Minjoo ’27 and Melanie ’25, recount a busy day learning new drawing techniques, visiting the Tate Modern, and bonding as a group.
It’s our third day in London! We went to a multitude of places and saw some great things. First, we explored the Neals Yard area and did some work on drawing using two-point perspective. It was a great learning experience for everybody, and we all learned new techniques: of sight, mark making, and new understandings of depth. When sharing our works, everyone noticed points of strength in each other’s work and noted places where we could improve. Then, we went over to a bookstore café to draw live subjects. It was a bit challenging, but Ms. Taylor helped us find specific things we could improve within our work and gave us confidence to continue after a stumble. Afterward we had a lunch at the seven dials market where we ran into a small problem: none of the places would accept cash. This meant we had to converge again from our small groups and eat altogether from the same place. Although this wasn’t our original plan, we ended up sharing a lot of laughs and good moments as a group. Later, we would tour the Tate Modern and see some amazing works of art by contemporary artists. Our tour guide was so interesting and clearly so knowledgeable about all the art we were viewing. She shared with us a concept about “ready-made sculptures,” a term invented by Marcel Duchamp to describe artworks like his “Fountain.” As our tour guide explained to us, with these kinds of sculptures, it doesn’t really matter who constructs the physical object presented in the gallery. The real art is in the thoughts and ideas that it represents. Hence, although the Tate doesn’t have the original piece, the concept and message behind “Fountain” still stands.
After the Tate, we had a group debrief and went out to dinner. As we students navigated ourselves to the restaurant (with a small hiccup), we laughed and spoke amongst ourselves. The dinner was long but extremely fun, filled with jokes and stories, and topped with some great dessert. We had so much fun today— when looking at and creating art and when bonding together as a group.
