Q. Frank Lloyd Wright built theGuggenheim Museum in 1959.What is the unique shape of the building, and why did Wright choose this shape?
A. The Guggenheim Museum is a circular building with a spiraling exhibition space inside. Wright wanted the museum to stand out from the rest of the buildings in New York City, which were all flat, rectangular skyscrapers.
Q.Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a famous German composer. He wrote his more famous orchestral work, the Fifth Symphony, as a symbol of his will to live with a disability he acquired.What is this disability?
A. Beethoven started to lose his hearing when he was 30 years old, and progressively became completely deaf.
Q.This Cuban ballerina gradually lost her eyesight but continued to produce ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle. When Fidel Castro became dictator of Cuba in 1959, this dancer became director as well as ballerina of the National Ballet of Cuba.Who is she?
A. Alicia Alonso.
Q.Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) broke the boundaries of conventional oil painting by pouring or dripping paint onto the canvas, which was stretched out on the floor.Why did Pollock choose this method?
A. Pollock felt more at ease with the canvas on the floor. In being able to walk around it, he felt more a part of the painting.
Q.What contemporary artist has been termed a "word architect" for his use of text as a visual medium?
A. "Kenneth Goldsmith is a word-architect who creates visual poetry and verbal sculpture through his careful layering of verses." (**quote from Conner Contemporary web site)
