Author: Casey Whalen

Corona can’t kill fun!

When I reflect on our trip to London, I am reminded of all the fun memories that I made with people who were strangers to me just a couple of weeks ago. The end of our trip seemed to be consumed by the chaos and worries of what was happening back home and how it would affect us. However, I am happy that despite the events that were unfolding, our fun did not stop. To me, the problems back home seemed surreal to me because London was not having the magnitude of issues, so it was not hard for me to put the Corona Virus out of mind and focus on the present. Even though our plans got scrambled and jumbled around, we saw and did almost everything that we had planned. I will never forget this experience. Not because of all the amazing places we went to like Stonehenge, St. Pauls, and Westminster, but because of the people. I never expected to make so many friends on this trip. I was excited to spend 10 days with one of my best friends, Elizabeth, but I am so glad that I ended up getting to know everyone in the class. Experiencing London would have been an unforgettable experience regardless of who I was with, but now I know that every experience is better when surrounded by unforgettable people. The memories that will stay with me forever are not being amazed by the dome of St. Pauls or the beautiful art in the British Museum, but they are being amazed how badly Catherines legs were shaking after climbing to the top of St. Pauls and me photobombing every picture that Blake tried to take in the British Museum. I want to thank everybody in the class for helping me have a great spring break and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

Group pic at Stonehenge

Ballie Ballerson!

Group selfie at the Princess Diana Memorial

Photobombing Blake at the British Museum

Ride the Slide at the Twizzler!

My favorite day in London

My favorite day on this trip has to be Thursday. We started the day with Hyde Park and it seemed like it would be a miserable rainy day, but that quickly changed. Once we got to the Princess Diana Memorial, the weather began to change and the sun came out. At first I wasn’t overly excited about the memorial because I was disappointed that we we’re visiting on a cold winter day instead of a warm summer day where we can put our feet in the water and hangout. However, when the sun began to come out, it seemed much warmer and was a great time for pictures. We then made our way to Kew gardens and saw some great landscapes. It became more cloudy and a bit colder which made the Palm house and the Temperate House even more exiting. The warmth of the greenhouses and the beautiful vegetation that you don’t normally find in Ohio made the cold walk around the gardens worth it. I ended the day by seeing Mamma Mia live with Elizabeth and Catherine. I have been obsessed with Mamma Mia since I was little and have always wanted to see the Broadway show. We were able to get cheap seats close to the stage, and seeing it in London made the experience very special. I got some great pictures and memories on Thursday and it will stand out as the best day on my first trip to London.

Mamma Mia selfie

Princess Diana Memorial

Kew Gardens Palm House

British Museum Sketch Analyisis: Blog 2

British Museum, Asian exhibit

This piece of art intrigued me because it was a piece of Asian artwork. I am normally drawn to Greek art because of its fluidity and it’s portrayal of the natural body. I would consider myself a feminist when it comes to body positivity and the idea that the human body should not be something to hide or be ashamed of. That is the main reason that I appreciate Greek sculptures, because they represent the natural human body and present woman as full bodied, with curves and fat. This opposes the current ideal woman which is typically seen as thin and skinny with little body fat. After venturing out of the Ancient Greek exhibit, I entered the Chinese/Japanese culture area. It is here that I found the sculpture that I decided to sketch. This sculpture was very curvy and appeared as an erratic woman. I have not studied much Asian art, but I was very interested in a sculpture that had so many familiar qualities of the Ancient Greek artwork, but was originated from a very different culture. This is why I chose to sketch the woman statue. I was able to contribute my interest in the art of the human body while viewing it from a different culture which offered slight differences in how human sexuality is view across cultures.

Blog 1

  • I really enjoyed the British Museum. The Greek exhibit area was my favorite because I love the figural statues. I’ve always enjoyed sculptural art the most, specifically Greek sculptures. My favorite statue was the crouching Venus. I am grateful that I was able to see an exhibit of Greek art when visiting the British Museum. However, I do not agree with the mindset that the museum has that they are the rescuers of this art. This art, especially the pieces of the Parthenon, are apart of Greek culture and history and no foreign country should believe they have the right to steal that history. I interpret England’s refusal to return this art to its rightful home as a way of showing dominance over another country or culture which can loosely be interpreted as cultural suppression. England “rescued” something that not only did not need to be rescued, but they “rescued” something that they had no authority to. I found it strange that the British Museum consisted of history from many non British cultures. Greek art is not the only foreign art. There are many cultures represented in the British Museum. I believe that it is important for people to have the opportunity to learn about different cultures and I am glad there is a place like this museum for people to experience the art of different cultures. However, the question in then raised again if this artwork belongs in its own country or if the museum has the right to display this art for the public.

Crouching Venus

Caryatid in British Museum

British Museum Greek art

    Jeff and Troy admiring art together

Casey’s Pre Departure

I am very excited to get to London after waiting for this trip for so long. When I applied, it seemed so far away, but the time really flew by and now we are waiting in the airport to leave. I have never been out of the country, so this is a new experience for me. I’ve been to many different places but always in the country, so I have never been exposed to a culture that has many differences from mine. I am eager to learn about a different culture and it’s history. The most exciting part for me is to finally get there and start exploring a new city. I can’t wait to go to local stores and restaurants and see how they differ from the US. The site that is most intriguing to me is Stonehenge, I am very excited to get up close to really understand how large the scale of the site is. I am also eager for Stourhead and Kew gardens because I got a new camera for Christmas that I have excited to really test out. Every place on our itinerary is somewhere that I have only read about and seen pictures of and I can’t wait to experience them for myself.

Bio

Hi I’m Casey Whalen. I am an architecture major and I am considering a minor in environmental engineering. My home town is Avon Lake, Ohio, which is a suburb on the west side of Cleveland. I graduated from Avon Lake High School where I played soccer and ran track. Other hobbies of mine include art, mainly 3D art such as ceramics, and reading. When I’m not doing any of those activities I’m most likely watching Netflix. I love my hometown because I have a large extended family that all live close to each other, so when I’m home I get to see my family all the time. Being far from my family is the biggest change that I felt at OSU but I love this school and the campus! I am very excited to go to London because I have never been out of the country before. In London I am most excited to see Stonehenge because the mystery of it fascinates me and I am excited to get a real sense of its scale when we see it in person. I am also excited to see St. Paul’s Cathedral because I really love the architecture and ornamentally of historic churches.

Me in Chicago this past summer.