A metal pendulum swings back and forth over a pile of salt, tracing out a perfect circle. Surrounding the circle, there are image cutouts of hands, bent pieces of metal, and torpedo levels. The crowd meanders through the spiraling ramps of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as they try to decipher Sarah Sze’s object symbolism from her vast visual lexicon.

Walking around Columbia’s campus, a visitor will inevitably run into a student throwing a frisbee on South Lawn wearing a Columbia sweatshirt or sitting on Low Steps wearing a Pantone 290 colored hoodie. These iconic college garments, particularly varsity-style sweatshirts and hoodies, have earned a perennial spot in the quintessential American college student wardrobe.

As Columbia opens its gates to welcome first-year students on campus, many new creative students will be eager to join the bustling art scene and creative community here in Morningside Heights. Here’s a snapshot of three incoming first-year artists sharing their artistic practice and aspirations.

Under the calming indigo glow of a large LED screen suspended from the ceiling, visitors meander through Wallach’s gallery hall filled with porcelain sculptures, painted stained glass panels, and concrete covered with black flowers.

Among a black Ferris Wheel constructed of interrogation tables and a green organic sculpture elevated on a pedestal, visitors crowd the Whitney’s vast gallery hall against the scenic backdrop of the Hudson River. Yet, inside the exhibition hall, incoherence and disorder cloud the Whitney Biennial’s commentary on the dynamic American art landscape. The chaos of the exhibit certainly encapsulates, intentionally or not, the eclectic and bizarre nature of contemporary America.

Lively chatter filled the gallery hall as visitors roamed around and explored the charming exhibition space adorned with vibrant paintings, bold prints, and whimsical zines. A queen-sized mattress with fluffy pillows and stuffed animals occupied the center of the room, hinting at the theme of the exhibit: Dorm Party.

Among crystalline structures of silver spiderwebs, visitors enter the microscopic realm of the life of spiders. Exhibit-goers roam around dark gallery halls engaging in an inter-lifeform dialogue staged by Tomás Saraceno.

Blocks from the Hudson River, the gurgling sound of water interweaves with gentle whale whistles in a dimly lit open gallery space. As audiences lay down on ottomans, they embark on an auditory journey that will take them hundreds of feet into the depths of the sea. Often peaceful, seldom aggressive, and accompanied by occasional disruptions from anthropogenic activities, the voices of the ocean become narrators recounting the oft-neglected stories of the sound of the sea.