Summary

Part 1: The photo above is an art piece titled Curtain Call by Karon Davis. The piece immediately captured my attention with the large size sculpture of a girl amidst the empty lawn surrounding her. The sculpture is of an African American girl who is in ballet attire, bowing as if she had just finished performing. However, when you look more closely, there are pieces of the sculpture that are purposely missing or looking a little worn out. The whole sculpture is left white except for the girl's eyes, her crown, and the roses she’s holding. The artist uses the large elevated grass space to signify the girl being on a stage. The colors take your focus away from how worn down the girl actually is, as well as the unhappy expression she has on her face. This piece matches well with the overall aesthetic of the high line and New York City as the city is big on the performing arts. Many people come to live in this city in hopes to pursue their dreams of making it big. So seeing the sculpture, it felt fitting as it represented many people here who continue to work for their dreams of making it somewhere big in the arts such as Broadway. Looking at it from a more societal standpoint, the art work also reflects how many African American women are underrepresented and overlooked. The girl is worn down and has finished performing yet the colors make you look past that and focus on the materialistic things she has such as the roses and crown. Overall, I think the colors are what helps truly bring the art piece together and show important themes of racism, materialism, fame, etc. Out of everything I saw during my walk, this was definitely the most intriguing piece to me.

Part 2: The High Line turned an old railway line into an art exhibition/ park. They were able to achieve this by incorporating a mix of plant life throughout the walk with features of art pieces scattered throughout. It helped heighten the aesthetic experience of New York City in various ways. One of the ways was being more elevated, throughout the walk, due to the height of the line I was able to view many buildings at a closer perspective, as well as view the street life of NYC from higher up, allowing me to bask in more of the city than I would be able to when simply walking down the street. Some art pieces would also be the graffiti you would see on some of the buildings or billboards that you would pass, forcing you to also bask in your surroundings of the city that dont lie directly on the path. The line itself originating from a railway already brings in a part of the typical NYC life of taking the subway. It redefines the relationship between urban development and public art as it shows how both can exist simultaneously. The environmental theme of the high line is enhanced even more with the art pieces. For example, the piece I focused on above where the grass is used to represent a stage for the performer. The high line shows how urban development and public art can be used to elevate one another.