final paper

Humanities

• Read and review relevant course textbook chapters from Sayre World of Art
• Read and review relevant feedback, assessments, and comments from previous written assignments
• Read and review PDF files and content pages in the Canvas modules for Vocabulary Guides, Study Guides and Powerpoints
• After all necessary reading and review, please write a complete response for all 6 questions below.

• Reminder: all students have free access to scanners and computers at the Foothill College library, TLC, Media Center, and the KCI, in order to scan, upload and submit this signed form as a PDF file.
  • The final exam will not be accepted without the Academic Honesty Oath (final exam grade will be 0% zero)

EXAMPLE of a written response that meets expectations (including citations from study guides, lectures, and textbook):

Question:

Please identify and explain in detail the concept of humanism and the many manifestations of a humanist world view in the ancient Greek civilization; then, please explain in depth the ways in which humanism is visually evidenced in BOTH of the following examples: the Parthenon (Temple of Athena), by Kallikrates and Iktinos, built ca. 447-438 B.C.E. at the Acropolis in Athens AND the Doryphorus (Canon) created by Polykleitos ca. 450-440 B.C.E.

This written response is best organized into at least four (4) comprehensive paragraphs, and will require approximately 600 words in order to be complete and correct. Please remember to use citations.

Parthenon (Temple of Athena) @ Acropolis in Athens, Greece, early-mid 5th Century B.C.E.

Doryphorus (Canon) by Polykleitos, Roman copy of Greek original from mid 5th Century B.C.E.

Written Response:

The ancient Greeks’ concern for human beings and how they could live best was fundamentally rooted in humanism, a concept that privileges the human experience and regards human beings with the greatest of importance (Week 6 Lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 8). While humanism was NOT unique to ancient Greece – in ancient China during the same time period, Confucius was advocating humanist concepts –it was in the ancient Greek civilization that humanism fully established itself in the canon of Western culture and remains an essential component of Western society today (Week 6 Lectures).

The ancient Greeks considered human beings to be the greatest wonder of the world, and their thinking of man as “the measure of all things”, reflected a humanistic philosophy in that all aspects of life, its patterns and meanings, are considered in relationship to man and the human experience rather than far-removed, abstract or unrealistic scenarios (Week 6 lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 9). Universal human experiences such as pain, loss, happiness, and triumph were explored in ancient Greek literature and theatre. In the ancient Greek religion, the gods were not only represented in human form, but were also influenced by human passions, emotions and ambitions (Week 6 lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 9). It should be noted here that the humanistic ancient Greeks were among the first civilizations to visually represent their gods in human form, unlike other early civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, where gods were often represented in animal or symbolic form (pg. 9). In addition to personifying their gods, the ancient Greeks also personified –this is, represented in human form –various abstract ideas and natural phenomena such as the wind and thunder (pg. 9).

One important aspect of humanism is the exploration of the individual potential and desire to excel. In ancient Greek society, this aspect of humanism was interpreted through the creation of schooling for male youths balanced between an intellectual education of music, literature, philosophy, math, etc., and a physical education of sports and athletics. These duel aspects of learning were designed to guide Greek male youths towards functional roles of great achievement in the public life of Athens: as young men competing in the Olympic Games and fighting in the Greek armies, and as mature men serving in positions of government or civic council (Week 6 lectures, Study Guide 05, pg 9).

An example work of ancient Greek architecture that provides evidence of a humanistic worldview is the Parthenon, also known as the Temple of Athena, built ca. 447-432 B.C.E. in the ancient Greek capital of Athens. Characteristically, ancient Greek architects designed each building as independent from other structures and as integral extensions of the natural site upon which they were erected; this helped to emphasis the building exterior as a sculptural form (Stokstad, pg. 106). The ancient Greek architects’ thinking about a temple as a discrete sculptural form is connected to the visitors to the temple, and how they would physically approach it. The human experience of walking towards and approaching a temple was fully considered for the design (Week 6 Lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 9). This brings to mind not only the Parthenon, but the entire Acropolis itself, built ca. 454 – 405 B.C.E. on a high peak and approached by walking up a monumental ramp. Upon reaching the summit of the hill, visitors would behold the imposing presence of the Parthenon, which was isolated and elevated like a magnificent sculpture on a pedestal (Stokstad, pg. 131).

The ancient Greek temples, such as the Parthenon, demonstrated the Greek architects’ efforts to humanize the experience of space, accomplished through careful organization so that the building was neither too complex nor too grand to be fully comprehended (Week 6 Lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 9). To elaborate, it is relatively easy for a person approaching the Parthenon to see and understand its repeated patterns, spatial progressions, and distance intervals. Ancient Greek architects achieved a high degree of clarity, order and balance in effort to evaluate and seriously consider the human experience of their temples (pg. 09).

Ancient Greek visual art also provides significant insights into the humanistic worldview of Athens. Such an example is the “Doryphorus” or “Canon” by Polykleitos, created ca. 450-440 B.C.E. from the Classical Period. This sculpture can be understood as part of the evolution of ancient Greek representation of the human form, which –unlike its Egyptian predecessors –was free from the block of stone and animated with life-like movements. Freed from the block of stone, the ancient Greek human figure sculpture could exist in the same space as the viewer, emphasizing a concern with the living, present moment. The “Doryphorus/Canon” can also be understood as a model or ideal to which Athenian citizens should aspire: the physical greatness of an athlete-warrior and the mental intelligence of a statesmen. The full nudity in the “Doryphorus/Canon” underscores the focus on athleticism and physical prowess, as ancient Greek male youths trained and competed in the nude during the Olympic Games. The full nudity furthermore highlights the humanistic values of the ancient Greeks, who believed that the beauty and athleticism of the human body could only be fully appreciated when naked (Week 6 lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 5).

Like earlier Greek sculptures of male youths from the Archaic Period, 8th to 6th Centuries B.C.E., the Classical Period “Doryphorus/Canon” expresses the ancient Greeks’ humanistic belief that –through perfection of the mind and body –human beings could most closely resemble the gods (pg. 5). However, unlike the more stiffly-posted Greek sculpture of male youths from the Archaic Period, the “Doryphorus/Canon” was characteristically depicted as relaxed, shifting his weight to one leg and the other leg was casually bent or at ease. This pose is known as contrapposto, and refers to the representation of the human figure shifting weight from one leg to the other, with a subtle corresponding tilt to the hips and shoulders (Week 6 Lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 6, Stokstad pg. 137). The human-centered Greeks were the first civilization to represent in their visual art how humans actually stand in everyday life. In this way, the “Doryphorus/Canon” and other figure sculptures in contrapposto are naturalistic, meaning, based upon close observation of the natural world with the careful attempt to adhere to the appearance of nature (Week 6 lectures, Study Guide 05, pg. 6). At the same time, the impetus to represent the figure in a naturalistic pose is one of humanism (Week 6 lectures).

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Final Exam Questions:

1.

Please describe the 1993 site work Project to Extend the Great Wall of China by 10,000 Meters: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 10, by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. What is signficant about Dunhuang, China, the artist’s chosen origin point for this work? Please discuss Dunhuang in terms of its historical background, its religious significance, and its artistic importance.

Please write, as always, in complete sentences and please write a complete, comprehensive response to all parts of the questions above.

This written response is best organized into a minimum of four (4) paragraphs, and will require approximately 400 to 450 words minimum in order to be complete and correct. Please remember to use citations, as seen in the examples above.

2.

The Pantheon of ancient Rome was a revolutionary, unprecedented form of architectural engineering (see images below). However, in its design aesthetics, the ancient Roman Pantheon honored previous ancient Greek numeric ratios and proportions. These numeric ratios and proportions —formulated as part of the musical intervals by ancient Greek thinker Pythagorus —were viewed as divine and harmonious. The importance of these numeric ratios was reinforced in the Timeaus, by ancient Greek philosopher Plato, which theorized God’s geometric-musical composing of the universe. The design aesthetics of the ancient Roman Pantheon are based on a perfect conjunction of circle, cylinder and sphere. The enormous concrete dome of the Pantheon is an exact hemisphere which, theoretically, if completed as a whole sphere, would fit precisely in the allotted interior space. The circular area that the dome covers and the height of the structure are the same, which creates the closest of all harmonic proportions, the 1 : 1 unison ratio. The concrete cylindrical drum of the Pantheon is also the height of its own radius, in the proportion of the 1 : 2 octave ratio.

Please discuss and explain how the ancient Roman Pantheon relates to the drawing created over one thousand years later, The Vitruvian Man, late 15th Century, by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, seen in Chapter 07 of the text.

Please write, as always, in complete sentences and please write a complete, comprehensive response to the question.

This written response is best organized into multiple paragraphs, and will require a minimum of 400 words in order to be complete. Please remember to use citations, as seen in the examples above.

3.

CONSIDER / REFLECT:

Bill Viola’s 1983 work A Room for Saint John of the Cross is both visual and audible, requiring primary human senses of vision and hearing; furthermore, this art installation is spatial and architectural. Please discuss the ways in which the architecture of the cell [evoking the 16th Century prison cell of Saint John] contrasts with the image on the large screen behind it. Then, please discuss in detail the ways in which the artist Bill Viola creates play between light and dark, and between black-and-white and color. Finally, please discuss in depth at least three (3) ways that time might affect viewers’ experience of this art work

* At the end of each chapter in the World of Art textbook, there is a section titled The Critical Process and it features in REVEL as an audio/visual guide. For Chapter 06 (pages 130 and 131), The Critical Process focuses on Bill Viola’s 1983 work Room for Saint John of theCross.

Please write, as always, in complete sentences and please write a complete, comprehensive response to all parts of this question. Please note that in the above questions, ways is plural [ways in which the architecture of the cell contrasts with the image on the large screen behind it; ways in which the artist Bill Viola creates play between light and dark, and between black-and-white and color; and, at least three (3) ways in which might time affect viewers’ experience of this art work]. Literally, multiple ways must be explained and discussed.

This written response is best organized into at least two (2) paragraphs, and will require a minimum of 750 to 800 words in order to be complete. Please remember to use citations, as seen in the examples above.

4.

Citing the Vocabulary Guide 2 PDF, define focal point.

Then, based upon the text, please identify and explain the multiple focal points used in the 17th Century masterpiece Las Meninas by Spanish painter Diego Velazquez. Please discuss in detail how implied line is used to reinforce a focal point on the infanta Princess Margarita. Also, please explain in depth how Velazquez indicates another important focal point occurring outside of the actual painting. Finally, in review of some previous study in the text, please explain how the painting Las Meninas by Velazquez evidences the influence of earlier Italian Baroque painters Caravaggio and Gentileschi.

Please write, as always, in complete sentences and please write a complete response to ALL FOUR questions.

This written response is best organized into at least two (2) paragraphs, and will require a minimum of 500 to 550 words in order to be complete. Please remember to use citations, as seen in the examples above.

5.

SKIP and move to Question 6.

6.

CONSIDER / REFLECT:

African-American artist Scott Tyler, who adopted the name Dread Scott, created a controversial art work titled What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag, which was displayed in 1988 at the Art Institute of Chicago, in the United States. Please describe this work in detail, including the physical experience of the viewer who attempts to interact with the work. Please explain how Scott responded to his critics [of the art work] at the time. Then, please respond to the following consider/reflect question:

[Regarding the 1988 art work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag by Dread Scott], how does this art work invoke the concept of nationalism? How does this art work challenge the concept of nationalism?

[Regarding the 1988 art work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag by Dread Scott], is it important for viewers to know that Dread Scott is African-American? If yes, why? If no, why not?

[Regarding the 1988 art work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag by Dread Scott] is it important to know that the artist’s adopted name Dread Scott references a mid-19th Century African-American slave named Dred Scott, who unsuccessfully attempted to sue the court for his freedom and freedom for his wife and daughters?

* At the end of each chapter in the World of Art textbook, there is a section titled The Critical Process and it features in REVEL as an audio/visual guide. For Chapter 26 (pages 616 and 617), The Critical Process focuses on Dread Scott’s 1988 work What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag.

Please write, as always, in complete sentences and please write a complete response to all six (6) parts of this question.

This written response is best organized into four to six (4 to 6) paragraphs, and will require approximately 1200 words minimum in order to be complete and correct. Please remember to use citations, as seen in the examples above.

END EXAM QUESTIONS

For the textbook information, I will send it to you later when you take the order.