Blog Post 1: Introduction

Flipping through the textbooks, there are a whole lot of images that stand out to me. I’m always drawn to things like the cave paintings in Chauvet and Lasceaux, since they are examples of art that are intrinsically linked to the spaces that they inhabit.  Art from this time period has a kind of haunting effect, being so far removed from modern life, but at the same time being so human in their expressiveness.  I can imagine standing in the painter’s shoes, or maybe I should say ‘where the painter stood,’ and creating a visual record of the world. 

I am particularly excited for this course as opposed to other art history courses, because by default, ancient art has to include art outside of Europe, whereas almost ay other art history course only includes European and American art. I think this is a sad and unnecessary omission on the part of textbook writers, so I’m really looking forward to near eastern and North African art.  I think the only reason we leave Europe in ancient art history is because the Europeans simply weren’t doing anything at the time, and we’re forced to look elsewhere for the basis of early European art.  (“Oh darn, I guess we have to go to some of those other continents now...”).

I’m looking forward to reading about ancient architecture.  I don’t think I know enough about how human made environments have evolved over the millennia.  Since it’s something I’m interested in going to school for, I’m looking forward to learning more about architectural history.  Since ancient art and architecture are often one and the same, this works out pretty well for me. Works of art like the Ishtar Gate and the Giza Pyramids really grab my attention.  Egyptian architecture has always had a major draw for me, since they were the inventors of trigonometry and many forms of building, the amount of innovation they contributed to human history is amazing.  In studying the history of art and why we make things, I think it’s possible for us to become more aware of why we make the things that way that we make today, and therefor be able to make better decisions about what to make and how to make them.  In learning about what came before we can draw on ideas we couldn’t think of on our own, and throw out those that no longer serve us.  Which is very exciting.