THE LIFE CYCLE OF AN ARTIFACT What is an artifact? According to the dictionary, an artifact is “something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest” ("The Definition of Artifact"). In archaeology, the word “artifact” defines an object recovered by archaeological attempt, which might have a cultural attention. In the same way, the article “The Life of An Artifact” written by Michael Shanks mainly discusses some of the key points of interpretive archaeology and the relations between social sciences and material culture. The author believes that material culture plays an active role in society, and that the society is built upon the presence of artifacts. He emphasizes that “artifacts
The 727 canvas is the painting that shows Mr. DOB, a whimsical, sharp-toothed character riding the wave at the center. The character Mr. DOB’s full name is Bobozite, and it represents the image of Doraemon, a cat-like robot character from an anime series. The painting possesses a life-cycle that makes up the continuity or regeneration of the artifact (Takashi Murakami's 727). The painting was inspired by the anime (animated film) and manga (comic book) characters that have achieved cult status in Japanese youth culture, but also the mixed culture between American and Japanese art style. In the painting, Mr. DOB looks similar to character Mickey Mouse created by Andy Warhol. The painting extends over three panels whose idea is similar to the Four Gentlemanly by Oguri Sokei. Furthermore, the wave in the painting is taken from the Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Kokusai. The color and painting style imitates the Oxidation Painting by Andy Warhol. In other words, after going through a few changes, the 727 painting creates a new generation style, which is the combination between the Japanese and American culture. The article “The Life of An Artifact” by Michael Shanks discusses archaeological points of view and how the presence of the artifact relates to the social issues. An artifact may undergo through aging, decay or physical changes, but it should not be forgotten with the past. Similarly, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami created a new life-cycle for the 727 painting by combining different art styles and cultures. The painting follows the “Superflat” movement and applies the techniques learned from both American and Japanese art. The 727 painting became a unique art style that creates a new
To identify the specific type, functions and time period of the artifacts, various archaeology books, reports, and journal were referred. The interpretation was then conducted by dividing the artifacts into different area on the map and investigating their relationships.
At first glance the painting contains images of American television and movie icons on the left and various Muslims on the right. The left imagery includes Fonzie, Robocop, Mr. T and Waldo, many of whom were idolized during their TV and movie
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA as it is commonly known, is among the world’s largest art collections in North America, and to be specific enough the most prevalent artwork in the western United States (Compton 165). This massive art museum has a collection of over 100,000 artworks, which extends from the ancient times to present days (Gilbert and Mills 174). These collections, which are mainly from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin-America and America itself, are grouped into several departments within the museums buildings, depending on the region, culture, media, and time period. This paper analyzes the different genres of art and explains the main features that make the Islamic artworks distinguish themselves as historic masterpieces, by using stylistic and interpretive analysis methods.
In the article of “Exhibiting Intention: Some Preconditions of the Visual Display of Culturally Purposeful Objects”, the author, Michael Baxandall mainly discussed interrelationship within the group of three agents upon their influence and reflect of the artifacts in the museum, and the understanding of culture elements behind the display. In the first part of this paper, I will identify the points of view of the author. In the second part, I will analyze the layout of the gallery, “Imagining the Underground” in Earth Matters in Fowler Museum in UCLA. Several discussion related to the settings of the museum and the article will be discussed interactively. In general, this paper tries to show the robustness and the weakness of Baxandall’s model, which will specified.
The works of art from the Archaic Period, Classical Period, and Hellenic Period developed physically and mentally, and the study of their aesthetic differences from period to period allow for a decided contrast and comparability. This interpretation has had a profound effect on the art world and that continues even in today’s world. The importance of Greek sculptures is evident in the storytelling of the gods, the people, and the culture. We use these sculptures as a tool to go back into the past of the Greek people, letting us admire how far mankind has truly come, whether it is in art or intelligence. Generation after generation has been and will continue to be able to see for themselves the society, culture and uniqueness of these periods through the wonderful sculptures that came out of ancient
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
Sayre, H. M. (2010). A World of Art: Sixth Edition. In H. M. Sayre, A World of Art: Sixth Edition (pp. 511, 134, 29, 135, 152, 313-314, 132). Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.,.
When entering the room, one cannot help but feel pulled into each and every painting. The realization that the artwork hanging on the walls was created hundreds of years ago, and still exists in pristine order, to me makes these pieces of art, relics. Gazing around the still and almost silent gallery, I could not help but think that each of these paintings are windows into the past. In his essay Ways of Seeing, John Berger states that “An image became a record of how X had seen Y” (136). At the time the paintings in this gallery were painte...
The Navajo Sand Paintings is an example of a sacred symbolic object commonly misinterpreted as nothing more than an artistic piece of primitive art. In actuality, the beauty is being overseen because Navajo sand paintings have more significance. This so called `piece of art' serves as a major device, but in a...
The first art that interested me was the art of Indonesia which in this exhibit depicted the culture, history and art of Indonesian people. For instance, Bali a small island in the Indonesia valued most of its art based on the rich resources they occupied such as most art was composed of gold, diamond and sapphires which people of Bali believed that it will resemble their higher standards in the society. Art of Bali amazed me the most when it came to their “King’s crown” and “Queen’s crown” which was completely “fashioned in pure gold with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires” (Bali). The king’s crown was much simpler compare to queen’s crown which contained many varied of gold decorative that looked like gold flowers, and all of its designs such as rubies or sapphires were perfectly horizontally lined to each other that sort of depicted as a shiny necklace. The Bali’s art that I observed was very interesting know about the society they lived in those centuries with representation of their upscale society (Bali).
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
Stuart Hall emphasizes that the popular is constantly evolving. And due to this ever-changing society, the ways in which things are perceived is changing as well. This concept, coined articulation theory, is one of the huge reasons behind artistic expression. Throughout all of history, stories, evidence, and art are forgotten, altered, or misperceived. Because so many important parts of the past are overlooked, artists and writers focus on drawing the attention of modern society to these buried antiquities. However, because the global has changed in such monumental ways, these important ideas are expressed differently. These forms of expression are represented in innovative and thought provoking, yet rather uncomfortable ways. However, the
Since an artifact is defined as "anything that can be analyzed," we can comfortably say that "Crazy People" is an artifact. We can go a step further and say that it is also an artifact because it is available to a wide audience. While overall the movie is a narrative about the "adventures" of Emory and his quest for freedom to be honest, some portions of the movie can even be classified as rhetorical. The biggest example that I can think of that can be rhetorically criticized is the preparation that the members of the sanitarium did so that they could present their first ads to Mr. Drucker and Associates.
...des us with a glimpse into the ancient culture using beautiful and detailed designs. The art form has been sustained in fired clay for thousands of years indiscriminately telling its story to the world and to history.
Every day people who have a desire to interact with the past purchase ancient artifacts through the antiquities market, a system that has existed for many generations. However, the antiquities market is a system that has always been met with resistance, especially among those within the scholarly community of archaeologists. Many archaeologists and scholars have argued against this market, stating that it turns antiques into a commodity, encourages looting and is therefore a detriment to archaeology. On the other side, those in favor of this market have the antiquities market provides people with a great deal of exposure to the past. Both sides have their merit in regards to this controversial issue. However, when looking at the antiquities