Black Death

The video I chose was “More Human than Human” because it was about the human body and society. It interests me a great deal to learn about the human body. It began educating us with Venus of Willendorf and how it has changed throughout the centuries. It was interesting to see how the human body is portrayed differently in every culture. Following the first video, I picked “Cataclysm: The Black Death Visits Tuscany”. I chose this video because honestly I found the title very interesting. It seemed to have a sense of fear surrounding the title so I was like why not! How does this involve art? It was surprising to see how it was all tied together. The final video I chose was “Beyond the Classical: Byzantine and Later Greek Art”. The reason I chose this video is because we have learned about the Greeks in this class already and I feel more educated on them so I felt this would be yet another way to expand my knowledge in this particular area. From the first video I learned how scientist were comparing the statue of the Venus of Willendorf to seagulls. I found it interesting that this view was being taken on the statue however I wanted to continue learning more. After a great amount of detail was given I finally understood how they were able to relate this two total opposite things. In the third video (the one I thought to be full of fear) we learned about the black plague (also known has the black death) and how it hit Italy. The black death completely whipped out more than half of Europe’s population which forced Italy to take a step back from expanding their culture. These videos relate to the text because they deal with the Greeks and Romans. All of the videos talk about how influential the Greeks and Romans were to the whole world. The videos brought what we read this week to life. It provided us with a visual of the examples that were given in the book.I greatly enjoyed these videos. The videos always seem to provide me with a greater understanding of what we are learning in the text.

Architecture

Two videos I chose were “Prairie Style (Frank Lloyd Wright)” and the “Classical Architecture”. In the first video I learned that Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to have an open floor plan, and not the traditional boxed housing. The designs of his houses were horizontal and the roofs were shorter than the victorian houses that were common in the era. In the second video, I found it interesting that England had a great amount of architecture influences. England was influenced by the Greeks and Romans. A numerous amount of buildings in England had columns which take after the Greeks. The Romans influenced England through their arches and domes which you can also see throughout England. An example of this would be their churches. To simply answer this question, the videos relate to the text because they both talk about architecture. They both also include how the Greeks and Romans influenced architecture throughout today’s society. In the video and text, it was stated that columns and arches are used to represent important buildings. Architecture from the Greeks and Romans to architecture today continues to greatly change and represent different ideas, interests, and design.I personally enjoyed the videos more than the text. The videos I feel went into greater detail on how just one individual or culture (such as the Greeks or Romans) can make a huge impact on today’s modern architecture. The video educated me on the history of buildings here in the United States. It was interesting to me to see how a culture from so long ago, can still have an impact on how we build our buildings today. The reason I chose these videos is because I felt the Classical video related to the text more so than any of the other videos. It was the one that brought the reading and videos together with the Greeks and Romans architecture and how it influenced today’s society. The first video I chose because I found it to be the most interesting. Out of all the other videos it was the only one that I felt caught my attention the most.

Review of the films

In the installation video I learned was what site specific art was. I found that interesting because that piece of art cannot exist in any other place but the building where it is being presented. In the glass and ceramics video I learned that stained glass is not just simply pieces of colored glass placed together. It is much more than that. Careful painting and or cutting is used to give these remarkable pieces their beauty. In the last video titled “Through the Eyes of a sculpture” I learned the process of creating a life sized marble statue requires more than just sculpting it out of clay. This is a very detailed process that I have often overlooked. The videos relate to the reading in the text because the text talks about what falls under the categories of fine art and crafts which the book then lists ceramics, glass, sculpture etc. under such categories. The text also goes into detail about the topics in the video. The films go more into detail about these topics. It provides the viewer with a better understanding of these topics. What helps me is the visual aspect the films provide. I was able to see glass form and a sculpture come to life in these films which I enjoyed a great amount.

Peer Responses

Here are the two blogs a responded to: http://brandonsartblog3.blogspot.com http://maglekellie.blogspot.com For the first project we had to all complete, I agreed with both of my peers with how they chose to describe a certain element or principle. Throughout their pictures I could notice a great deal of them represented not only the word they were trying to define but also "variety". It seems as though no matter what you take a picture of, you can't avoid variety. I noticed that out of the three of us, for shape we each chose to have a circular object represent shape which I found pretty interesting. Also for myself and Brandon, we both chose flowers to capture different meanings. One image in particular I found very interesting was Kellie's picture of balance. It was an eery, yet fascinating way to represent balance and I loved it! I did enjoy seeing what others have created and posted! It made me feel connected to this class even more. I have yet to receive any comments on my projects, but once I do I'm sure I will enjoy reading what it is they have to say!!

Logo

Creating a logo was interesting however not my favorite thing to do. I felt it was very time consuming however, it was nice to see the final sketch. As I took time to think about the logo I thought, "What describes me?" MY name is Mary, however I go by my middle name which is Reagan so I felt it was important to make sure my first and middle name was in there. I also have a very strong relationship with Jesus Christ, He is what completes my life, what keeps my life flowing which is why I added the flowing line to signify without Jesus, my life is nothing. Underneath my name I added my favorite Bible verse. I live my life by that verse. It always encourages me and gets me through rough times, and struggles. Acts 2:25 states, "I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for He is right beside me." No matter what I do, no matter what situation I find myself in Jesus is always by my side. It was hard to create the logo. I had to go through everything in my mind that I could think would describe me. It was neat to see that out of all the things I could come up with that would possibly describe me, the most important was Jesus. Also, as I was making this logo it brought to my attention that I'm really not that great of a drawer and if I ever need a logo made for some reason, I will defiantly hire someone to do this work for me. Below are my sketches and final drafts of my logo ENJOY!