13. The society who began the custom of embalming to preserve the body for its life after death…
The Latin phrase, “memento mori”, connotes the brevity of life as its message continuously remains apparent in art throughout the centuries. Artists illustrate subjects of forthcoming death in various methods, either subtly with dark color schemes or explicitly with symbolic metaphors. The presence of the human skull, an object synonymous with death, envelops the audience with grim thoughts as they are lead to conclude the demise of the artwork’s subject, or of themselves. Currently on view at the Blanton Museum of Art, Guercino’s Mary Magdalena (c. 1637) and Natalie Frank’s Snow White V (2011-14) overtly depict an image of death, yet both of the artworks’ ambiguous context are not completely distinguishable to the audience.…
The legs “that was similar to those found on a throne chair, namely legs terminating in animals’ feet” (Boger, “Guide to Furniture Styles” 5), are usually in the form of chimera, lion, eagles, and swans. The carvings are earthy with leaf patterns and extended curved lines following the over arching “sweeping curves and scrolls” (Boger, “Guide to Furniture Styles” 5) that resembles the work of Duncan Phyfe in America. They are realistically carved sometimes with “medley of and human heads, sphinxes with upraised wings, dolphins, swans, ringed lion’s mask, and the lion monopodium (Boger, “Furniture Past & Present” 364). Today, the additions of wheels are sometimes added to the legs of the couch to give it mobility.…
In the essay, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” by English author and civil rights activist Jessica Mitford, she offers a peculiar narrative through her critique of the thoughts surrounding the funeral industry and the issue of death. It is clear her ultimate goal is to share many of the common practices of the funeral industry to her readers, and display how seemingly barbaric and often times senseless they are. Mitford’s purpose in this passage is to convey that if more people actually understood these practices exercised in the funeral industry, they might change, and the mystery of what goes on behind these taboo doors would be out in the open for the general public to understand and acknowledge. Mitford introduces her essay with a discussion…
Author Laura Numeroff has often said in interviews that the idea for the story came to her during a long car trip she took with a friend from San Francisco to Oregon. She narrated it as they drove and later wrote it down. The manuscript was passed over by nine publishers before being taken on by Laura Gerringer, a publisher under the Harper and Row (now HarperCollins) imprint, who immediately thought of Felicia Bond to illustrate it.The text was interpreted by illustrator Felicia Bond to show the increasing energy of the mouse, with the little boy being run ragged by the end of the story. The art was praised by School Library Journal for its "meticulous attention to detail",[1] and was executed with vibrant colors of blended pencil in a complex process of layering red, blue, yellow and black on separate sheets, which were then assembled during printing.…
Annie Makes a Mess of her New Red Dress sprouted from a seed of a few ideas about a little girl who receives a new dress and has trouble with it. The purpose of my children’s book is to communicate the different elements of life that small children love or hate such as birthday parties, lollies, balloons, parks and playgrounds. Another purpose is to educate children about overcoming adversity and the fact that it’s never as bad as they think. There are many themes in this book but the main ones are adventure and overcoming adversity.…
One of the fascinating trend sweeping through the Victorian period was postmortem photography or memento mori (remember you will die in Latin).…
Jessica Mitford, the author, describes in this essay the process corpses go through while at the funeral parlor. Her word choice is strong, taking you visually, step by step, through that process. She uses vivid imagery, describing scenes in detail so you can picture it as if you were there.…
Potter started his obsession with taxidermy at age 15 in 1835 when he taxidermied his pet canary. Soon after, he become intrigued by his sister’s nurse rhyme books and started incorporating the rhymes into his taxidermy work (Milgroom, 2010). One of his most famous works, also his last work, is his diorama “The Kittens’ Wedding.” With 20 kittens lined up in attendance to a wedding, this work, and like many of Potter’s other works, has a cute but creepy factor. Although both of these dioramas were created for the pleasure of the public and to be enjoyed at their disposal, there’s an eerie and unsettling feeling when really examining the history behind these exhibits; In “The Kittens’ Wedding,” dead, baby kittens are lined up to display a ceremony of rejoicing and beginning of a new life while in “The Muskrats,” the dead muskrats are placed into idealized wildlife that reflects their time when they were alive. Even though Akeley’s intentions to enlighten education and Potter’s to appeal to audiences through interpretations of nursery rhymes, these taxidermists created atmospheres inside glass and wooden containers that are easily distinguishable from…
It's no secret that kittens typically don't like water. But, that didn't stop someone from dropping a pair of kittens in the worst place possible; at a lake. Luckily, there were a couple of surprised fishermen out there ready to pick them up. Surprisingly, the kittens could swim pretty well considering the way they felt about the water.…
Although the idea of a grotesque has negative connotations, grotesques come in several forms and can actually have positive effects on characters. It has become the norm among grotesques to teach a lesson on what not to do, however Kate Swift, of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, is a divine example of the theory that grotesques can lead to a deeper understanding of the world. Kate Swift attempts to aid in George Willard’s ability to throw his heart and soul into his writing, to love deeper, and to see past the words that humans use as a blockade to the inner workings of their mind.…
John Baldessari is a mischievous and humorous artist, who strongly believes “art is art” (YouTube). All explanations of Baldessari’s techniques, subject matter, and artworks can be easily explained by the artist himself. Baldessari is no stranger to the expression of his work. With no doubt, Baldessari is a “pure strategist”, and displays this greatly through his art (Khan Academy). Clearly the works, processes, and perspective of John Baldessari began as oddly justified, however Baldessari makes art as he wants it to be, not as others will possibly oppose it. The art was meant to be judged, and bring up conversations between viewers if it was truly art or not; this was the objective and purpose of his works. Because of Baldessari’s tremendous success, and popularity in modern art, he will continue to influence many upcoming artists, along with creating new opportunities for his viewers to perceive art as “just art.” John Baldessari’s major interest in puzzling his viewers with his works due to the juxtapositions he is so fond of is found is all of his works. The Cremation Project was a highly influential turning point in John Baldessari’s career as a conceptual artist; it alone changed his career influencing him to always experiment, take chances and bring further humour to his…
Suppose you say to your friend, “Torturing kittens for pleasure is morally wrong.” What does this statement express? What, if anything, does it describe? What would make this statement true, if it’s true? Each of the Metaethical theories below offer answers to those three questions. Theory What moral statements express What moral statements describe What makes moral statements true or false Objective moral facts: Objective wrongness of torturing kittens. Objective moral facts: Objective wrongness of torturing kittens. Moral code of speaker’s culture: Disapproval of torturing kittens by speaker’s culture. Moral code of person’s culture (not necessarily speaker). Disapproval of torturing kittens by that person’s culture. Any objective moral facts?…
In the trailer for the movie Cat People, the representation for the “otherness” is show very straight forward. There is a normal woman who is cursed by transforming into a cat. There is also a part in the trailer where the narrator Discusses the “ women's kiss means death” which can mean that any man that falls in love with her she plans to kill. In this trailer the “ norm” may be the modern girl just living a normal life, while the “other” can be the cat version of the woman, she may have the bad characteristics of the normal woman when she transforms. As the film develops I expect to see the norm try to discover why the modern girl transforms to the cat or how, and tries ways to figure out how to stop it.…
The piece of work I’m choosing to talk about is Méret Oppenheim, Object, 1936. This piece of art is in the Gateways to Art textbook and is on page 73. It’s a fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon. MOMA, New York. This piece of work took these dishes and covered them in fur. This three-dimensional form could be considered a ready-made because of the fact dishes are everyday objects, or it could be considered surreal. Oppenheim was shooting for creating a surreal object and explained that she took an object that is usually cold and hard, and instead make them soft and furry. By doing this, the idea of sipping from that cup will give an unexpected sensation of fur tickling our lips by contradicting the conscious logical experiences of the viewers. In this case, the relationship between it’s form and actual content or meaning of the piece fit together really nicely. The piece is furry which gives the viewer the feeling of fur on their lips, instead of a regular hard piece. The fact that there is fur on the dishes makes the entire artwork so it’s interesting that something so simple can be such a clever, great piece of art.…