EFTA02618381.pdf

From: Edward Rod Larsen Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2018 11:00 AM To: Jeffrey Epstein Subject: Essays Essay 1. Coming from an in=ernational background, and having lived in Oslo, Tel Aviv, New York and Lo=don by the age of eighteen, I believe that the international profile of NY= will provide the best environment for my college education, with the adde= benefit of returning to the place where I've spent most of my chi=dhood and where my mother will be posted as Norwegian Ambassador to the UN=in January 2019. NYU's Art History department appea=s to me because of its wide range of courses, from the global art of antiq=ity to the contemporary. My passion is the Italian Renaissance and the rich history behind i=, especially the works of 15th century masters such as Masaccio and Benin.. Some of the courses that NYU offers such as "Early masters of It=lian Renaissance painting" and "Florentine Villas: An Inte=pretation Based on Historical, Social Factors" are, therefore appe=ling to me. What I find exciting, is not only the visual aesthetics and an=lysis of these masterpieces, but also the manner in which the Renaissance =mphasised scientific and economic innovation, areas of study the Global Liberal Arts program=e would offer. NYU's unique campus in Florence would give me a onc= in lifetime opportunity to spend a year immersing myself in the art, cult=re and history of Italy. This would be an exciting experience to have whit= studying for a Bachelor's degree in Art History, and would compli=ent my main interests in the subject. As one of the prime cultural centres in th= world, NYU's location in NYC is the perfect place to broaden know=edge within contemporary art. I am very much looking forward to visiting t=e Whitney Biennia this May. In addition the New museum, which shows a lot =f the kind of work I find interesting is a short walk away from campus. Taking advantage of being based in central=London for the past year, I have completed the Chairman's Programm= at Christies, work experience at the Courtauld Gallery and I will be work=ng at Maddox Gall=ry in the near future. Similarly, I want to take advantage of being based =n NYC to gain as much experience as possible. I have chosen to apply Early=Decision to NYU as it is the only American university I will be applying t=, as there is no better place to obtain experience of the contemporary art=world than New York City.40=A0 Essay 2. 1 EFTA_R1_01821707 EFTA02618381 =br> From the age of extremes to the age of bewilderment What captivates me more tha= anything else is the different ideological phases of the 20th century and=how art can be used as a tool of advancement and reflection on ideological=and political developments. My fascination began when I read;=Eric Hobsbawm's "Age Of Extremes" and has since de=eloped through books such as Benjamin Carter Hett's "The D=ath Of Democracy" and Yuval Harari "A Brief History Of Tom=rrow" and "21 Lessons For The 21st Century". <=p> In the years=after the First World War, until the end of the Second World War, three po=itical models for shaping the future of nation states emerged; Fascism, Co=munism and liberal democracy. These all offered great ideas for the future=of the world. Fascism and Communism shared some common features: authoritarian, strong leaders and a belief that their revolutions had to be carried through with viole=ce. This led to the mass murders in the Nazi concentration camps and in th= Soviet Gulags. </=pan> In the mid war periods, the "Litfass columns" tha= were originally designed to carry advertising, became the outdoor galleri=s for the war of ideologies. The political poster was born. High quality p=sters from every political party in Germany popped up on the columns. Hitl=r's propaganda chief Gifiebels stated that the Nazi election ca=paign should be run through speeches and posters. The other parties respon=ed in kind. An art form thus became an essential political tool in the bat=le for votes. The propagandist Art used by the Nazis and communists alike =as essential in helping sell their message to the masses. Indeed, much of the art that was c=itical of these movements was suppressed or censored and "subversi=e" artists cowed, in some cases imprisoned or even worse. =p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px:font:14px Baskerville;color:rgb(0=0,0)">The liberal dem=cratic model departed sharply from these authoritarian perspectives by pre=enting the alternative of free and transparent elections, the rule of law =nd freedom of speech. In the mid-war period the three narratives were comp=ting to be the conceptual frame for society. After the Second World War fa=cism was crushed leaving the two competing ideologies of communism and lib=ral democracy. Af=er the demise of communism in 1989, through to the late 1990's, li=eral democracy was victorious in the idealogical battlefield. Some histori=ns, like Francis Fukuyama, went so far as to proclaim this period as 41>=804kthe end of history". 2 EFTA_R1_01821708 EFTA02618382 <1=> A key piece o= art that championed this kind of ideology was Sheppard Fairey's c=mpaign poster for Barack Obama. In this poster, Fairey, a well established=graffiti artist uses urban colours and stencilling techniques combined wit= the message "HOPE" to promote the incoming presidents pos=tive values and popularity with the young. It is notable that Fairey4k=99s most recent political poster protests the Trump presidency rather than=promote it. With the rise of so called "illiberal democ=acy", with strong parties standing for populist ideologies, we hav= now moved into what can be described as the age of bewilderment. We were =ot in fact at the "end of history". Once again the future =ooks unpredictable and insecure and artists are responding in different wa=s. Jeremy Deller, a British Turner prize winning artist created=a work which features a car damaged in the bombing of the historic Mutanab=i Street book market, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people. Here, an =rt work has been used to show the aftermath of an event. This event was th= result of the Iraq war, which was seen as a way to spread democracy. Here=Art is used as a means by which to explore the effects of ideology rather =han promote it, another really interesting area in the study of the inters=ctions between ideology and art. Exploring how art reflects the historical and =deological contexts of the world around it is fascinating to me and I woul= love to study these ideas in more depth at undergraduate level. 3 EFTA_R1_01821709 EFTA02618383