Why Ancient Art Now?: Post #2

         Throughout time, history and art have both coincided with each other. There may not be a specific answer as to why we study ancient civilizations and architecture that no longer exist but as centuries past the items left behind are great influences for the way we see art today.
         In class, we watched "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" via youtube it showed how statues such as The Colossus of Rhodes was built through leadership. What we learn from statues such as this one is that art is a story and that we can utilize these stories to better understand our history as a whole. Statues also made way for portraits that we see a lot today by many artists.
        To imagine that at one point, art was created once by simple things such as water plants and sheets referred to as Papyrus is quite the amazing accomplishment given by the Egyptians during their time. They depicted goddesses and gods as symbols of social hierarchy.
         Pyramids were an important influence in Egyptian art and history. Egyptians were highly skilled in architecture and built them out of limestone. Slaves were forced to move heavy blocks into placement with little or no pay. These pyramids were so skillfully crafted that they withstood the age of time. Not always were these pyramids built precisely. The video showed how The Pyramids of Giza were "trial and error" when it came to construction. Pyramids were built as tombs for Pharaohs who were viewed as gods during their time. There are many artists today that have taken the influence of pyramids and have modernized them such as Ieoh Ming Pei's "Louvre Pyramid" located in Paris, France.
          Ancient Art is not only important when it comes to art today but also culturally significant. With each generation, we find ourselves growing and shifting from everything from laws to language spoken. If we do not know where we have come from, we cannot move forward with becoming individualized people. It's similar to fashion and how clothes can be worn popularly in the 70's and then  again in the 90's.

Ieoh Ming Pei's "Louvre Pyramid"

Paris, France

Picture taken: 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Louvre_Pyramid.jpg

Arches: Post #5

There is a lot to be learned from the differences in Roman and Gothic Arches. Two simple differentiations to the naked eye, such as the pointed arch in Gothic style and the rounded in Roman arches have been formed from two larger meanings all stemming from religion. The foundation wasn’t only stone or other elements but it was funded by the money of the people who lived in the area and partially from the church. This fueled a legacy that we look back on today with great honor.
Roman Arches were infamous for also using barrel vaults which allowed for the space to be made from stone. Since the stone was heavy, the walls had to be extremely thick in order for them not to collapse. This meant that Roman churches were often dim. This coincided with the fact that Catholicism was normally held in secrecy.
Gothic style arches began in France. The idea was to bring in “god’s light” into the church. These walls were much more delicate than the walls previously made by the Romans. Flying Buttresses were used to help take pressure off of the roof. This meant that the walls of the churches being built could be taller and thinner. Elevation increase also allowed for more placement when it came to windows.
There are many specific differences between Gothic and Roman style arches. Gothic styled arches were blunted and tall spires. They also had glass that was stained and since the windows were much larger, this allowed for more light to enter the church. This shifted the mood of the church that had once been dim and gloomy. It seemed as though the “light of god” could now be seen clearly. The Romans had previously had blunt towers and were far more round.
Religion was responsible for many aspects of architecture in Gothic styled arches. The newly formed pointed arches that created large scale windows attracted tourism and this helped bring people from all of the world to the church. The way we looked at religion and architecture would forever be changed because of something as simple as a pointed arch.

Marissa

Top: "Gothic Arch

Bottom: "Roman Arch"

Ancient Greece- Post #4

         We can begin by saying that although Egyptian art was based more off of religious factors, the Greeks oriented more towards the Philosophical aspects of art. Unlike the non-emotional statues created by Egyptian sculptors, Greeks explored human anatomy and facial expression which are very important to art concepts in today's world. Egyptian sculptures had large heads overdone faces with no expression and Greek's focused heavily on the "perfect body". They explored the naked body as it embodied beauty in their eyes.
         Greek art explored many concepts of life. They began what is known today as "Classical Art" which is connected to geometry and symmetry. One great example of this can be found in the text on page 93. "Podeison or Zeus". It showed Greek interest in being able to study athletes practicing in gyms.
        The most important aspect to remember about Greek art is that it focused on Humanism and the glorification of man. It enhanced unity within man even though they were to be depicted as "gods". These sculptures were for the benefit of man.
        I believe that politically, we owe plenty to Greek art as it was the first democracy depicted in time over 4000 years ago. Since these large sculptures were for public display and government sponsored this gave average citizens sense of pride within their communities. I believe many artists today, such as graffiti writers who bomb subway platforms are motivated by Greek Art without knowing. Being able to send a message throughout a community is what the Greeks did during their time and what many graffiti writers do throughout ours as well.




A History of Western Art by Laurie Schneider Adams
Pg.93
Poseidon or Zeus, found in the sea off Cape Artemision, c. 450 B.C.
Bronze, 6ft, 10 1/4 inch.

Portrait Drawing: Portrait 1- Post #3

I found this assignment rather difficult. It was the first time I sat in front of a mirror and tried to re-create my own facial features. I tried to capture the waves in my hair with using my pencil in a gentle rotating angel. I also tried to make my nose more life-like by shading in slightly the upper region of the nose. I think the most difficult aspect was trying to connect the objective and subjective aspects. The way one person may see my nose, or hair may not be the way I see it. I tried to pretend that the person in the mirror was not me but a friend this made it easier and less judgmental so that I could come up with a way that would better suit the drawing. I wanted to also capture the tiredness in my eyes, I did this by attempting to shade underneath a little more deeper. I think that you can capture a lot of personality through eyes and this is a very important aspect of self-portraits.