Hinduism
Ganges River is a symbol of Hindus and God’s love for earth
and people. It is also Hindu’s symbolism of life, death, and rebirth. It also
symbolizes the female and the giver of life.
Hindu shrines can be tiny but Hindu’s invest so much time in
elaborately decorating the sculptures of gods and goddesses.
When one reaches Moksha in Hinduism they escape the cycle of
reincarnation and go straight to heaven. Hindus practice cremation and doing
this at the sacred Ganges river is assurance of the direct passage to heaven.
The caves at the end of the Ganges River are lavishly
decorated, carved directly into the stone walls are fantastic depictions of
Hindu gods, goddesses, holy scenes, and ordinary scenes in daily life.
They began their artistic culture underground but moved to
above ground tenples using wood, until finally in the 7th century
they turned to stone. Using a single
boulder they recreated the styles and techniques of wooden architecture to
build these shrines.
The first sculptures and architects drew inspiration for the
humble village shrine and expanded on that idea with slender pillars holding up
massive stone ceilings.
‘Half and half’ statues of Shiva and Vishnu shows the
respect of other religions essentially coming from and leading to Brahma.
The Chandella marks the golden age of Hindu art and
architecture showing it’s eroticism with lavishly carved panels. Eroticism was
prevalent in art and architecture because sex was relevant to Brahma who gave
life to everyone. An immense spire gives the impression of a mountain range on
the Kandariya Mahadev Temple.
When fire and water come together the world is in harmony,
these symbols are found in Hindu temples.
The source of all life for the Hindu is Brahma or the great
breath. Gods depicted in images from art and architecture are symbolic of the
ways in which Hindus are to reach Brahma.
Buddhism
The key to enlightenment is letting go of any desires and
all things that feed the ego. This is called finding ‘The Middle Way.’ Buddha
also preached a central message of love.
The Tirana is the gateway to the temple and is carved with
the teachings of Buddha.
The image of Buddha is gentile and serene, even while carved
in giant stone. He was symbolic of several paradoxes.
Within 100 yrs of Buddha’s death Buddhism split in two
groups, the Hinayana and the Mahanyana.
Sanchi became a center of Buddhist art and architecture.
Monumental architecture and narrative art take place in the ornate carvings of
Stupas because every stone has a story to tell. In the Great Stupa, Buddha is
represented and symbolized only by a Bodhi Tree.
The walkway around the Great Stupa shows how artists
recreated the work done in wood, in stone. This walkway designed so the pilgrim
may walk clockwise around it as he lets go of material things so he may attain
virtue instead.
The largest Buddhist shrine in the world, Borobour, is
covered in 1,400 carvings depicting the teachings of Buddha and Japanese life
as it was lived 1,000 years before.
Even in Carmel New York, the Chuang Yen Monastery was built
in the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty. This contains the largest
Buddha statue in the Western Hemisphere.
Buddhism flourishes in every Asian country except India, the
land of its birth.
Buddhism and Hinduism chare commonalities in that monuments,
art, and architecture create the true meaning of heaven on earth.
I chose these first two films because I studied Hinduism and
Buddhism in my world religions class
recently and these were interesting topics for me.
These film related to the text because we have been talking
in the text about art and architecture and how it relates to individual
religions and their origins such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
African Art
Art finds expression in dress, hairstyles, etc.
Art is especially important in traditional African rituals.
Masks, clothing, etc made of wood and straw- these deteriorated
through time.
Dramatic recreations of sound color and movement were
created.
More durable materials provide us with historic depth .
Ancient bushman paintings represent animals
Humans were represented as well
7000 BC farming and herding overtook hunting and gathering-
this would form civilizations such as the Egyptian civilization that influenced
many others in Africa.
Bronze statues in Nigeria in the 9th century
Great Zimbabwe- sophisticated and political much can be told
about their social structure from their architecture. Quite different from
those developed in Europe.
Early 20th century Europeans regarded African art
as primitive or even childish even though artists such as Pablo Picasso drew
inspiration from it.
Perceptual art is based on the artists observations of
individual reality
Conceptual art flows from the artists imagination- interior
set of ideas rather than visual reality.
Much diversity but all African art played a role in daily
life or ceremonies that were and were all rich with symbolic meaning
The role of the artist in African society is creating art in
the traditional way with more skill. Respected community members, could be famous
for recreating traditional art forms with more precision is more respected than
creating unique new forms of art.
Religion was rooted in a keen awareness of invisible
reality-force or power with dynamic energy. All things are animated by unseen spirit.
This is shown in their art.
Art was actually believed to intervene in conjuring of the
spirits. It was used for worship and appeasement of spirits, gods, and ancestors.
Masks can be created for multiple purposes and ornamented
with just about anything, they are used in ceremonies.
I chose this because I was hoping for more exploration into
masks so I could get inspiration for my drawing. It related to the text because
we discussed how masks were used ceremonially.
African Art: Legacy of Oppression
This art was packed with emotion and purpose for spiritual
connection.
Generalizing forms and emotions made this impact more
immediate
Modernists could get away from realistic visuals, and give
form to psychological feelings (The Scream).
The women were depicted in abstract form, not primitive, not
naturalistic, but rather in their literal meaning. Womanhood was displayed with
distorted womanly figures, etc.
The most common magical art depicted was in masks. They
always had a deeper meaning or purpose such as frightening people into
respecting one another in order to avoid the consequences.
Masks like the Boa masks stopped being created because it
became apparent that the ‘magic didn’t work’ against forces like machine gun bullets.
Belgians brought African art to Belgium along with their
curiosity of primitive people.
Chilling images of severed right hands became propaganda.
People proved they hadn’t wasted bullets by retrieving the right hands of the ‘savages’
that they shot and killed.
Their art, as well as the people themselves were simply curiosities
to the west, until their art outlived and transcended the horrors that they
lived, then it became influential and ageless.
I was shocked by some of the things in this movie,
especially the treatment of the African people’s by European’s and Westerners.
I didn’t expect this to be so historical when I picked it, but I picked it
because I wanted to see more about masks since that’s what we’re drawing this
week. This related to the text because we discussed African art, its struggles,
its influences, and its various purposes and meanings.
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