Today’s topics consisted of subsections of "Pre Historic Art" What I got out of today’s class was that most "Pre Historic Art" was generally based around Females in the "Pre Historic" era and the fact that woman represented reproduction and were of much importance. Cave paintings were generally based around animals and their importance which was to produce animal fat for light and food to eat. The last topic mentioned in class was the upright stone and its importance is unknown but my theory is that the stones were placed in line with the summer and winter solstices.
I found the definitions of art in the beginning of class very interesting and clearly stated. I often hear the question, "what is art?" and respond with art is whatever you make it. However the basic idea that art is any object modified or altered by a human intentionally seems to coincide with the concepts of taking an abstract thought and turning it into a representational form of expression. So perhaps art comes from the need to express yourself in a way that words or writing cannot.
I liked how it was mentioned in class that expression through art came before communication. This in my opinion is still the case today. I'm someone who can easily express myself through art rather than communicating, so it was easy for me to relate to. I was also amazed by how the cavemen created some of their artworks by chewing and spitting charcoal. They were ahead of their time, but I'm pretty sure it didn't taste very good.
“Woman of Willendorf” a sclupture of a female, that’s how I saw it in the beginning but as we discussed the depth meaning of the sculpture. It interested me on how the importance of the female body was cherished by art and the people in that time period. Also the lascaux caves were very interesting and how the art looked so advanced and well preserved since 15,000 bce. The cavemen or women used modern type of techniques to draw on the walls. This class will give me different meaning to how we see historic art. - jenny
I found this class to be very insightful. It was interesting to learn that abstract thinking began around 30,000 B.C.E. I also thought it was interesting that during the Paleolithic period, art was so sacred and important to the people that they would sacrifice valuable animal fat to use as a torch just to create the paintings. I also learned that the stone sculptures and architecture during the Neolithic period were created to reflect on a deeper meaning like the representation of an army of a past battle. It was also interesting to learn that the architecture of this time was not only a form of art, but also a way to store their food.
The sculpture Woman of Willendorf we discussed about in class was very small in size only being 4 1/2'' in height. Cosidering the early humans were hunter and gatherers, I assume they needed their art to be portable, hence the small size of the sculpture. Also, details of the sculpture suggests that it was some sort of fertility charm, emphasizing the large breasts, bulging belly, and the prominence of the pubic triangle. I assume that this sculpture was to ensure a successful birth considering that childbearing was very dangerous at the time.
The Woman of Willendorf piece of art caugt my attention the most. I had always thought that the women from that time actually looked like that.. kind of gross. I had never thought about the fact that these people were always traveling to find food and shelter to survive. These women were probably tiny and malnourished. So, it made me realize how important women actually were to these people. With the enhanced woman's features, the artist is emphasizing the importance of women and their role in continuing the race. ~Jackie Muenstermann
I thought class was very enjoyable to sit through. There were many theories involving simply just four artifacts. It was fun thinking of the many possibilities of how and why they were created, and the impact they have on us today . I loved learning about the Hall of Bulls in the Lascaux caves in France. These polychromatic paints dwelled in the darkness of these caves for decades, since the stone age time in 15,000-10,000 BCE . Its understandable humans worshiped the earth’s animals, they either thought they were sacred or delicious. They skillfully crafted these murals during their return and visits to the caves. I find it fascinating they spent so much time focusing only on this one idea of what to replicate and draw. I think its astonishing and I loves learning about it.
Two ideas that resonates with me long after class was over are monumentality and naturalism. I think it was because my group was assigned the question to carefully observed what it means. Monumentality is used frequently throughout almost every historical art book. It creates a sense to the viewer that an object looks larger when it actually is smaller than expected. Many of the images fooled me into thinking they are huge objects. Later on, only to discover in the caption that its only a couple inches. Naturalism is about how the image resembles closely to its actual size in reality. Images of statues are easy to imagine because they do, in some cases, resembles the size in reality.
Honestly, that is the only thing that interested me about the Prehistoric Age. I am looking forward to European art later on in the quarter!
The carving of the Woman of Willendorf caught my eye for a couple of reasons: 1. The way the artist uses abstract shapes to create the female body, avoiding the naturalism of that time. Because the amount of food during 28,000-25,000 BCE was scarce, the woman didn’t look like this carving. 2. Also, I thought it was interesting how the artist chose to have no facial features on the carving, making the emphasis on the rest of the figures qualities. Once you get past the unrealistic naturalism of this figure and focus on her larger qualities, you’ll see that this figure is a fertility charm. Having this fertility charm would ensure a successful birth, because at this time they didn’t have doctors or the technology we have today.
At the beginning of class we were asked two questions, "Why create a piece of art?" and "What is art?" Throughout the discussion I understood these questions. There are many reasons why to make art, but in this particular era art was mostly created to either tell a story, symbolize an important aspect of the culture, or to record their travelings and the places that they have visited or passed through. An example of this would be the cave paintings. These did both, they told stories and some were just to mark the passing through this area. The cave paintings were amazing how detailed they were. The use of shadowing and color was pretty remarkable that even in that time they had the knowledge of how to create these looks. The second question asked was "what is art?" it was discussed in class that art was any object altered by human intention.
The reason that art was created in the caves brought some importance to the people. It clearly showed by the improvement of their art over time at the Lascaux Caves. They started using different methods used for painting such as finger painting, the moss on a stick, and spitting charcoal through a leather object. I was also impressed from their ability to use techniques to replicate motion, shades, and add a 3-D effect to their art with shading. Their paintings demonstrated observation and skill in translating an image from memory was to me, very interesting. The lecture brought insight on how quickly people evolved over time with their thinking and strengths to translate information and create new technology.
I am looking forward to the rest of this class. As a fashion design major many people feel that basic art history isn't important to fashion but it really is. Understanding the changes in technology, which creates changes in what is attractive and acceptable is all recorded through art. My favorite part of our first lecture was the spotted horses in the Hall of Bulls in the Lascaux caves in France. The way they created the dotts was almost like an early form of airbrush. JESSICA WARD
I love anything and everything to do with different cultures, but one of the main things that stood out to me during class was the Hall of Bulls. I was kind of shocked to see the handprints on the walls. It was a bit surreal to think that because of how old the caves are, the art could very well have preceded language.
Another thing that stood out to me was monumentality. It's pretty cool how something that looks so massive in a picture, could fit in your hand in reality. After we broke up into groups in class, we actually found a sculpture of the head of Constantine the Great that looked as if it was about 12 inches tall, but was actually 8 feet tall.
I feel like we didn't talk about too much in class, because of it being the first day, but I had a western civilizations class in high school that I loved, so maybe that will have sort of prepared me for this class. I can't wait to get into the architecture side of art! It still amazes me how people back then could make what they did, without the technology we have today.
Honestly the entire topic of Prehistoric Art sort of blew my mind this week. I've taken previous art history classes and none of them began the class as far back as in the time of Neanderthals, so most everything was new to me. Apart from learning about the "human spray can," the wildest thing that has really stuck with me was Stonehenge. Why Stonehenge was built, all of the possible reasons, had such an impact on me; especially this weekend, as a discussion about extraterrestrials and 2012 flourished at a gathering I was at. Anyways, I feel that everything from the "Woman of Willendorf," to the definition of art, to depth in cave paintings was a really good beginning to what seems will be an interesting quarter in Survey of Western Art.
When starting this lesson, i realized that history really does repeat itself; if not exactly, very close. when they would write in caves to tell their story and trace their hands to show authorization, i noticed that we do the same with our art. as artists we create a piece to tell a story to viewers. when our artwork is finalized we include our symbol so that everyone knows we created it. even though we dont draw in caves to tell stories we create art to tell stories, just as they did. also, in the carving of the Women of Willendorf, it was the image of the ultimate woman, in their eyes. this women was heavier, as if she was pregnant and the face was covered by a hat as if it didnt matter. now days, the best women, in mens eyes are fit. has money and pretty face.
its ironic how things change and other stay the same.
When I think back to the material we covered today, I realized that there was a lot of things I never knew or understood about art, yet I've been so infatuated with art since I can remember. When I found out that women were mainly depicted in art during the prehistoric era, I was intrigued. Finding out that women may have been cherished because they were child bearers or the fact that they may have been the ones creating art made me feel empowered. I really cannot wait to learn more about the history of art and WHY it was created.
The artwork/sculptures in the Stone Age were extremely advanced in its time. It’s amazing that these artists were able to use limited resources during that era to create such historical treasures for the world to revere. The inspiration from these free-form sculptures and abstract paintings are still seen in today’s art.
Their way of communication through the arts gave me the feeling of how simple life was. While the men were out hunting or gathering, the women were in charge of the household. Successful childbearing seemed very crucial because it represents their future hunters/gatherers or mothers. Obviously times have changed the way we live but the one thing that has been unaltered is the responsibility of family.
Exploring the stories behind events in history has always been something I've always enjoyed. I particularly liked the fact that this class is concentrates on the artifacts that were found and gives a sense of what and why they did what they created.
And in this case, for the cave drawings, I found it fascinating when they said the process of creating the image was more important than the actual result. And for those people who later erased other images to put there own seemed strange. But for most in society the result of a painting is more important than the process.
Reading through everybody's post is fun because it was like a review of the first day of class. However, for me what I found interesting about the class is how it is set up. I personally find it gratifying that we are able to have a class discussion at the end to reinforce what we learned that day.
After the first day of class I was surprised to learn about Stonehenge, like the stones it took to make it. What I found even more surprising is that today we still are not able to replicate the structure.(Hopefully one day I'll be able to see it in person)
Understanding the possible motives behind these prehistoric arts is pretty fascinating to me. Probably because with such limited resources, it's intriguing to see how people of that time use their creativity to create this inspiring way of expression we all call "art." For instance, the "Spotted Horses and Human hands," was one of the artworks that i find to be very captivating because it's really witty of them to chew on coal (not that chewing on coal is a smart thing to do) and spit it out onto the cave's wall to create and manipulate the chewed coals into images of spotted horses with random hand prints around them. For one, i give props to them for coming up with the coal usage idea because not in a million years would i ever thought of that! And second, it's very exciting to see and understand their interpretations or views of accomplishments, actions and activities through their arts (Such as, imprinting human hand prints for successful hunting). I mean, if i was forced to create art during that time of period, chewing on coals, spotted horses and human hand prints would be the last thing I'd think of! Therefore, in a way, people of that time i must say are pretty innovative and artistic. Oh and I also liked the idea of women being portrayed in most of the arts of that time because nothing says FEMALE EMPOWERMENT than FABULOUS artworks or paintings of yourself "WORKING IT" in that vivacious hair. Speaking of hair, i wonder what the ordinary average woman's hair of that time period really looked like?! If i'm not wrong, I remember Mr. Stubblefield showing us a picture of an artwork of a woman's head and i couldn't stop looking at her hair! At first, i thought it was some kind of feisty headdress but one of my classmate actually told me that it was her hair! uh....WOW! They must of have some really funky,edgy hairstyles during that time. Now it got me wondering what the Madonna or Cher of that time really looked like? hmmmm. ;)
What I learned the first day of class is that art has been around for several years. Art came before verbal communication. The sculptures were how they interpreted their way of thinking and the cave paintings were just amazing. There were no words, but you could still understand their paintings. What I found really interesting was the Stonehenge. Each stone must have weighed a ton, and no one knows how each got placed there. It could be witchcraft, extraterrestrial, solar calendar, there’s a lot of theories out there, but still no one knows for sure so the mystery still remains unsolved.
Kenesha Looking into the past of the prehistoric period seems to amaze me with their means of artistic outlook of what is beautiful. The woman of Willendorf shows how a nuturing mother was a key part of life in 28,000-25,000 BCE, which the same theory exist today. Without women in which we call this world the circle of life will not be able to continue with furture generations.
I really enjoyed this first week in class. It is interesting learning where art came from and how it was started. I think the fact that they started doing art before they could even communicate to one another is very interesting. The "Women of Willendorf" actually confused me instead of intrigued me. It made me wonder why they would make the women look no realistic. Why would they not make it look like the women who is pregnant? What made them cover her head and make her body so disproportional? Why did they do that and what were they trying to portray? I did like the thought of the answer to this last question that they were trying to portray the fact that the women didn't matter it was just about bring life to the child.
The previous week we learned about the Prehistoric of art.We learned about the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic times. Even though during those times technology was limited, it did not stop the famous Lascaux Caves paintings. It is phenomenal how people back then would use different techniques in cave paintings. Whether it was finger painting, using moss, or even the charcoal spitting from the straw technique was very creative of them. Even though the knowledge of art was little back then, the use of colors to create a 3 dimensional surface was already seen in cave paintings decades ago. I think that the people with such little technology and knowledge of art back then who can create such detailed paintings did a wonderful job.
From our first history of western art class, we learned about Prehistoric art which to me was intriguing. The art of the Cave paintings goes to show that just because something is ancient doesnt make it primitive. Proving that from the beginning man has always had the impulse to create art.
What I found interesting about the reading and lecture is the amount of possible explanations there were for the prehistoric art. They could have been created for magicoreligous reasons, practical reasons like hunting, to honor the dead, or even to document history. This leaves me to believe that people have always been extremely complex creatures and that the preconceived notions of what Neanderthals were may not be right.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this class but what I've learned so far about the Prehistoric era is really intriguing. I personally have a deep fascination with historical artifacts (and art in general), so, naturally, the slide show presented really captured my attention. I liked that you lectured about abstract thinking and the reasoning behind the art of that time period. I was really impressed with the technology concerning their artistic ability. The charcoal chewed up and spit through a straw was really ingenious. I am thoroughly fascinated to be learning about this culture, and even though I was hesitant about this class, I am now excited to learn about how art has formed an important role in our society.
I really enjoyed our first lecture regarding the Stone Age. I was quite surprised to find that the third stage of the stone age, the Neolithic period, mankind was very far along in the evolutionary cycle. I was also surprised to learn that historians have chosen to include this stage of human development in the "Stone Age," which I normally would have assumed is where humans acted solely in tribal or animal-like ways.
I didn't know what to expect from the first day of class but It was definitely a very interesting lecture. I really enjoyed learning about the "Woman of Willendorf” sculpture. It is the body of a female with abnormally large parts, what I found interesting was the meaning of it. I learned the female body was greatly cherished using art during that time period. Another part of the lecture I found intriguing was the Lascaux caves, I had no idea how much attention to detail was put in order to create art all over the cave walls.
I was unsure what the Survey of Wester Art class would be about, but I thought the lecture was great. It held my interest. Especially when we started delving into why these prehistoric societies created art. I personally believe that humans create art because people have a natural urge to express themselves. Another part of the lecture I thought was interesting was The Woman of Willendorf. Her enlarged body parts, as well as the idea of a matriarchical society were all things to take into consideration. -Lauren Cruz
The most interesting part about the lecture for me was how advanced the art was in the Paleolithic period. They used techniques that scientists today were surprised to see. The different shading and putting a 3-D image onto a 2-D surface. It was also amazing to see that scientists today discovered them within the last century and finding out that they are more than 30,000 years old. Another part that interested me was the Stonehenge. How each piece of stone weighed more than 4 tons and there was no means of transportation or technology to get them how they are today.
I thought that the most interesting piece was about the Lascaux caves because even though all of the cave paintings were from prehistoric times , man even in those times, when communication wasn't formed yet, had enough skill to be able to paint such intricate art. (usage of colors and to be able to make it 3 dimensional) I like the idea that possibly creativity came first.
Athough I found all of the information we covered interesting I was most intrigued by Stonehenge. Many historians believe that Stonehenge marked the passing of time. The circular arrangment of the structure suggests that it was used for rituals that are believed to be associated with burial. How the structure was put together interested me the most because of the large-scale of the structure, the shear size of the stones and the meticulous and creative techniques that were used to put them together. How people of prehistoric times put together a structure made of stones that weighed tons without the use of advanced technology is a feat that continues to amaze me.
It was very interesting to find out that women played an important role in ancient art and sculpture. I thought it was cool that cave paintings were preserved because they were in caves. I also thought it was pretty cool how people managed to carry the giant stones from one place to another and aranging it in a certain shape, since people today cannot figure out how that could have been done. Overall, the class was very interesting and I was surprised I didn't fall asleep in a history class.
this classs seems like it would be very inteesting i cant wait to learn more about how fashion started and the influences of the many things we wear today.i am very interested to learn about the art of the past and how new techniques came about.i am also very interested to learn about the many different sculptures there were and the ones that have srvived the long years.
I couldnt find week to blog to post on so this blog post is for week 2- the ancient near east period: In class today I found that the Ziggurat was the most interesting because of its structure and because of its many uses. The structure is interesting because of the battered walls and its bent access approach. Another interesting aspect of the ziggurat is the cella because I found it interesting that the only people allowed in the cella is the priest and the god of the town. The battered walls had three very interesting reasons for the way they were, Defense, protection from weather, and stability. The ziggurat is relevant today because it was built the way many military buildings are constructed today.
I really enjoyed this first week of school.The caved paintings were really cool. This is when they used symbolism for their paintings. Symbolism is man oldest form of visual expression and prehistoric people often represented their world and beliefs through visual images. Long before the advent of written language, man used symbols to convey what they did and or did not understand of the world.
What I found most interesting about the Prehistoric art period was how it is defined. The textbook claims art is about telling a story through painting or sculpture, and art is any object that has been altered by humans. Today, art is not classified this way. It is also very different because the main focus of sculpture was women and I agree that it had to do with fertility and the fact that women were responsible for reproducing. So this could have either been a way of objectifying women or idolizing women.
Today’s topics consisted of subsections of "Pre Historic Art" What I got out of today’s class was that most "Pre Historic Art" was generally based around Females in the "Pre Historic" era and the fact that woman represented reproduction and were of much importance. Cave paintings were generally based around animals and their importance which was to produce animal fat for light and food to eat. The last topic mentioned in class was the upright stone and its importance is unknown but my theory is that the stones were placed in line with the summer and winter solstices.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found the definitions of art in the beginning of class very interesting and clearly stated. I often hear the question, "what is art?" and respond with art is whatever you make it. However the basic idea that art is any object modified or altered by a human intentionally seems to coincide with the concepts of taking an abstract thought and turning it into a representational form of expression. So perhaps art comes from the need to express yourself in a way that words or writing cannot.
ReplyDeleteI liked how it was mentioned in class that expression through art came before communication. This in my opinion is still the case today. I'm someone who can easily express myself through art rather than communicating, so it was easy for me to relate to. I was also amazed by how the cavemen created some of their artworks by chewing and spitting charcoal. They were ahead of their time, but I'm pretty sure it didn't taste very good.
ReplyDelete“Woman of Willendorf” a sclupture of a female, that’s how I saw it in the beginning but as we discussed the depth meaning of the sculpture. It interested me on how the importance of the female body was cherished by art and the people in that time period. Also the lascaux caves were very interesting and how the art looked so advanced and well preserved since 15,000 bce. The cavemen or women used modern type of techniques to draw on the walls. This class will give me different meaning to how we see historic art.
ReplyDelete- jenny
I found this class to be very insightful. It was interesting to learn that abstract thinking began around 30,000 B.C.E. I also thought it was interesting that during the Paleolithic period, art was so sacred and important to the people that they would sacrifice valuable animal fat to use as a torch just to create the paintings.
ReplyDeleteI also learned that the stone sculptures and architecture during the Neolithic period were created to reflect on a deeper meaning like the representation of an army of a past battle. It was also interesting to learn that the architecture of this time was not only a form of art, but also a way to store their food.
The sculpture Woman of Willendorf we discussed about in class was very small in size only being 4 1/2'' in height. Cosidering the early humans were hunter and gatherers, I assume they needed their art to be portable, hence the small size of the sculpture. Also, details of the sculpture suggests that it was some sort of fertility charm, emphasizing the large breasts, bulging belly, and the prominence of the pubic triangle. I assume that this sculpture was to ensure a successful birth considering that childbearing was very dangerous at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe Woman of Willendorf piece of art caugt my attention the most. I had always thought that the women from that time actually looked like that.. kind of gross. I had never thought about the fact that these people were always traveling to find food and shelter to survive. These women were probably tiny and malnourished. So, it made me realize how important women actually were to these people. With the enhanced woman's features, the artist is emphasizing the importance of women and their role in continuing the race.
ReplyDelete~Jackie Muenstermann
I thought class was very enjoyable to sit through.
ReplyDeleteThere were many theories involving simply just four artifacts.
It was fun thinking of the many possibilities of how and why they were created, and the impact they have on us today .
I loved learning about the Hall of Bulls in the Lascaux caves in France.
These polychromatic paints dwelled in the darkness of these caves for decades, since the stone age time in 15,000-10,000 BCE .
Its understandable humans worshiped the earth’s animals, they either thought they were sacred or delicious.
They skillfully crafted these murals during their return and visits to the caves.
I find it fascinating they spent so much time focusing only on this one idea of what to replicate and draw.
I think its astonishing and I loves learning about it.
Sophie...
Two ideas that resonates with me long after class was over are monumentality and naturalism. I think it was because my group was assigned the question to carefully observed what it means. Monumentality is used frequently throughout almost every historical art book. It creates a sense to the viewer that an object looks larger when it actually is smaller than expected. Many of the images fooled me into thinking they are huge objects. Later on, only to discover in the caption that its only a couple inches. Naturalism is about how the image resembles closely to its actual size in reality. Images of statues are easy to imagine because they do, in some cases, resembles the size in reality.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, that is the only thing that interested me about the Prehistoric Age. I am looking forward to European art later on in the quarter!
- Benny Dam
The carving of the Woman of Willendorf caught my eye for a couple of reasons: 1. The way the artist uses abstract shapes to create the female body, avoiding the naturalism of that time. Because the amount of food during 28,000-25,000 BCE was scarce, the woman didn’t look like this carving. 2. Also, I thought it was interesting how the artist chose to have no facial features on the carving, making the emphasis on the rest of the figures qualities.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get past the unrealistic naturalism of this figure and focus on her larger qualities, you’ll see that this figure is a fertility charm. Having this fertility charm would ensure a successful birth, because at this time they didn’t have doctors or the technology we have today.
At the beginning of class we were asked two questions, "Why create a piece of art?" and "What is art?" Throughout the discussion I understood these questions. There are many reasons why to make art, but in this particular era art was mostly created to either tell a story, symbolize an important aspect of the culture, or to record their travelings and the places that they have visited or passed through.
ReplyDeleteAn example of this would be the cave paintings. These did both, they told stories and some were just to mark the passing through this area. The cave paintings were amazing how detailed they were. The use of shadowing and color was pretty remarkable that even in that time they had the knowledge of how to create these looks. The second question asked was "what is art?" it was discussed in class that art was any object altered by human intention.
- Aubrey Harbin
The reason that art was created in the caves brought some importance to the people. It clearly showed by the improvement of their art over time at the Lascaux Caves. They started using different methods used for painting such as finger painting, the moss on a stick, and spitting charcoal through a leather object. I was also impressed from their ability to use techniques to replicate motion, shades, and add a 3-D effect to their art with shading. Their paintings demonstrated observation and skill in translating an image from memory was to me, very interesting. The lecture brought insight on how quickly people evolved over time with their thinking and strengths to translate information and create new technology.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to the rest of this class. As a fashion design major many people feel that basic art history isn't important to fashion but it really is. Understanding the changes in technology, which creates changes in what is attractive and acceptable is all recorded through art. My favorite part of our first lecture was the spotted horses in the Hall of Bulls in the Lascaux caves in France. The way they created the dotts was almost like an early form of airbrush. JESSICA WARD
ReplyDeleteI love anything and everything to do with different cultures, but one of the main things that stood out to me during class was the Hall of Bulls. I was kind of shocked to see the handprints on the walls. It was a bit surreal to think that because of how old the caves are, the art could very well have preceded language.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that stood out to me was monumentality. It's pretty cool how something that looks so massive in a picture, could fit in your hand in reality. After we broke up into groups in class, we actually found a sculpture of the head of Constantine the Great that looked as if it was about 12 inches tall, but was actually 8 feet tall.
I feel like we didn't talk about too much in class, because of it being the first day, but I had a western civilizations class in high school that I loved, so maybe that will have sort of prepared me for this class. I can't wait to get into the architecture side of art! It still amazes me how people back then could make what they did, without the technology we have today.
-Danielle Castellese
Honestly the entire topic of Prehistoric Art sort of blew my mind this week. I've taken previous art history classes and none of them began the class as far back as in the time of Neanderthals, so most everything was new to me. Apart from learning about the "human spray can," the wildest thing that has really stuck with me was Stonehenge. Why Stonehenge was built, all of the possible reasons, had such an impact on me; especially this weekend, as a discussion about extraterrestrials and 2012 flourished at a gathering I was at.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I feel that everything from the "Woman of Willendorf," to the definition of art, to depth in cave paintings was a really good beginning to what seems will be an interesting quarter in Survey of Western Art.
When starting this lesson, i realized that history really does repeat itself; if not exactly, very close. when they would write in caves to tell their story and trace their hands to show authorization, i noticed that we do the same with our art. as artists we create a piece to tell a story to viewers. when our artwork is finalized we include our symbol so that everyone knows we created it. even though we dont draw in caves to tell stories we create art to tell stories, just as they did.
ReplyDeletealso, in the carving of the Women of Willendorf, it was the image of the ultimate woman, in their eyes. this women was heavier, as if she was pregnant and the face was covered by a hat as if it didnt matter. now days, the best women, in mens eyes are fit. has money and pretty face.
its ironic how things change and other stay the same.
When I think back to the material we covered today, I realized that there was a lot of things I never knew or understood about art, yet I've been so infatuated with art since I can remember.
ReplyDeleteWhen I found out that women were mainly depicted in art during the prehistoric era, I was intrigued. Finding out that women may have been cherished because they were child bearers or the fact that they may have been the ones creating art made me feel empowered.
I really cannot wait to learn more about the history of art and WHY it was created.
- Amy Anvick
The artwork/sculptures in the Stone Age were extremely advanced in its time. It’s amazing that these artists were able to use limited resources during that era to create such historical treasures for the world to revere. The inspiration from these free-form sculptures and abstract paintings are still seen in today’s art.
ReplyDeleteTheir way of communication through the arts gave me the feeling of how simple life was. While the men were out hunting or gathering, the women were in charge of the household. Successful childbearing seemed very crucial because it represents their future hunters/gatherers or mothers. Obviously times have changed the way we live but the one thing that has been unaltered is the responsibility of family.
Exploring the stories behind events in history has always been something I've always enjoyed. I particularly liked the fact that this class is concentrates on the artifacts that were found and gives a sense of what and why they did what they created.
ReplyDeleteAnd in this case, for the cave drawings, I found it fascinating when they said the process of creating the image was more important than the actual result. And for those people who later erased other images to put there own seemed strange. But for most in society the result of a painting is more important than the process.
Reading through everybody's post is fun because it was like a review of the first day of class. However, for me what I found interesting about the class is how it is set up. I personally find it gratifying that we are able to have a class discussion at the end to reinforce what we learned that day.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first day of class I was surprised to learn about Stonehenge, like the stones it took to make it. What I found even more surprising is that today we still are not able to replicate the structure.(Hopefully one day I'll be able to see it in person)
Understanding the possible motives behind these prehistoric arts is pretty fascinating to me. Probably because with such limited resources, it's intriguing to see how people of that time use their creativity to create this inspiring way of expression we all call "art." For instance, the "Spotted Horses and Human hands," was one of the artworks that i find to be very captivating because it's really witty of them to chew on coal (not that chewing on coal is a smart thing to do) and spit it out onto the cave's wall to create and manipulate the chewed coals into images of spotted horses with random hand prints around them. For one, i give props to them for coming up with the coal usage idea because not in a million years would i ever thought of that! And second, it's very exciting to see and understand their interpretations or views of accomplishments, actions and activities through their arts (Such as, imprinting human hand prints for successful hunting). I mean, if i was forced to create art during that time of period, chewing on coals, spotted horses and human hand prints would be the last thing I'd think of! Therefore, in a way, people of that time i must say are pretty innovative and artistic. Oh and I also liked the idea of women being portrayed in most of the arts of that time because nothing says FEMALE EMPOWERMENT than FABULOUS artworks or paintings of yourself "WORKING IT" in that vivacious hair. Speaking of hair, i wonder what the ordinary average woman's hair of that time period really looked like?! If i'm not wrong, I remember Mr. Stubblefield showing us a picture of an artwork of a woman's head and i couldn't stop looking at her hair! At first, i thought it was some kind of feisty headdress but one of my classmate actually told me that it was her hair! uh....WOW! They must of have some really funky,edgy hairstyles during that time. Now it got me wondering what the Madonna or Cher of that time really looked like? hmmmm.
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-Platini<3
What I learned the first day of class is that art has been around for several years. Art came before verbal communication. The sculptures were how they interpreted their way of thinking and the cave paintings were just amazing. There were no words, but you could still understand their paintings.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found really interesting was the Stonehenge. Each stone must have weighed a ton, and no one knows how each got placed there. It could be witchcraft, extraterrestrial, solar calendar, there’s a lot of theories out there, but still no one knows for sure so the mystery still remains unsolved.
Kenesha
ReplyDeleteLooking into the past of the prehistoric period seems to amaze me with their means of artistic outlook of what is beautiful. The woman of Willendorf shows how a nuturing mother was a key part of life in 28,000-25,000 BCE, which the same theory exist today. Without women in which we call this world the circle of life will not be able to continue with furture generations.
I really enjoyed this first week in class. It is interesting learning where art came from and how it was started. I think the fact that they started doing art before they could even communicate to one another is very interesting. The "Women of Willendorf" actually confused me instead of intrigued me. It made me wonder why they would make the women look no realistic. Why would they not make it look like the women who is pregnant? What made them cover her head and make her body so disproportional? Why did they do that and what were they trying to portray? I did like the thought of the answer to this last question that they were trying to portray the fact that the women didn't matter it was just about bring life to the child.
ReplyDeleteThe previous week we learned about the Prehistoric of art.We learned about the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic times. Even though during those times technology was limited, it did not stop the famous Lascaux Caves paintings. It is phenomenal how people back then would use different techniques in cave paintings. Whether it was finger painting, using moss, or even the charcoal spitting from the straw technique was very creative of them. Even though the knowledge of art was little back then, the use of colors to create a 3 dimensional surface was already seen in cave paintings decades ago. I think that the people with such little technology and knowledge of art back then who can create such detailed paintings did a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteFrom our first history of western art class, we learned about Prehistoric art which to me was intriguing. The art of the Cave paintings goes to show that just because something is ancient doesnt make it primitive. Proving that from the beginning man has always had the impulse to create art.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting about the reading and lecture is the amount of possible explanations there were for the prehistoric art. They could have been created for magicoreligous reasons, practical reasons like hunting, to honor the dead, or even to document history. This leaves me to believe that people have always been extremely complex creatures and that the preconceived notions of what Neanderthals were may not be right.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure what to expect from this class but what I've learned so far about the Prehistoric era is really intriguing. I personally have a deep fascination with historical artifacts (and art in general), so, naturally, the slide show presented really captured my attention. I liked that you lectured about abstract thinking and the reasoning behind the art of that time period. I was really impressed with the technology concerning their artistic ability. The charcoal chewed up and spit through a straw was really ingenious. I am thoroughly fascinated to be learning about this culture, and even though I was hesitant about this class, I am now excited to learn about how art has formed an important role in our society.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed our first lecture regarding the Stone Age. I was quite surprised to find that the third stage of the stone age, the Neolithic period, mankind was very far along in the evolutionary cycle. I was also surprised to learn that historians have chosen to include this stage of human development in the "Stone Age," which I normally would have assumed is where humans acted solely in tribal or animal-like ways.
ReplyDelete- Arwen Allen
I didn't know what to expect from the first day of class but It was definitely a very interesting lecture. I really enjoyed learning about the "Woman of Willendorf” sculpture. It is the body of a female with abnormally large parts, what I found interesting was the meaning of it. I learned the female body was greatly cherished using art during that time period. Another part of the lecture I found intriguing was the Lascaux caves, I had no idea how much attention to detail was put in order to create art all over the cave walls.
ReplyDelete-Michelle S.
I was unsure what the Survey of Wester Art class would be about, but I thought the lecture was great. It held my interest. Especially when we started delving into why these prehistoric societies created art. I personally believe that humans create art because people have a natural urge to express themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the lecture I thought was interesting was The Woman of Willendorf. Her enlarged body parts, as well as the idea of a matriarchical society were all things to take into consideration.
-Lauren Cruz
The most interesting part about the lecture for me was how advanced the art was in the Paleolithic period. They used techniques that scientists today were surprised to see. The different shading and putting a 3-D image onto a 2-D surface. It was also amazing to see that scientists today discovered them within the last century and finding out that they are more than 30,000 years old. Another part that interested me was the Stonehenge. How each piece of stone weighed more than 4 tons and there was no means of transportation or technology to get them how they are today.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the most interesting piece was about the Lascaux caves because even though all of the cave paintings were from prehistoric times , man even in those times, when communication wasn't formed yet, had enough skill to be able to paint such intricate art. (usage of colors and to be able to make it 3 dimensional) I like the idea that possibly creativity came first.
ReplyDeleteAthough I found all of the information we covered interesting I was most intrigued by Stonehenge. Many historians believe that Stonehenge marked the passing of time. The circular arrangment of the structure suggests that it was used for rituals that are believed to be associated with burial. How the structure was put together interested me the most because of the large-scale of the structure, the shear size of the stones and the meticulous and creative techniques that were used to put them together. How people of prehistoric times put together a structure made of stones that weighed tons without the use of advanced technology is a feat that continues to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to find out that women played an important role in ancient art and sculpture. I thought it was cool that cave paintings were preserved because they were in caves. I also thought it was pretty cool how people managed to carry the giant stones from one place to another and aranging it in a certain shape, since people today cannot figure out how that could have been done. Overall, the class was very interesting and I was surprised I didn't fall asleep in a history class.
ReplyDeleteLily Tran
Tuesday 9:30am
this classs seems like it would be very inteesting i cant wait to learn more about how fashion started and the influences of the many things we wear today.i am very interested to learn about the art of the past and how new techniques came about.i am also very interested to learn about the many different sculptures there were and the ones that have srvived the long years.
ReplyDeleteI couldnt find week to blog to post on so this blog post is for week 2- the ancient near east period:
ReplyDeleteIn class today I found that the Ziggurat was the most interesting because of its structure and because of its many uses. The structure is interesting because of the battered walls and its bent access approach. Another interesting aspect of the ziggurat is the cella because I found it interesting that the only people allowed in the cella is the priest and the god of the town. The battered walls had three very interesting reasons for the way they were, Defense, protection from weather, and stability. The ziggurat is relevant today because it was built the way many military buildings are constructed today.
I really enjoyed this first week of school.The caved paintings were really cool. This is when they used symbolism for their paintings. Symbolism is man oldest form of visual expression and prehistoric people often represented their world and beliefs through visual images. Long before the advent of written language, man used symbols to convey what they did and or did not understand of the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting about the Prehistoric art period was how it is defined. The textbook claims art is about telling a story through painting or sculpture, and art is any object that has been altered by humans. Today, art is not classified this way. It is also very different because the main focus of sculpture was women and I agree that it had to do with fertility and the fact that women were responsible for reproducing. So this could have either been a way of objectifying women or idolizing women.
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