Reflection on Ya Haddy Njie's SMP presentation

In her pamphlet Ya Haddy Njie states that through art making she narrates her emotions and how different experiences have hindered her formation of self-identity. She furthermore points out that when she starts making arts, she tries to back from her role as a author but rather sees herself in a role of a seeker. Her art thus becomes an extension of herself.
This point of view is really interesting since her works were all in black and white. Some of them depicted a human figure. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to ask her personally why she exclusively used the colors black and white. Nevertheless I though her work the most appealing one to me.
She also mentions that with the use of black and white, the image becomes a link between the past and the present. This, on the other hand, requires the reader to make an effort to connect with piece of art in a special way.
Another piece of work she exhibited was a black and white movie where the audience could see most of the international students talking in their own mother tongue about their experiences at St.Mary's. However, the faces were only roughly visible since a certain pattern kept flowing through the screen while the individuals were talking.
All in all I have to admit that I was totally surprised by the actual power of her works. Since Ya Haddy and I have been friends, she has always told me a lot of her works and how she wanted to present them. But without a doubt, the actual exhibition was by far more impressive than my imagination.

Reflection on the excursion to the National Gallery of Art

I really enjoyed the speech we attended as well as the exhibition of Robert Frank's work. One thing i vividly remember was the fact that Robert Frank had to select those few pictures, which we could see at the Gallery, from probably over several thousand photographs. This must have been a extremely time-consuming work. However, by knowing this, one might even more appreciate his selection.

Nevertheless, I would like too point out something else. After the exhibition we still had time to explore the rest of the National Gallery. The excursion had been my second time at the Gallery so have had the chance to see most of the works. However, there was one picture by Albert Bierstadt from 1858 that was called "Lake Lucerne" and was painted with oil on canvas.
I don't know what it was but this picture made me stand on in front of it for a least 20 minutes. It depicts a beautiful Swiss landscape that reminded my of my former visits to Switzerland and Austria. Once one has actually seen how beautiful those countries are, one might has the chance to fully comprehend the magic of Albert Bierstadt's picture.

Response to the William Irwin Thompson's reading

William Irwin Thompson mentiones four different levels of reading Grimms' fairy tale of Rapunzel: the literal, the structual,the anthropological, and the cosmological level.
Before I read the text I hadn't been familiar with Thompson's theory. I really think it interesting in how far he analysis Grimm's fairy tale of Rapunzel. Especially what he mentions about the antropological and structual level really seems to correspond to also present TV shows or movies. When I was reading this passage, I had to think about the TV series "Scrubs". By taking a closer look at it, one can easily detect reoccuring patterns.
However, I don't necessarily agree totally with what he states about the cosmological level in whoch one realizes that the story is also about the setting up of an order that is planetary. By reconsidering his arguementation I have to admit that it makes sense and also seems to be logical; but nevertheless, I think that this interpretaion is kind of far fetched.