So we survived the first unit of Art History. It was fun, from the groups placed together on day one and writing about how this blog works to looking at pieces of art and describing them in depth and I just wanted to talk about what has impacted me the most from Art History 1010.

First off, The Banking Method of Education explained by Paulo Freire could be compared to drinking water from a fountain. How this method works is by the person who is teaching talks about the information needed for the student’s curriculum. The student just sits there and takes in all of the knowledge that the teacher is giving. I’ve excelled in school with this learning method because my memory is pretty good. However, it hasn’t been productive in real life for me due to the world not being a place were just memorizing facts can help advance you in life but taking action does. For example if a teacher knows facts about their subject it is helpful but how you portray and present the facts towards the students is what will decide how good of a teacher you are.

A piece of art may not be clear due to it’s inability to have a clear story written on the art but knowing where it came from and what is happening at that time may shine a new perspective onto that piece of art. When we look into things like the Standard of Ur or the Steele of Hammurabi the context of that painting may not be fully clear but knowing that the Standard of Ur was created in the times of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt (it’s golden age) you can tell it was not depicting itself but of earlier Sumerian times when there was war in Egypt and knowing that it was made in Egypt’s golden age tell us it was made with it’s finest lapis lazuli.

The main point that I’ve learnt from Art History is how to look at art in a newer light, with more insight and I’m excited for my visit to the Brooklyn Museum to look at all of it’s art with all of the new skills I learnt.