking forward to experiencing and

viewing while in Amsterdam. Number one on the top ten museums in Amsterdam, this history/art

museum was rated the best museum to go to and according to facts I found online, this museum has is

known to be a hot spot. The museum was very big and located in a popular part in the town right

outside a nice park. I used the coat check and also decided to use the headphones for the first half of the

museum. When listening to the headphones walking around the museum, I was very impressed by the

commentary when walking around. I learned that some of the smallest amounts of expression can mean

so much in an art piece. When standing in front of painting and listening to the commentary I was able

to catch minor details that made the piece so much better. I was influenced in how detailed you must

make the whole piece to make it incredible. In the video I created you see many art pieces that really

caught my eye while in the Rijksmuseum. I specifically really enjoyed the paintings and sculptures of

Jesus and his followers. Other than being an extremely large museum that can take a long time to walk

through, I was not able to point out any flaws that I can intelligently criticize. The museum features

works from many artists, genres, regions, and time periods. Because of how big this museum was, I felt

in order to get a full understanding of everything, I literally could have been there for hours. I attached a

picture I took of myself outside the museum. I also have a picture showing a simple yet very exquisite

drawing of Jesus. This piece particularly interested me because of how simple and clean it looks.

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#2 - Art Museum – Van Gogh, Amsterdam – Nov 11, 2014

Within walking distance from the Rijksmuseum, we all walked over to the Van Gogh museum

right after. This museum was rated #2 on the top 10 list and was another museum I was very excited to

walk through. I actually enjoyed this museum more than the Rijksmuseum specifically because there

was more of a story and it was more focused on one artist’s style, rather than many artists. Therefore, a

particular style stood out in the pieces and I also got to learn more background about him. I was a little

disappointed, we were not able to see one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings, “The Starry Night”, however

I still very much enjoyed learning more about Van Gogh’s life and style as an artist. I particular really like

the portraits Van Gogh was able to create and landscape paintings. His painting style is so unique and

nothing like I have seen. The museum was able to portray a story of Van Gogh that I really enjoyed

following. Having the option to wear a headset, I decided to just walk around the museum on my own

and interpret everything myself. I did not feel very knowledgeable before going into the museum,

however, was still able to learn a good amount about his life through the short readings and short

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summaries throughout the museum. I learned how close he and his brother Theo were. After reading

quotes and short snippets of Van Gogh’s life throughout the museum, I have a lot of respect for the

quality of work he was able to make in the conditions he was faced with.

#3 – Exhibition – Canal Cruise through Amsterdam – Nov 9, 2014

Definitely one of the most relaxing, yet extremely interesting and informational canal cruise.

After eating at this super fine breakfast place with a friendly atmosphere, where they served delicious

pancakes, we decided to go on a canal cruise. Little did I know how much neat information I would be

hearing and seeing along the way.

First off, the architectural design of how everything is built is a complete change to how America

is constructed. I had no idea that cost efficiency was saved the higher you build, rather than square foot

of land owned. Another interesting aspect I learned is how people get furniture up to the floors they

need them to be at. Just about every house leaned over with a hook located at the top in order to pull

furniture up with a rope. From when being pulled up by rope, you would then swing the furniture in

through a window in order to get it in the building. I personally never got to see that being done, but I

am sure that would have been an interesting sight to see.

The picture I attached below shows one car and a black three story house is the narrowest

house built in Amsterdam. It is one door wide and three stories high! I instantly knew I had to take a

picture of that. I would have loved to go in there. We also were able to see the narrowest canal in

Amsterdam, which was very neat.

The way these buildings, roads, and way of transportation greatly affect my overall perspective

on my outlook on the way things can be. I actually think this way of life allows small businesses to do

well and can be very romantic for nights out. I was able to capture very neat photos as a result of my

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perspective on the architectural design of the buildings and portray them as a visual art. This canal

cruise had great effect on my work and can be seen as visual art through the architect.

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#4 – Film – Josh Kerrzy Surf Film – Oct 28, 2014

Before being released publicly, the CSUSM surf team and Pro Surfer, Josh Kerr hosted a film

fundraising event. The film is titled, “Josh Kerr Past to Present.” The film showing was located in the USU

ballroom and was 75 cents to go to. My friend Devon and I, decided to go to this short film because

surfing is a hobby of ours. The atmosphere was awesome and I really enjoyed being a part of the

audience. They were serving refreshments and snacks such as popcorn. Many surf video’s such as this

one can be put together in different kinds of artistic ways. This specific film was no exception. I was very

impressed with the both the editing and the angles used to shoot. I commend and have much respect

for not only Josh but also the guy putting the video together, Matt Kleiner. What I came away with from

the film is how passionate and driven Josh was growing up for surfing. He was very determined to follow

his dream and started to become more recognized as he grew older. He became well known for his airs

when surfing which I admire a lot. It was very inspiring to listen to what others thought about him and

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the mark he left on people. Coming into the video I actually was not very acquainted and familiar with

him. I now have very much respect for him because he is both successful and is following his dream.

#5– Concert-Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton - Dec 2, 2014

The concert took place on the evening of December 2, 2014 in Academic Hall 102 at 7:00 p.m.

Both musicians came from the San Diego area and dedicate themselves to the art of jazz music. I believe

that music is a very unique form of art and because of this I decided to go with my roommates to attend

the concert. The setting was very relaxed as the two musicians were talking and teaching some of their

music to the audience. The ambience set by the musicians lead themselves to a fun interactive concert

that I had learned many things from.

The most memorable aspect of the concert was the amount of improvisation that the musicians

did. It was amazing to me to discover that all of the songs and music that they were playing was made

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up on the spot. For example, they had asked the audience for a theme to a song. The theme was chosen

at random and the musicians improvised an entire musical piece just by going off of one audience

member’s suggestions. The amount of improvisation in the music that was played really caught me off

guard. It was a pleasant surprise to know that sometimes music without structure can be better. This

had shown me that sometimes in certain situations it is okay to go with my gut feeling as that is what

the musicians would do when they were playing off of each other during this concert. I am able to apply

this to my life, by trusting my instinct and becoming more confident in the way I make decisions.

As mentioned earlier, there was a lot of improvisation done throughout the concert. This lead to

many interesting “mash-up” of songs. One particular example was the “mash-up” of Jimi Hendrix and

Bob Marley. By placing these two artists’ styles in the same song, the musicians were able to create their

own unique composition. This helped me discover that mixing multiple ideas and themes can make

something memorable and unique. Now, when I am looking at certain designs of my own, I can look at

many different examples and gather bits and pieces from each individual example and put them all

together to create my own individual “piece of art”.

Based on limited knowledge of Jazz music, I was unable to find any flaw during the concert that I

am able to intellectually criticize. However, the guitarist Peter Sprague did mention that there were a

few times when he had accidently “rubbed” over the wrong string on his guitar. But as I mentioned, this

flaw got unnoticed by me and didn’t take anything away from my experience. As my knowledge was

limited before, I learned an important feature in jazz music. I learned what w=is referred to as “Scat”.

“Scat” is the improvisation that a jazz musician uses with his/her vocals during a performance. Most of

these “Scats” are random and have a language of their own.

Overall, I have gained a massive amount of respect to these musicians. The guitarist was able to

incorporate many different styles of music while playing the same instrument. This shows dedication

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and innovation that sparks the roots of art which is individuality. Additionally, Leonard Patton, the

vocalists, had many years of music education that was displayed to the audience during his

performance.

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