culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.
When discussing the languages in class I instantly though of the American twins Poto and Cabengo who created their own language. They created their own language from the two languages spoke in their house. During the discussion we talked about what would happen if we all spoke different languages and I think this is a great example of how we would eventually find a way to communicate.
I was originally envisioning this as the iconic evolution sign with the different revolutions in the background. After discussing culture as a development of a chair I envisioned the development of houses. Homes are a huge part of culture and therefor I thought it would be a good representation of culture.
In class we discussed decision making as a part of culture. Without discerning what is better from worse then making the decision of better we would never improve the way of life. The civilization game we played in class was although not very successful was a great way of showing how we make these decisions of passing down our ideas. This drawing was my way of remembering this idea of deciding the better.
After playing the civilization game it was a little easier to understand what culture is. The example of passing down instructions and an image to another generation and hoping they dont act barbaric was an interesting concept. Although I think it would have been more successful if we were able to write a full sentence of where we wanted to go with our creation rather than one word. Mine did not go exactly how I wanted but looking at the description I gave the generations after me did not act barbaric they were simply trying to understand what I meant.
African Art
Asian Art
Brazilian Art
British Art
Egyptian Art
European Art
Italian Art
Spanish Art
Urban Art
Each of these images show something unique about their culture. They show something that is important to their culture. For example they show events that are historically important, or even people that are important to the culture. While looking at african art you can tell dance is important to their culture along with color. While looking at asian art you can tell Koi fish are important to their culture. Art in culture is a way of communicating.
Aztec art often referenced animals, insects, birds, fish, etc. Most of the aztec work we know of is religious becuase that work was reserved. They often and themes of their gods and animals. Their art was often lifelike.
MIXED is a book by Kip Fulbeck. This book is a series of portraits of children who are multiracial. This book gave these children a chance to define themselves. This book says a lot about our culture and how we not only get stereotyped by others based on our culture but how we identify ourselves based on our race and culture. It is interesting that even children at these young ages are able to notice the diversity. I think it is also interesting that some of the children did not identify themselves culturally but just as "human". This book reminds me of when I went to Europe and people from Europe told me that the U.S. is the only place that identifies themselves with different cultures. For example if someone asked what I was I would say I am italian, Irish, and Native American. In other countries they just identify themselves by the country they were born and grew up in.
Kip Fulbeck also has another book out called permanence. "permanence is a photo project about identity that uses tattoos as a jumping off point. i tried to get people from all walks of life, which is why its not just about great tattoos or terrible tattoos, its not about memorial tattoos or outlandish tattoos … its about people. it includes everything from complete backpiece masterpieces to tattoos that were mistakes, to survivors of auschwitz."-Kip Fulbeck. This book is in my opinion the ultimate description of art in culture. Tattoos are no doubt art and they also say a lot about culture. Tattoos in many cultures have significance, for example for the Dyak people of Borneo tattoos commemorated headhunting expeditions. There are other cultural tattoos like in Kips book the tattoo on a survivor of the Holocaust, where a woman has her number still tattooed on her arm. Many people even get tattoos based on the culture they identify with.
These images are representations of disgusting or barbaric events happening in different cultures. These images are extremely powerful and successful conveying these horrific events. The first image is referring to pedophilia in the Vatican. The second image is referring to sexual abuse in tourism in Thailand. The third image is referring to the war in Syria. The fourth image is referring to the trafficking of organs on the black market. The fifth image is referring to weapons free in the U.S. The sixth image is referring to obesity and blaming it on the fast food companies. These images make me think about the development of culture and how we are supposed to discern what is better and then choose the better but in so many cases in culture we choose the worse. The fast food image is a good example of us as a culture trying to improve and move forward but then it turns out to be a bad decision. We tried to create food that was fast and easy to get for those people who have fast paced lives and dont always have time to cook, but all it did was cause a huge increase of obesity.
Picasso before and after his impact on cubism:
These columns are from ancient greek architecture. Each of the columns have great detail like the doric which has 20 vertical parallel concave grooves. These details are not the only thing that is beautiful and unique about the columns. The Corinthian column has as story behind it which we learned in class the looped or curved plant like shape is modeled after the acanthus plant. The story of this plant and the unique design of the top of the column was interesting and an important part of the history. Why is this not something that is known or taught in classes? I believe this story is important in understanding the use of the column and if it is not understood it should not be used in importnat buildings, because it then becomes just a piece of art and not appreciated for its cultural importance.
Nashville earned its name of the "Athens of the South" because of its establishment of many higher education institutions and it was the first southern city to establish a public school system. Nashville became filled with wealth and culture. Does this mean it should be names the "Athens of the South"? Even though it is similar to Athens because of it being a major city and having higher education I am not sure it deserves to have this nickname.
when was ceramics created? In 24,000 B.C. Ceramic figurines were used for ceremonial purposes. In 14,000 B.C. the first tiles were made in Mesopotamia and India. 9000-10,000 B.C. Pottery making began. 5000-8000 B.C. Glazes were discovered in Egypt. In 1500 B.C.glass objects were first made. In 1550 A.D. Synthetic refractories (temperature resistant) for furnaces were used to make steel, glass, ceramics, and cement. In the mid 1800s it was used for Porcelain electrical insulation and Incandescent light bulb's. 1920s High-strength quartz-enriched porcelain was used for insulators, Alumina spark plugs, and Glass windows for automobile 1940s it was used for Capacitors and magnetic ferrites. In the 1960s used for Alumina insulators for voltages over 220 kV, and Application of carbides and nitrides. In the 1970s Introduction of high-performance cellular ceramic substrates for catalytic converters and particulate filters for diesel engines. In the 1980s High temperature superconductors.
My teammate Josh Smith made this incredible video that shows isla vista coming together in a time where community was greatly needed. The words spoken in the video were beautifully written by another one of my teammates Heren Alanis. I believe that this horrible event shows how strong of a community we have here and how humanity is truly good. This barbaric act by the killer only showed how great the rest of humanity is. In the moment of a barbaric act people from all cultures were able to come together as one and support each other in a time of need. Even though the culture of IV is not normally known for good this event has shown that the culture in IV is not always bad. IV is truly unique compared to any other college town. This close community of mostly college students has more love than any community I have ever seen. Josh’s video captures these acts of community in a artistically beautiful way. It is a great example of art as visual culture.
Learning about kimonos was extremely interesting to me. I did not know that each kimono had a specific season to wear it. Kimonos were always so beautiful and they become even more aesthetically pleasing as I learned the culture behind them. I did more research on Kimonos and I learned that the original word was the japanese word for clothing. It soon became the word for only traditional japanese clothing that we know today.
These two images are the start of our project and hopefully the start of us coming together and acting as a culture The first image is of us agreeing on a project ans coming together as a culture to set everything up. The second image is of the Andrea who was the genration before doing her portion of the project.
I found this beautiful article about a husband and wife who loves to travel with their children. The article shows why they believe it is important that they have their children tag along while visiting and learning about other cultures. The were watching a warrior walk across hot coals during a ceremony at a traditional Larofa cultural village. When her child and one of the children from the village noticed each other and became interested. They exchanged looks and points and soon enough they were walking towards each other. This beautiful event was a great example of how children do not see the difference in people or cultures they just see humans as a whole. I think that this should be an example of how everyone should live. Not that the world isnt getting better at being accepting. you can see more pictures and the article here.
Henna Tattoo history: Henna was used in North Africa, Egypt, India and the Middle East as a way to appear beautiful. They used it not only for tattoos or dying the skin but also to dye nails and hair. In India it is used for brides, every bride has their hands and feet covered with henna tattoos as a way of idolizing them. The women in this culture are not aloud to work until the dye is completely off their hands. Henna is also used for spiritual reasons, for people to become more connected to their inner self. I think it is interesting how something that it so important to certain cultures becomes something for fun or for art in other cultures, it almost seems disrespectful. Do I believe that people should only be aloud to use henna if they know the true meaning and only do it in the traditional way? No I think that everyone should know the meaning behind it but I do not believe that it should not be used by other cultures.