Field Trip Day To The Museums – Creative Writing Journal Entry
On Tuesday the 1st of February we went on a field trip to the Market Theatre, Museum Africa and The Goodman Gallery. We watched a play performed at the Market Theatre, we looked at lots of historical items at Museum
Africa and saw a few very original artworks at The Goodman Gallery.
On the Road – On the way to the museums, there was graffiti on the walls of some of the buildings. This graffiti is just a way for the common people to display their own artworks and to spread their own messages to whoever looks at it. Outside of Museum Africa there was graffiti high up on a wall and it displayed three messages:
Good for the soul
Believe in yourself
The sky is the limit
Museum Africa – Once inside Museum Africa we had lots to look at in little time. There were quilts, photographs, ancient cameras, paintings and sculptures. This museum was great and some of the artworks and other pieces were outstanding There were many more sections in the museum, but time was short we had to move on to the Market Theatre.
The Market Theatre – Inside the Market Theatre we watched a play. It was about a university created by tribesmen to bring different tribes together, to teach the young boys about their roots and how they become men. The boys who attend this university will go through the procedure of becoming men. The play was amazing, the effects and the actors really made you feel the emotions within the play! I did not understand every word, but the acting explained it all to me.
The Goodman Gallery – Next we went to the Goodman Gallery, a high-class museum in Rosebank. It is not up to me to decide what is art and what is not, but I can decide for myself what is good art and what is bad art. Although many will disagree, but what I saw at the Goodman Gallery did not impress me at all. One of the drawings was like a child’s drawing and it cost about R50 000…why?
Digital Tree
No, this is not an artwork, it is just a digital image that has been created and we think it is not art. “…why we think of Leonardo as Art and an advertisement in a magazine as Not Art.”
(Pointon, 1997: 3)
The whole effect with the unrealistic branches on the tree drew my attention. It is interesting the way he created it and fitted the circuit boards to the branches almost exactly in place.
Conclusion – It was a successful trip, we saw a lot and learnt a lot, and this will help us to expand our creativity for the future. So overall, the Goodman Gallery was terrible for me, Museum Africa was really good, but the play was definitely the highlight of the day!
Sources
Marcia Pointon, History of Art a Students` Handbook 4th edition, 1997
Art Street Design, www.artstreetdesign.com