My Geocache

For the personal geocache that I created myself, I decided to do one about all of King Henry VIII’s wives. There were six of them and each one of them would have a significant place to visit. I would start with Catherine of Aragon. She was the first wife of Henry. The cache for her would be at Westminster Abbey. The purpose for this location is because Henry VIII created the Church of England to get annulment of his marriage to Catherine to marry Anne Boleyn.

The next cache would be for Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of King Henry. The place where I would have put this geocache is at the Waterloo Barracks. I picked this place because this is where Anne Boleyn was executed.

The next cache would be for Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife. Her cache would be located at Hampton Court, which is in West London. It was the location of her death from complications from childbirth.

The next cache would be for Anne of Cleves. She was Henry’s fourth wife. She had the shortest marriage of all of the wives. The location of this cache would be the Palace of Placentia which is in Greenwich. This is where Anne and Henry got married.

The next cache would be for Catherine Howard, the fifth wife. She was the cousin of Anne Boleyn. This cache would be placed at London Bridge. This was where Catherine’s head was placed after she was executed.

The next cache would be for the last wife, Catherine Parr. This cache would be place in another part of the Hampton Court Palace. It was where Catherine and Henry were married.

My final cache would be in Kensington Gardens. Probably in a bush or next to a tree.

Philosophy of Art

ART


The philosophy of art class this quarter was like no other class that I have ever taken. I have never as many trips to museums and galleries as I had in this class. I learned a lot in this class. Before this class I did not pay much attention to art other than whether I thought if it was pretty or not. Now I try to analyze it more to see what the artist is trying to convey in a particular piece of art.

I really enjoyed going to many of the galleries. Some of my favorites were The Saatchi, Tate Modern, and The National Gallery. They all had their own special things that made them memorable. The Saatchi had the Retirement Home exhibit, Tate Modern had the the Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster exhibition, and the National Gallery had one of my favorite paintings, the Arnolfini Portrait.

This class has helped me appreciate art so much more.

Geocaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geocaching!

Geocaching is a great way to learn something new. While in London, geocaching has taught me so much about different things. It took me to some places I wanted to go visit and some that I didn't know about. I don't think that I would have learned certain things about catastrophes or Jack the Ripper if I didn't geocache. For example, learning about the Prime Meridian and it's actual position was really interesting.

Along with teaching me new things, geocaching also helped me with my observing skills and problem solving. When we did group geocaching it helped us work together to try to solve the problem. I think that working together on geocaches helped us bond as a group and become better friends. One of the most memorable caches is one that Karen and I searched for in a graveyard. Although it was frustrating at some times, like when we had to climb through bushes and look under logs, geocaching was a lot of fun. Hopefully I will continue to geocache in the future wherever I go.

Master vs. Pupil

When there is something great it is usually imitated. In the master vs. pupil comparison there is a Da Vinci and a work by another artist.



The drawing on the left is far better than the one on the right. There is more fluidity to it and there is far more expression in the eyes. The shading in the one on the left makes the face see more realistic while the one on the right looks like a cartoon. There seems to be more ease to the left one also.

Yo Yo Ma vs. Rostropovich

Yo Yo Ma Vs. Rostropovich





Musical compositions are always up to the interpretation of the person playing the song. When it comes to Beethoven’s Sonata #4 it is the same. It is up to the listener to decide which one is better. This opinion can be affected by the amount of musical background that a person has.



In my opinion, both versions are good but in different ways. The Yo Yo Ma version has more balance between the piano and the cello. The song seems to go more smoothly and is softer and more delicate. The piano and cello seem to be having a pleasant conversation with each other. The Rostropovich is harsher. It is almost like the two instruments are arguing and trying to battle each other out. Both instruments seem like they are trying to outdo the other. I still like it though because it tells a different story.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by Shakespeare. The story tells the tale of two star crossed lovers. At the Globe, they are currently showing a production of the play. The interpretation of this play is very lively and happy. It was almost too happy. Everything was cheerful, the fights, the death scene, and the ending. I found the sword fighting entertaining though. The character of Juliet was very annoying to me. I found her to be whiny. However, I found the comedic parts to be very good.



Overall, I found this version of the play to be better than most versions. I thought that it was a humorous tragedy more than anything and although I did not enjoy standing the whole time, I found it more enjoyable than most versions of Romeo and Juliet.

British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a gigantic place. The great court itself is an interesting piece of the place. It not only holds pieces of art but it is also the center of the museum. The room itself is a magnificent area with it’s large spiral staircase that leads up to the second floor. The great court is the anchor for the whole museum.
One great display in the museum is of the Elgin Marbles. The Elgin Marbles are a set of marbles that originally belonged to the Parthenon. The marbles include plaques that tell the story of a Lapith and a centaur fighting to sculptures of horses. The marbles were removed from the Parthenon in 1801 and the Greek government is still trying to get the marbles back from the British Museum.

Bloomsbury Group

The Bloomsbury Group was a group of people who influenced many aspects of life in London. They lived in Bloomsbury. The members of the Bloomsbury Group were: Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Lytton Strachey, Maynard Keynes, Wyndham Lewis, Mary Hutchinson, Duncan Grant, David “Bunny” Garnett, Angelica Garnett, Roger Fry, Frederick and Jesse Etchells, Quentin Bell, Julian Bell, Clive Bell, and Helen Anrep.
I visited the homes of two of the members of the Bloomsbury Group, Maynard Keynes, and Lytton Strachey.




http://www.panoramio.com/photo/22312727
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/22312708
Sources: Wikipedia, Tate Archives, and http://bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/

The photographers' gallery

At the photographer’s gallery there were various types of photographs. The photograph I liked enjoyed the most was Priscilla by Maurizio Anzeri. I enjoyed the needlework that was used over the portraits. They brought a new life to the pictures that took them to the next level from being old pictures of people.

I also enjoyed Rattachement (Lightning) which was an interesting piece because there were bursts of color amongst shots of lightning. The way the colors and the lightning go together is very striking.

Another thing I enjoyed was the photographs with the paint on them. Some of the photos had a little too much paint on them though. However, when the photos had the right balance of paint and picture combined they were quite lovely.

Victorian Undreclass

The Victorian underclass was also known as the Submerged Class. It was made up of those people who were in poverty stricken areas including prostitutes and homeless people. The underclass was also made up of immigrants and refugees and “were much more susceptible to exploitation, and were therefore exploited.”(Victoria Web)
In 1888, Jack the Ripper preyed on members of the Victorian Underclass by murdering six prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London. According to Wikipedia, there were 1,200 prostitutes "of very low class" resident in Whitechapel.

My Aesthetic

There are various aesthetics in art. I enjoy many different aesthetics. My favorite aesthetic is similar to one of Baz Luhrmann. I am a surrealist. I enjoy heavily saturated colors and shiny things more than anything. The flashy images really capture my attention the quickest. I have always liked surrealism as well. I enjoy the work of Salvador Dali a lot.


At the Tate Britain, there was a very nice gallery featuring Rothko and Turner. I enjoyed Turner’s work more than Rothko’s. Rothko’s work was not interesting to me at all. I thought it was quite boring. The Turner works however were very beautiful. Although they were not in my aesthetic, I found them very captivating. I had to look closely to see what actually was in the picture and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

TAS

When you first walk in to TAS there is a very calm ambience. The white walls and neat place settings are very relaxing. When you sit down and read the menu you begin to realize that there are many choices of food to eat all which seem very interesting. There is also bread and hummus for you to snack on while making your decision and waiting for your main course.

For appetizers, I enjoyed the falafel and the hummus the most. They were a good start to the meal. The hummus was very light. For my main course I ordered kalamari with a walnut sauce. The kalamari was good by itself but when mixed with the walnut sauce it was much more flavorful. I would definitely recommend that dish. Overall, TAS was a place with a great atmosphere and flavorful food. I would definitely eat there again.

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/tas-restaurant-london-2#hrid:sWQvuotZrw3TJvpslTBMJQ

The National Gallery

The painting that I enjoyed from the National Gallery was the Arnelfini Portrait. This painting has been one of my favorites for a very long time. I really love the painting because at first you think it is something but when you look closer you realize that it is something else. When you look closely you realize that there is a mirror in the background. The mirror shows the rest of the room around the couple. In the mirror you can see a man who is said to be Van Eyck. This is a big deal because artists were not supposed to be in their paintings. Van Eyck also wrote Van Eyck was here in the painting above the mirror.

TATE MODERN

TATE MODERN

The Tate Modern was a museum that I enjoyed very much. I really enjoyed the room full of colored mirrors by Jeff Koons. I enjoyed the bright colors of each mirror. I felt that the room had a childlike simplicity because each mirror was shaped like an animal and was so bright. The room made me feel really happy.



Another piece of art that I like was Dance? by Edward Ruscha. The painting itself was so simple. The word was painted in a way so it appeared to look like a dance floor. I enjoy seeing simple paintings and this one stood out to me because it was just the word dance painted onto a white background.




Another piece of art that stood out to me was Jane by Raqib Shaw. The painting was a portrait of Jane Seymour. It stood out me at first because of the glitter that was used in the artwork. I found the painting to be humorous when I learned that Jane was a portrait of Henry VIII’s third wife. It was one of my favorites from the third level.