A Word from Our Interns

We try to write most posts on this blog in first-person plural, as a lot of different people contribute to it, but our wonderful interns do quite a bit of the writing. Lauren Kelley, who's been helping out in the PR department this summer, wrote the following for us about her recent trip to New York:

Last weekend I ventured to NYC (via Airtran U--if you’re between ages 18 and 22 you can fly standby for $69 each way--I recommend you use it while you can) to visit one of my best friends. She's studying art and art history at UGA and was probably the best hostess to have in the city. Not a minute was wasted. Reflecting on my jaunt, I realized that we experienced three very distinct and specific art encounters, one each day.

On Friday amongst our walking, window-shopping and catching up we meandered to a gallery she had on her list to visit. In the SoHo area, The Spencer Brownstone Gallery is hosting a special exhibition presented by VICE magazine. On view are photographs coinciding with the VICE Photo Issue 2009, taken by Terry Richardson, Ryan McGinley, Jerry Hsu, Keiichi Nitta, amongst others. The small, contemporary gallery was the perfect blank canvas for VICE's youthful, raw and intimate exhibit.



The art encounter of day two began after an L train ride south to Brooklyn. That night one of my friend's classmates from UGA was performing at Monkeytown, a dining and video performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I saw, or experienced rather, Brian's performance at the Lamar Dodd School of Art exit show last May, and was ecstatic to see him perform again. He uses his interactive new media skill set to trigger and manipulate sounds, which interact with visuals projected onto a screen. This performance space bordered with overly comfortable couches and four wall-to-wall projection screens was the perfect frame for Brian's interactive art and music. It's difficult to describe this work, so check out his website for detailed descriptions, videos and updates, and if you ever have the chance to see him perform live, don't pass it up.



My friend and I took the more traditional route on day three and visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art. With not nearly enough time to even begin a thorough visit, we did manage to view the entire Model as Muse exhibition, which showcases 20th-century photographs, videos and couture and serenades you with corresponding tunes. The overwhelming amount of beauty really makes you appreciate the art of fashion.