Tag: Art History Unit 1 Summary

Unit 1: Art History Summary

      Throughout this unit we learned about what is the meaning of art, formal analysis, banking model, power and pedagogy. Why art is important? What is our ideas and opinion when we are talking about art? How did art influence in society? In my perspective, I think art is a way for people to express their emotional feelings. You may feel a connection with, being creative and having great imagination. Now, a formal analysis is when you look and describe a piece of an artwork. Trying to look into every detail that would help us analyze of a work of art. Therefore, we use the elements to describe the artwork. The color, line, space, mass, and scale are all made up the elements called the composition. The color is the first step where people take to look and identify the most because this is where it stands out. For example: if a painting that has all the ugly color it would definitely not going to look nice. We can also determine as a primary and secondary colors. Now, if it was all the bright pretty color, it obviously would look nice.

   The banking model is when we connected the ideas to pedagogy and power. The banking models help us establish about how the students limits the rights of being collaboratively and working together. Paulo Freire, who was a famous Brazilian educator who supports the idea of Pedagogy. He explained the wrong method of how the students are leaning. The banking model is describing as a negative way student being educated every day and has received many criticisms. Future more, he also talks about when the teachers directly fill the minds of the students with information and the students accept it without any questioning.

     Therefore, the students have no freedom in learning and do not gain any knowledge. Students usually memorize the information before taking an exam, but have not fully understood the concept of learning it. This is what we called a critical pedagogy which is idea that students and teachers are able to balance between the works among themselves. I do agree with this idea because it’s not fair to the students not able to socialize and without asking questions. This is not a way for the students to fully learn and understand the concept.

Unit 1 Summary

In Unit 1, we discussed the importance and components of formal analysis and examined different artifacts from ancient Neo-Sumerian civilization. Formal analysis is often used by art critic and interpreters to determine the purpose of the artwork and overall motivation behind the artist. Components that are studied to analyze the artwork include: composition, historical context, color scheme, contrast, and symbolism. Interpreting most of the elements of the artwork will give the viewer a better understanding of artist and his intentions behind the artwork. Most of the artifacts examined in class from ancient Sumeria held a significant amount of spiritual and class symbolism. In statues like the Statue of Gudea (2150 BCE), the depiction of the divine and spirituality is blatantly shown. The statue is a depiction of Gudea in a vulnerable and accepting position showing his openness to listen to his subjects. The crown placed on his head is symbolic for the divine. From this, we can conclude that the spiritual aspect of life had a huge influence on lives of Sumerians. In other artifacts, there was a display of class status in their civilization. For example, the Standard of Ur was a piece that showcased this class division. The artifact showed the distinct separation of the upper, middle, and lower class. The division is further illustrated through the difference in the attires worn, the occupations expected, and the responsibilities they performed. Not only was spirituality important in Sumerian society, but also class distinction.

Unit 1 Summary

Image result for checkUnit 1 covered basic learning styles and systems of analysis that are conducted in the study of art.  To truly appreciate art, a student should be a part of a classroom that engages in critical pedagogy, so that everyone in the classroom can truly learn together.  Friere’s learning style leads to students being more active and gaining more independence than the classic learning style.  This increased engagement leads to art students feeling more connected to the education they’re getting and develop more of a passion and memory for the concepts.  An example of a concept that can be retained faster from this learning style is formal analysis.  Formal analysis is the study of a work of art by breaking down and identifying its physical, historical, and meaningful features.  Although it is presented in a very formal way, this skill should become second nature to an art student who is tasked with the duty of analyzing art.  Practice and input from this student through the critical pedagogy system will develop this second nature at a fast rate within the individual.  I’m refreshed to know that I am learning within a classroom where I can be treated as an equal and asked to analyze all of the different ways art is meant to effect its audience.  Being treated as lesser and only analyzing art through one lens would become boring and disinteresting.

Unit 1 Summary

In class, one of the first things we learned was pedagogy and the banking model. Paolo Fiere was an advocate of pedagogy and created the Bank Model of Education. Pedagogy is the practice of teaching in a theoretical way instead of a practical way. It also focuses on the effects that it can have on students. Out of this, Friere created the Banking Model of Education that critiques the traditional way most teacher. Just like pedagogy, the banking model also pays attention at how the traditional way can effect students. In this case, it effects students negatively. The traditional way treats students as if they are something robotic, just filling them with information without any context. Teaching should mold kids into being critical thinkers and be divergent thinkers. We shouldn‘t just process things the way they are told to us. We should be taught to question everything. I personally was really intrigued with this topic. I loved reading and learning about. Teaching is something I take very seriously because it is something I am planning to major in. I believe that teachers have a duty and this huge responsibility in their hands because they are the ones that are teaching the future. It isn’t a job to be taken lightly and creating robots out of students is such a waste because teachers have the ability to create students who are independent and critical thinkers. Enforcing habits like questioning everything, in class discussions, and including them in lessons can shape them into these amazing adults who succeed in the adult world. It was very admirable learning about pedagogy and the Banking Model because it shows that I am not the only one who thinks that there is something seriously wrong in the education system, and the students are not the one to blame. 

Formal Analysis is a visual description of art. In class we had an in-depth class discussion about formally analyzing a piece of art. We said that analyzing art can provoke us to ask question and when we analyze artwork we usually look for the meaning of the piece, we evaluate it, and look at the central focus, Afterwards, we looked at a video of how to correctly analyze art, When looking at something like a painting, we describe it, look at the formal properties, at the subject matter and the historical context. Formal properties include, scale, medium, composition, illusion of depth, chiaroscuro, foreshortening, line color and material. Something that I really took away from learning about formal analysis was when we were shown the video of Goya 1808 being formally analyzed. I think this video was memorable because I was impressed with how much content was taken out of a single painting. I have always loved art and have always loved admiring it. However, for me admiring art would just be a five minute look at the work, reading the description and moving on to the next artwork. Watching that video made me realize that is an in-depth way of looking at art and by doing so, you can benefit so much more. The two voices that were speaking, would point out things that I would have never even noticed or even thought of when looking at the painting. It was insightful because it taught me how to appreciate art in a profound way.

Learning about the art in the ancient world was not my favorite but it was still interesting. The only reason why it wasn’t my favorite was because my love has always been in paintings, particularly in the renaissance period and seeing so much stonework was definitely new for me. Nonetheless, I still found it interesting because history has always been one of my favorite subjects and this topic definitely felt like a history lesson because it showed how advanced people were even in ancient times. Something else that I did on my own was compared and contrasted the art in the ancient world and the art that I love so much. Ancient world art was very into making the presence of the one who is charge known. We see these messages come out in artworks like “Stele of Naramsi” and “The Palette of Narmar” where the figure who is most significant is larger than the rest in the art. The differences can also be seen in what they wear on their heads and their posture. Another thing that I learned was that artwork of the ancient world was in tune with naturalism. Naturalism being the depiction of realistic things in their natural setting, which I thought to be very beautiful. The artworks that showed that were “Panel with Striding Lion,” “Dying Lioness,” “Deer Hunt, Catal Huyuk,” and “Lamassu.” “Lamassu” was definitely a terrifying figure for me, but knowing that people worshipped a figure like this was very intriguing. Something else that struck me where the buildings and homes that these people created. Artwork like “Pyramid of Khafre,” “Pyramid of khufu,” “Temple of Amun-re,” “Ziggurat of Ur,”and “Ishtar gate” just shows that these people had everything that they needed. Their knowledge exceeded what people expected it to be during the paleolithic and neolithic age. The two pieces of art that are most intriguing to me were the “Ziggurat of Ur” and the “Ishtar Gate.” “The Ziggurat of Ur” stuck out because it was a place where jobs, religious rituals, and administrative buisness were held. Seeing a building like that built and seeing the use of it, reminds me once again just how advanced they were. “Ishtar Gate, for me, was such an architectural beauty that blew me away because I never would have imagined a house to look so decorative and colorful at an ancient time like that. To also find out that a figure like the Lamasu and lions would be put outside houses like that for protection was also really cool. 

Unit One Art Summary

In unit one, we dived deep into the concept of formal analysis of pieces of work and critical pedagogies. This was a great way to start an art history course because formal analysis provides the necessary tools to correctly examine a piece of artwork. The most important concepts I have learned during this unit is the practicality of formal analysis and how helpful it us to distinguish minute details in any piece of work, regardless of the genre. This taught me that there is a unifying theme behind formal analysis and it has a wide scope of practical uses when describing historical events, color, quality, social status, politics, etc. It’s an amazing tool to debunk all types of works into their minute details.

Another important theme we discussed in unit 1 was Paulo Freire’s, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” In this work, Freire discusses the banking model and how it is a common theme throughout education. Also, he discusses the relationship between student and teacher and student and society. Through his “Banking Model Proposal,” he criticizes the education system by stating that students are essentially sponges who soak in information into their minds through rote memorization and through other impractical ways. Freire discusses how knowledge is a gift that is granted upon students and that students should be taught efficient ways on how to analyze and digest information rather than memorizing random facts. Also, Freire explains how bad it is for students to depend on their teachers to spoon-feed them valuable information. This will end up hindering their adult-skills in the future. In overall, I enjoyed reading his paper because it relates to a lot of students throughout the world. Paulo Freire is an advocate for critical thinking and the art of analysis. This best relates to the concept of formal analysis that we also discussed in unit 1. Formal analysis is used to analyze and comprehend small and big details that are found in pieces of work. There is correlation between Freire’s banking model and formal analysis in that he supports critical thinking and comprehension through analysis which is what formal analysis is meant to do.

Now that I mentioned formal analysis, I will talk about its practicality/versatility. Formal analysis is a step-by-step assessment/procedure that art historians (or almost anyone, this can be translated into the scientific method for scientists actually) use to understand the significance behind a piece of work. It is essentially putting yourself in the shoes/mind of the artist to have a better understanding of why certain things were used and not used. These can be the physical dimensions of the artwork, the type of canvas used, the quality of the paint, the colors used, the historical significance/context, the social political scheme, the types of lines, etc. There’s a plethora of analyses one can make when analyzing a piece of work. For example, when we were analyzing the formal properties of, Venus of Urbino, we discussed the overall theme of the painting, such as infidelity. We also discussed the motive of the painting. I believe we said it was a gift for a newly-wed couple. Then we discussed the basic formal properties such as colors used, size of the canvas, type of brush used, etc. In overall, I learned to efficiently analyze a piece of work. If I was not introduced to formal analysis, I would have had just said random strings of information without understanding the overall theme of the work, just like Freire was discussing.

 

Unit 1 Summary

We began divulging into this unit with our second blog post where we were each able to see and discuss how art has different meanings to each individual. At this point we learned that, essentially, there is no singular definition for the word art and what we consider art. I enjoyed that experiencing this in the beginning of the unit because I never knew if what I thought of as art could actually be considered a form of art. I grew up with an artist for a brother, so I always assumed that in reality the only works of art that existed were paintings, sculptures, etc.; and now I am aware that it can be the opposite in most cases. After learning formal analysis and how to use it, I have found myself appreciating things that I consider art even more. For example, when looking at the plating of many foods that you online and in-person, you can use the formal analysis technique in many ways. When looking at dishes I find myself paying more attention to the colors used, especially for garnishing and whether they are meant to enhance or diminish the food. Or I have found myself observing the size of food and plates, and how the two work with each other. Some use a larger plate for small portions to showcase the real-life size, while others use plates to fit the food for scale and to display actual or an enhanced size.

Furthermore, I have also began to find a new appreciate to actual paintings and sculptures when I see them. There are different paintings around my house and I have found myself observing them with more detail. For example, I’m always intrigued by the shapes and kind of lines that are used. The painting in my house of a field of flowers, I can now see that it is done with light lines and strokes with minimal shading to show that they are blowing in the wind.

In this unit we also learned about the banking model by Paulo Friere. The banking model suggests that teachers and educators are there to fill “empty vessels” i.e. students with knowledge, in which the students then just regurgitate the knowledge and there is no critical thinking component. He also mentions that this is the traditional education system which I can agree with. Even to this day I have a professor here and there that just wants us to regurgitate the information/knowledge that they shared and does not wish to go further with the material and make the students use the information. While reading many of the blog posts during this unit, I found that many of my classmates experienced the same thing, even with higher education.

Lastly, we began exploring the ancient world. This was one of my favorite topics thus far because I have always had an interest in ancient worlds. It was interesting to learn more about their art works in depth and the reason that some of them were made. For example, we learned that in Ancient Mesopotamia there are many small figurines and sculptures that are all made to look very similar; long hair, wide eyes, and hands always cupped together. These figurines were made small so that they could be kept with a person at all times and to “replace” times where they are unable to pray to the gods. The figurines were meant to show the gods that the person did care and that they were still worshipping them even when they were working or sleeping. The people were scared to be in a situation where they are not seen praying to the gods or giving thanks to the gods because they saw them as the power to make things really good or very bad.

Unit 1 Summary

From Unit 1, I have learned a lot about how art is analyzed and gained the knowledge to ask my own questions when I see a piece of artwork that will help me get a better idea of what the artist was trying to convey. I used to think that art was all abstract, imaginative and ambiguous since only the artist knows the real meaning behind their artwork. However, after learning about formal analysis, I have a newfound respect and perspective on art history and its meaning. I realized that formal analysis is similar to the scientific method, where you pose questions about the artwork in reference to many of the components found. Formal analysis is essentially using your own intuition to answer questions based on visual and physical aspects of an artwork. You also use inferences and contextual evidence (if desired) to come to a conclusion about what message the artist was trying to convey, who was the intended audience, what is the main focus and why, etc. There is also contextual analysis, which is using outside resources to gain a more comprehensive and accurate analysis of the era the art was created, exactly what technique was used or was most likely used, and the economic, social, or personal influences were captured in the essence of the artwork.

In addition, I learned that artwork is a composition of many different factors, including but not limited to, color, line, shape, contrast saturation, dimension, vibrancy, fade, value (lightness vs. darkness of a color), technique, material used, design, and the interaction between the image and text. What I failed to realize that Anne D’Alleva brings up in Look, Formal Analysisis that everyday on a much smaller scale we are using formal analysis in our daily lives with something so persistent and common in our society: advertisements. We try to pick apart what they are trying to sell us, and in doing so we pick up the message trying to be conveyed by the image. Sometimes the image is so powerful that it resonates with us or stays in the back of our head until we see the product in real life and think back to the ad we saw about it, and either we give in to consumerism or we decide against it. Commercials are also something we use formal analysis to decipher sometimes, and it is such a booming business. Think about those rare commercials we watch during the Super Bowl, where large corporations pay a large sum of money for a few seconds of your attention. This proves how powerful visual images can be; they are enough affect human thoughts and behavior.

Unit 1 Summary

Unit 1 was an introduction to the main concepts and components of art which involve methods of learning, ways to characterize and analyze art, and our takes on those works of art. We began the semester by discussing what art meant to us, and how it is part of our lives. I believe art is used to define the creative world around us. For something to be considered “art”, it doesn’t have to be in a museum, nor does it have to be a painting. To me, art can be anything from a film, to a photograph, to graffiti on the walls of New York. If people are able to attach meaning and relate to a creative piece, then it is considered art. Art is also a large part of my life because I love to do photography. I began photography when I was 16 and used a small point and shoot camera. It wasn’t until I began getting more interested in photography that I bought myself an actual DSLR, and began to teach myself how to use it and how to edit. Though I am a little busier now with school, work, and other activities, I still try to go shooting with friends at least twice a week.

We also studied Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In this, Friere discusses how the “banking model” is a form of teaching in which the teacher or educator is only there to feed knowledge to the students, and the students are only there to receive knowledge. It is a one way relationship that empowers the teacher, disempowers the student, and prevents critical and creative thinking. Friere argues that there needs to a balance between the teacher teaching the students, and the students interacting with the teacher. Friere’s “banking model” was also applied to our personal lives with teachers that we’ve had in the past, and how their use of the banking model ended up causing harm to our learning.

Additionally, we discussed formal analysis and how it is used to identify and examine works of art. Through formal analysis, the observer tries to understand the underlying meaning that the artist may have intended for the work of art to have. Some components include color, size and scale, lines, and symbolism. When looking at color, you must pay attention to the types of color schemes and the range used. You must identify whether they are light or dark colors, and whether the colors contrast with one other. When looking at size and scale, you must observe where any subjects or objects in the work are positioned. You also need to note the size of the objects. For example, noting whether the main subject is the largest thing in the work, or if there are things larger than the subject. Lines are a way of identifying the techniques an artist used in a painting. Some parts of a painting may have been painted using stronger strokes or different types of strokes than other parts of a painting. Symbolism is a strong component of formal analysis because it moves away from the physical aspects, and allows the observer to understand what the artist intended on saying, without actually saying it. By inserting specific colors, shapes, or objects, the artist can convey a certain emotion, reaction, or thought without having to write or say anything.

Unit 1 Summary

From the moment I stepped into the classroom, I thought that Art1010 would just be about simple old paintings. However, during the first week or so, we started to talk about what art really means to us. Art can mean a handful of things to us and is completely subjective to the human eye. Each individual interprets and comprehends things differently. Even though art is subjective, some of the components are incorporated into each masterpiece. Some of these components are uniqueness, imagination, expressiveness, affluential, and complex. These all create the foundation for beautiful artwork. With every piece of art, that artist always includes something that makes it their own. Where no one can make the piece like them.

Other concepts in which I have learned are the Banking Model of Paulo Freire and the use of formal analysis. The banking model is a concept of education where the students only know how to retrieve, file, and store away certain information given to them. Students only know how to memorize the information given to them, but don’t actually take the time to understand the material that is distributed. In the article, when Freire says “banking,” he means to take and put away, just like you would do at a bank with your own money. This concept is still practiced in modern day education and is believed to be the worst way to teach. When teaching something, everyone’s voice should be heard on the topic being discussed. Also, the teachers should make sure that the students actually understand what’s being taught and not just memorizing the material for the sake of it.

The other concept that I have learned in Unit 1 is the use of formal analysis. I believe that this is the most important component of any artwork because by using formal analysis, we can pick apart the artwork piece by piece and truly understand its origin. Formal analysis is the meaning and evaluation of art. It focuses on the central idea and how the story is being told. For example, when looking at a piece of art, to use formal analysis you would look at the contrast of light, the scale of the painting, the color, line, depth, and historical context. By picking the artwork apart, it is much easier to get an understanding of what the artist was thinking about at the time of creation. It’s an inside look of his/her intentions. Historical context is one of the most important components of formal analysis. In my opinion, without historical context, we would be perplexed by what the artist is trying to portray. Artwork created now has a completely different agenda than what art back then portrayed. A portrait in the 1800’s would look substantially different than a portrait in 2018. It’s a must to know what’s going on at the time the art was created to truly understand its production process.

From Unit 1, I have gained a greater understanding of the foundations of artwork, what art can mean to different people, and why the education system should be changed. These are some things that I thought I would never know until I entered the classroom. From the understanding of formal analysis, I look at art much differently and in a more superficial way. Now that I know all the key factors that go into creating these masterpieces, I feel more cultured and like I have an upper hand on the rest of the world. 

Unit 1 Summary

Unit one was interesting because the basics were not as boring as I thought it would be. Formal Analysis took me by surprise because I learned a bit of art history in high school and it took me to a whole new perspective on how to critique a piece of art. It was intriguing to break down a painting to small pieces of information. Although I followed through an art class for four years of highschool, the teacher did not cover the roots of art pieces and where some of the original concepts began. Critical Pedagogy is a striking topic because I did not really think about why it mattered to me until I saw how relevant to real life situations. We are all engineered to follow a hierarchy of position through grade school and it got me thinking more about how I took in information from various peers and other influencers.

The class itself holds my attention because I felt that having learned how to make art, it wouldn’t hurt to learn where art came from thoroughly. Although some bits of the lessons were less interesting than other bits, I felt like I could become more jargon for my own good and inspire others to not overlook a decent class that looked boring on paper.

unit one summary

In Unit 1, I learned about Freire’s “banking model”. The banking model is an idea of how education and the oppression that the education system/teachers pushes on the new students soaking up what is told. It a concept were I can see it being applied in modern education system and is a useful term to have if I every need to cite about a school related subject. I think that the system now reflects how our education system doesn’t work  with a newer generation of people.

Formal analysis is  analyzing a art piece and trying to identify the subject matter that the artist is trying to convey under the given context. Examining the details to bringing out a better sense of depth through the hues, line work, composition, strokes to make the art work. We analysis theses subtle difference to express the art works

I can’t help that I feel like I am restating what already been said in my other slides so try to rewrite this differently is a challenge. recap is this useful sort of I think I can use it for another school project or as a basis for a claim in the future.