And Yet Another Video Review

1.)  I chose to watch the Greek Art video because I really like Greek mythology, and the temples and statues are very intriguing and beautiful that are dedicated to the gods and goddesses. I was curious to learn more about the beauty ideal and change in culture of the ancient Greeks. The second video I chose was about the Plague in Tuscany. I decided that it seemed very unlike all of the other videos and focused more on the incompleteness of pieces rather than the finished product. I also thought it was interesting because it was a darker and sadder time, while the other videos talked about times of prosperity.

2.) Videos:

More Human than Human 

        Key Points:  People are obsessed with the human form, but none of the forms that we are exposed to everyday (ads, sculpture, paintings, models, magazines etc) are what "real" human beings look like. Exaggeration, and unrealistic features.

                        : Instinct to exaggerate the human form. But "culture is king", and dictates how we depict the body. As culture changes, what artists choose to exaggerate also changes. 

                        : Egyptians suppressed the instinct in order to maintain the firm belief in consistency, stability, and order. So their style of art didn't change for centuries.  

                        : Although Greeks strove for realistic figures, these were too "boring" so exaggerated body movements and muscle tone, as well as the look of a relaxed athlete that's ready for action were used in the sculptures. 

The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and the Human Figure

          Key Points: Ancient Greeks were obsessed with the human body, and the ability to create a sense of movement in their art, as well as portraying human emotion.

                           : There were no records of Greek paintings, it was found on their pottery.

                           : They were able to capture the most natural stance of the human body. Leg bent, shoulders slumped slightly, hip raised, other leg straight. 

                           : Portrayed ideal beauty through realism that was also exaggerated to show divine power of gods/goddesses.

Cataclysm: The Black Death Visits Tuscany

          Key Points: Early 1300's there was an outbreak of bubonic plague in China. It spread along the trade routes to Europe by flea infected rats.

                          : In Tuscany, there was an environmental, economic, demographic, and agricultural crisis. (banks collapsed, famine, rapid population growth). The plague hit harder for them because they were already in a weakened state. 

                          : Between 1/2 and a 1/3 of the population in Europe died.

                         : Blame was placed on the Jews for "poisoning the "Christians". 

                         : In art.. images were darker and showed Hell, people were made flatter, and lots of emotion is used to show doubt, sadness and fear, and pain. There is also escapism in order to try show hope.

3.) The videos relate to the readings because this week we learned about ancient civilizations and their impact on art, as well as the rise of Christianity, and the videos were all a sub-section of these topics. 

4.) I have to say that I actually really liked all of the videos that I watched this week. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of at least one of them, but all of them were interesting, speakers were well-spoken and informative, and the subjects were engaging. I think that they really help with understanding the way art has been evolving since the time of the ancients.