Module 8

Module 8

1.    Explain why you selected the video you choose from the selection listed above.

I selected the video Cairo Museum for one reason. I am obsessed with ancient Egyptian history. I absolutely love everything about Egypt, the pharaohs, sphinx, mummies! It is so interesting and awesome, I love all the mummy movies, I have seen the Egyptian part in the history museum in Washington, I love it. I’d love to go one day, so this video was my first pick, and I really enjoyed it. 

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

More human than human: We notice the fascination we have with the human body. We look at it every day, whether it is ours or other peoples. The human body is the most popular work of art. However, we notice that we always dramatize our creations of human bodies. When it comes to art, we distort the human body. We do this for the pleasing of the eye. We see toned bodies unrealistically shaped, giant boobs, super fat bodies, abstract body shapes, etc. This creates art. Just like us, art is never the same nor boring. We depict the human body in millions of different ways. 

Cairo museum: The museum was opened in 1902. It has amazing artifacts and mummies in it. The art that comes from this ancient time tells us a story. We learn so much of its history through its art. From skulls, bones, jewelry, bodies, animals to writings and objects, this all creates a story, and history. From all of that, we can create galleries, and museums. Instead of reading about history we can see it visually with our eyes through museums. 

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text? The biggest relation to the book from the first video is the female figure from Willendorf. From 23,000 BC, made of limestone and 4 feet high. We notice this “woman” is very overweight. Her boobs sag down and are very large, her legs being just little fat stubs. Her face is just a large sphere with some sort of pattern on it. As we learned in the video, our images of the human body are never accurate! We also see cave drawings of people with deformed bodies, a human headed winged lion, etc. This page 326 then continues to relate to the second video as it gets into ancient Egyptian art and history. We see the famous, Great Sphinx of Giza. This also is an abstract display of the human body as it is a king’s head, with a lion body. As we turn the pages we get into hieroglyphics, burial masks, painted limestone, wall art, sculptures, pyramids, pottery, etc. These are all works of art from the Egyptians that we have found in the modern world to help us better understand our history! Very cool stuff. 

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts? 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first video it was a little long and dragged out and out dated. But the second one I chose was a good video. It was fun, interesting and had a lot of facts. We learn more and more that art is timeless and it can tell us stories about our history. The ancient Egyptians used their art skills in many ways. Immaculate makeup, building of the pyramids, sphinx, jewelry, etc. To this day, we learn more and more about our history because of ART! And we now can display those works of art in galleries and museums and continue to learn more every day.