AP Art History Dr. Raabe
Big Idea 1: What is art and how is it made? FORM + FUNCTION + CONTENT + CONTEXT -----------------UNDERSTANDING
Big Idea 1: What is art and how is it made? Form: What does it look like? Formal elements, stylistic elements Function: What was it used for? Content: What is depicted (subject matter)? Context: Where were the original and subsequent setting and conditions? Time, place, culture of creation How original audience interacted with it Intended purpose and site (and later changes) How was it displayed or viewed? Later audience response to it
177. Lukasa (memory board). Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c.19th and 20th century CE. Wood, beads, and metal. Handheld wooden object (small!) Narrow in the middle = easy to hold Attached beads, shells, incised or raised designs Back resembles turtle carapace: symbol of Luba royalty Luba people of DRC: powerful from early 16th-20th c Much of their art is about kingship, authority, power Conceptual map = mnemonic device (memory aid) to recount history Origins of the empire, lists of kings, spirit capitals Read only by Mbudye Society: trained men of memory Tactile!
177. Lukasa (memory board). Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c.19th and 20th century CE. Wood, beads, and metal. Different interpretations of the same board Memory is not fixed! Memory is a story! Each board is unique
Form Formalism Formal analysis Make meaning out of art based solely on its form MORE than description Viewer responds to the language of the art: Elements and principles
Line Descriptive Expressive Contour line: line tracing outline, edges, planes Lines that model: line creating volume, value (cross-hatching) Gesture lines: quick, searches marks evoking basic forms Line quality: thick, thin; what kind of rhythm does it express?
Shape: Created by closed line; 2-dimensional Natural Geometric Natural shapes: human, animal, plant, the organic living world Geometric shapes: the constructed, mathematical world Abstract shapes: observed world reduced to essence Non-Objective shapes: not based on the observed world
Form: 3-dimensional space Volume: the amount of space the form takes up Mass: how the weight/bulk of the object moves in space Does it move horizontally or vertically? Open mass tends to be dynamic and expansive Closed mass tends to be self-contained and stable
Form: 3-dimensional space Mass: how the weight/bulk of the object moves in space Does it move horizontally or vertically? Open mass tends to be dynamic and expansive Closed mass tends to be self-contained and stable
Space: real or illusionary Illusionary Space: Linear or mathematical perspective Atmospheric perspective Other methods: overlapping, higher up, size of objects Negative space
Color Comprised of hue, value, and saturation primary or secondary palette complementary colors tints and shades temperature: cool and warm colors Symbolic color
Real Value/Light Value: light and dark Luster: reflected light Luminosity: creating or emitting light Illusionary
Real Texture Illusionary
Unity: What organizes a work or gives it coherence? Repetition of a motif/pattern Harmony: harmony of colors, materials, etc. Balance
Balance Radial Symmetrical Asymmetrical
Emphasis What is the focus of a work? Sometimes more than one Sometimes all over composition
Rhythm: movement within a work of art Time and motion: actual or implied? Use musical terms: beat, pulse, crescendo, etc.
Rhythm: movement within a work of art Time and motion: actual or implied? Use musical terms: beat, pulse, crescendo, etc.
Proportion: relative sizes in a composition
Scale: size in relation to us Life-size Over life-size Under life-size
172. Power Figure (Nkisi n kondi). Kongo peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. late 19th century CE. Wood and metal
Carved wood, inserted nails, cowrie shell, ceramic eyes Body geometric (stylized: emphasizes convention over realism) ~3 ft high Hollow! Protective power figure against negative forces Used to address range of community issues: oath taking, healing, social strife, political unrest Commissioned by a patron, created and activated by a nganga (ritual specialist) who keeps it Hollow filled with powerful materials (bilongo) and activated by inserted metal pieces (cowrie = plug) If oath is broken, power figure is activated!
Reused over time: accumulates more and more metal inserts Were largely destroyed by missionaries Tradition Caribbean voo doo dolls
Big Idea 2: Why and how does art change? Tradition and/or change Use examples from form, function, content, or context Why? Influence
81. Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza. Viceroyalty of New Spain. c. 1541-1542 CE. Ink and color on paper. Commissioned by Viceroy of Spain as history of Aztecs for HRE Charles V (20 years after conquest) Goal: Show Aztec rulers and daily Aztec life Nahuatl pictograms translated into Spanish Native artist, content; European form and ideas Interaction b/t two cultures Codex: manuscript in book form
Depicts founding of Tenochtitlan (Aztec capital) and conquering of Colhuacan and Tenayuca peoples Stylized Enemy temples on fire, warriors carry shields and clubs
Eagle on prickly pear cactus = Tenochtitlan (Mexican flag) Ten men who led Aztecs to the city (gray man = priest) Canals divide the city Main Templo Mayor (main temple) above eagle Skull rack with sacrificial victims Border of year glyphs
Big Idea 3: How do we describe our thinking about art? Identify unknowns Find relationships between pieces Understand differing interpretations of a work Understand how art produces a response
221. Navigation chart. Marshall Islands, Micronesia. 19th to early 20th century CE. Shells, wood, and fiber ~ 1 meter wide Rebbelib: navigation chart of large section of Marshall Islands Shells = islands Diagonal sticks = wave patterns Not to scale Memory aid/practice Not taken on trip Low-lying islands are hard to see This example was collected by British admiral in 1890s
Finding relationships between works of art
Finding relationships between works of art