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Going through the exhibit and the questions made me think about comparisons between the uses of art in ancient Mesopotamian cultures to way modern society uses photo-ops, sound bites, talking about their achievements etc. to portray leaders as powerful and legitimate. Of course there was no television in the ancient near east, so these works of art were probably all the access members of ancient Mesopotamian had to their leaders, and were the mass media of the time. Works such as ‘Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions’ is easily substituted for photos of ‘Vladimir Putin with a Tiger he shot with a tranquilizer dart’. Of course impressive architecture has always been a staple of demonstrating power. The Ziggurats that raised into the sky got worshipers closer to the gods. Whomever constructed these monuments was surely a force to be reckoned with. As was mentioned in the video, Saddam Hussein used a restoration of the Ishtar Gate to pull some of the clout that ancient Mesopotamian culture has to his own purposes. The legitimacy of these objects still carries weight today, albeit moreso because they are a connection to earliest civilization than the Gods.
The Week 2 assignment says it is due Friday the 26th, which isn’t a real time… so I hope this is ok!
Most of the artwork that was in the Paleo and Neolithic exhibits were not what I’d think of as ‘modern abstract’ art which tends not to be representational at all and instead plays with pure form, shape, color, etc. However it seems fair to me to say that there is a high level of abstraction present in the ancient artwork. The Lion Man obviously does not actually exist and the images of women overemphasize their breasts, bellies, and hips in a way which leaves reality behind. Also with the animals being rendered in composite perspective, showing their eyes strait on, but their head in profile. I think that the people who were creating the art knew that what they made was not ‘photorealistic’ and knew what a real animal looked like, but they were creating a representation which captured the relevant details about what they were trying to portray. That these details resulted in a image that looks less like the actual object I think is what abstraction is all about. I personally like taking and emphasizing the aspects of an object which are important because for me, that is what art is about – revealing the significance of a particular aspect of reality. All art is ultimately abstraction.
Hey I’m not sure if this is late or not… The Week 2 page says January 26, so I’m a little confused.
I think that humans probably first created representational images out of play or boredom, the way that a child left with a sandpit might draw designs it it. Once some techniques were developed though, I’d imagine they would immediately fill numerous roles in ancient people’s lives. Immediately I think of how useful images would be for storytelling, fleshing out a recount of experiences and preserving them for the future. Another probable use would be to create idols of different aspects of the world and nature like the cave representations of animals. A human could interact with these idols in lieu of the actual thing which might be dangerous or want to run away. I can imagine any number of spiritual rituals and practices that could revolve around these idols, something which continues today!
Hey Guy,
Your story about the photographers is pretty wild and your artwork is awesome! Thanks for sharing it with us. I hope you have a great semester!
Hey Samantha! What’s up?
That’s cool that you’re playing Basketball at UAF. I work event staff at the Patty Center sometimes and have a good time watching the games! I’ve had a similar relationship with Art – Some times are more fruitful than others, it’s great though when you catch a good wave and ride it!
Part 1
“Swan, my mother said, sensing my excitement. It pattered the bright water, flapping its great wings, and
lifted into the sky.The word alone hardly attested to its magnificence nor conveyed the emotion it produced. The sight of it
generated an urge I had no words for, a desire to speak of the swan, to say something of its whiteness, the
explosive nature of its movement, and the slow beating of its wings.The swan became one with the sky. I struggled to find words to describe my own sense of it. Swan, I
repeated, not entirely satisfied, and I felt a twinge, a curious yearning, imperceptible to passersby, my
mother, the trees, or the clouds.”
-Just Kids by Patti SmithThis is more of an explanation than a definition, but it gets at the intent of art, which tells you something about what art really is. For Patti Smith, art is the attempt to describe her experience in a deeper way than can be offered by a simple word or description. There is something sublime about the world that is difficult to describe, and the mission of art is to express that essence. This is the definition of Art that I most agree with.
“Works produced by human creative skill and imagination.” – Oxford Living Dictionaries
I disagree with this definition because I think that more is required for Art than just skill and imagination. Something can be technically impressive, but without impact and meaning it is not Art. Of course, it is probably impossible for an Artist to put much skill and effort into something without finding meaning in it, so a showcase of creative skill and imagination will almost certainly be Art, however those qualities alone are not reason why it is art. An unskillful amateur can produce a piece poorly imagined and bereft of technical skill, however because of what it means to them and the impact it has, it is still very firmly Art.
Part 2
Art History is the gathering of Human Artwork from across time and space. This Artwork is organized so that one can say ‘These people over here made this while those people over there made that, and then after that some more people over there made that too.’ This provides you with a story of who made what where when, and this story tells you a lot about who those people were, what they were doing, who they knew, and what they cared about.
We study the Art History because it is one of the most interesting things that exists! Art History can give us a perspective into, not just what other humans did, but what they cared about and were inspired by. Personally one of my interests is Jungian Psychology and Carl Jung’s theory of psychological archetypes. Art History is where one goes to find these archetypes, or universal human themes, and see these themes expressed in manifold ways through human history.
The understanding that we gain from this study comes in the form of answers to fundamental questions of human psychology and motivation. Humans are inspired by the stories and images which are conveyed in their art. When a universal human theme, such as the Hero’s Journey, is discovered and (to the best of our ability) understood, then we can see how that theme is being actively lived by people we know, and also actually by ourselves. ‘Why do I do what I do?’ ‘How do I find meaning in what I do?’ These are difficult questions that Art History won’t necessarily answer, but the study of Artwork and Art History will give understanding of the efforts other humans have made to approach these issues.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bLouMPvU3v67LRQzVkO3V2c-HXoEhen7
Hello! Here is my Welcome Video. Let’s have a great class together!
