My group Experience

Altidor, Samuel

Professor D. Lemeh

ARH2000

31 March 2013

Blog Entry 10

My Group Experience

            Let me just say that I’m not really having a good experience with the group right now. First of all, two students who live on campus just meet up and appointed themselves as group leaders without the approval of the rest of the group. The same two students chose what the group presentation should be about; again without checking with the rest of the group. I’ve suggested other ideas but the group leaders shut them down saying that their idea was better. I don’t want to criticize any particular person from the group, but I have a feeling that there are a lot of people in the group that just want the grade without doing the work. I was excited about being part of a group because I thought we were going to meet, talk about what to do, and come up with a great idea. However by the time I met up with the rest of the group everything was already decided. I spent 9 years in the Army, so I really believe in teamwork. I believe in everybody from the team pitching in ideas and let the majority decide what to do. I believe that each and every student has a certain skills they could have contributed to the group; for instance, I’m a photographer, James is a DJ, etc… I was hoping that we could have used everybody’s strength to produce one of the greatest presentations. I don’t think everybody was given the opportunity to express his or her ideas. Maybe I had my hopes up to high.

Larry Rivers’ Delacroix 1830: Chaos and Purpose

Altidor, Samuel

Professor D. Lemeh

ARH2000

31 March 2013

Blog Entry 9

Larry Rivers’ Delacroix 1830: Chaos and Purpose

            From out trip to the Boca Art Museum last week, Larry Rivers’ “Delacroix 1830: Chaos and Purpose” really caught my attention. This painting is oil on canvas painting mounted on foam board; which gives the artwork a tridimensional look. It depicts a chaotic scene from what I believe is the French Revolution war. At the center of it all is none other than a woman with her breasts uncovered uncovered holding the French flag. The fact that her skin tone is lighter than pretty much everything in the frame leads the viewers’ eyes directly to her. When I saw her the first thing I asked myself was: “what is a half naked woman doing in such a barbaric and chaotic scene?” She seemed so out of place in there. According to the docent however, the half dressed lady represent liberty, and is leading the people. In the painting the working group was represented by the poorly dressed gentleman brandishing a saber in the mid-left of the frame. The well-dressed gentleman in the top hat carrying a rifle represents the French “bourgeoisie”. The little boy on the left hand side of “lady liberty” represents the students…

            One of the reasons I loved the painting is because it brought back memories of going through school in Haiti. I grew up studying French literature and history. And the painting reminds me of one of the illustrations in my history books. Sometimes I could swear it’s the same exact image.