Wednesday 24 August 2011

Assignment 3: Art Appreciation & Criticism

Arnolfini Marriage by Jan Van Eyck painted around 1390- 1441. 32.4 in X 23.6 in



Part I: DESCRIPTION

The Arnolfini Marriage artwork is painted by Jan Van Eyck who born in Netherland (c. 1395- before 9 July 1441 at the age of 45-46). Arnolfini Marriage is painted around 1390- 1441 (14 or 15 century), with oil paint at the size of 32.4 in X 23.6 in. There are 2 main objects are found which are the man and the woman. The man is called Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini which located at the left part of the painting. He wore underneath which is a double of patterial material. It was probably silk damask. Besides that, Giovanni Arnolfini wore an outer garment called Houppelande or known as Tabard which is purple color and linen with fur. Moreover, he wore a hat that plaited straw dyed with black color that usually wore in summer. Other than that, he also wore a ring at his third finger which means that Giovanni Arnolfini can be proved that he is a married man.  The woman who appeared at the right side of painting known as Giovanni Cenami which is Giovanni Arnolfini wife. She wore a plain gold necklace and a plain ring at her left hand and right hand. She wore an outer garment that called Houppelande or also known as Tabard which is green in color decorative with dagging that linen with yellow colored fur. Giovanni Cenami wore the underdress that is blue in color and also linen with yellow colored fur at the bottom of near to her feet that almost touched the floor. The background of the painting consists of the bed which is big in size and red in color and carving on the chair or bench against to the wall to the right partly hidden by Giovanni Arnolfini. There is a window located at the middle left. There have oranges on top the chest and lie on the window sill which can be found at the left of middle below the window of the painting. Oranges is a sign of wealth and it is very expensive in Burgundy. Two shoes are appeared inside of the painting which is located at the mostly left bottom that is brown in color known as clogs and a red shoe that located at the right middle of the painting near the bench. In between bottom of the man and woman there is a little dog brown in color is an early form of the breed now known as the Brussels griffon. The following object that I saw is a convex mirror framed with wooden that located right in the middle of the painting. Inside the mirror there is a reflection of two human figures that facing the couples in front of the door inside the room. One of the human figure wore red in color and another is wore blue in color cloths. One of them assumed to be the artist and may refer to the requirement to witness the wedding. On top middle of the painting there is a brass chandelier that is large in size and functioned as a pulley and chain mechanism to lower the brass chandelier to managing the candle.  There is an oriental carpet that places on floor that partly hidden by Giovanni Cenami. There is a small broom hanging at beside of the bed. Lastly, there is a signature signed in the form of Gothic script by Jan Van Eyck located in between of the brass chandelier and convex mirror middle of the painting. In the painting, most of the objects form a three dimensional such as the couple’s, bed, clogs, dog, bench, chandelier, mirror, window, and the chest. Most if the shapes appeared in the painting is geometric shapes such as the mirror, window, chandelier, carpet, shoe and fruits. Whereas, organic shapes are the dog, the couple, bed, and the broom. Color that used in the painting are cool color such as purple color can be found at Giovanni Arnolfini Houppelande, green color can be seen at Giovanni Cenami outer garment Houppelande, and blue color wore by Giovanni Cenami as her underneath cloth. In case, warm color such as yellow color can be found at Giovanni Cenami outer garment and underneath linen with fur, red color can be seen at bed and the bench, and the background and the dog are brown in color. Jan Van Eyck painted this Arnolfini Marriage portrait with shades, highlight, and light and dark to make the picture to be more realistic. Most of the lines that appeared in the painting are vertical lines that can be found at the bed curtain, window, chandelier, couples, Giovanni Arnolfini hand position, broom and cloths there wearing. In addition, diagonal lines appeared as we can saw the couple holding hands form a diagonal line. Moreover, horizontal line can be found at the window, chest, floor, bed, shoes, and Giovanni Cenami hand position. In between the couple form a psychic line.

Part II: ANALYSIS  
The Arnolfini Marriage used the techniques of oil painting, applying layer after layer of translucent thin glazes to archive the effects of glowing colors and highlighting. Besides that, Jan Van Eyck used the method wet-in-wet to archive the light and shade and three dimensional forms. On the other hand, the artist had drawn the artwork onto the wood panel. Moreover, in the middle of the painting Jan Van Eyck wrote a signature that is in a Gothic script form. The painting is in symmetrical balance as the approximate symmetrical balance of Giovanni Cenami make the right part heavier than the left part where Giovanni Arnolfini at, forming a unity of the painting. The man (Giovanni Arnolfini) and the woman (Giovanni Cenami) took 75% out of 100% of the whole painting. Giovanni Arnolfini scale is smaller because of the purple color of his Houppelande equivalent with the background. Whereas, Giovanni Cenami occupied most of the space because of her green Houppelande contrast with red color and form complimentary color. Giovanni Cenami played a role as a dominant in the painting because of her color contrast between the backgrounds whereas Giovanni Arnolfini played a role as a sub dominant in the painting because of his Houppelande equivalent with the background. Colors such as green (cool color), red (warm color) and purple (cool color) created contrast and lead it to form rhythm. Repetition of vertical line appeared most at the couple’s cloths and the window. For horizontal line, most of it appeared at the background of the couple’s such as the floor, window, bench and the bed. The subjective view that I can see that from the painting is a happy married couple, looking forward to the baby born, artist painted this beautiful moment due to the couple’s marriage anniversary and I can feel that the couple’s is very warm.
  
Part III: JUDGMENT
This painting was probably painted in a reception room as it was the fashion in Burgundy where reception room used as seating. Giovanni Arnolfini was husband to Giovanni Cenami and worked as a cloth merchant and lately become wealthy trading in silk and other fabrics and tapestries.  Giovanni Cenami is Giovanni Arnolfini wife who actually not pregnant. In this case, in between 14 to 15 century the more a person wore, the wealthier he or she was assumed to be. It was fashionable for women’s dresses at that time. In the other hand, researched shown that Giovanni Cenami is dead childless. In the painting shown that Giovanni Cenami is a married woman this is because a married woman has to wear headdress. Bed inside the room symbolized the couple’s desire for fertility and hint that the physical act of the love between the married couple. Oranges placed at the window sills and chest symbolized the purity and the innocence of the couple. Cherries on top of the trees outside of the window symbolized love. Fruits signed the couple’s is a wealthy since fruits was very expensive during that time. There is a pair clogs appeared on the floor bottom of Giovanni Arnolfini feet and it is a gesture of respect for the wedding ceremony. Candle that slotting inside the chandelier brings the meaning of indicating love and sexual union. The little dog appeared in between of the couple’s feet symbolized loyalty and the couple’s is desire to have a child. Dog is also a traditional gift from husband to wife. Giovanni Cenami dressed with green color symbolized hope that might be the possibility hope of becoming a mother. Her white headdress shown the purity and signifies her is a married woman. The convex mirror represented the eye of the God and observing the vows of the wedding. Overall significant of this painting is about the fertility, progeny and marriage.  The Arnolfini Marriage painting is to recording moment of the marriage of the couple’s. In modern days, a couple could hire a photographer to recording their wedding, but at the past like Giovanni Arnolfini hired an artist to pain the picture. Moreover, the portrait of the couple is legally showing the marriage place has been taken and the artist has signed it as a legal document.

Part IV: AUDIENCE
The artwork may initially be for the couple to record the events and the memorial moment in their life, when the couple getting old they can reviewed back their wedding painting that might make them think of sweet memory. Unintended audience who appreciate this artwork will be the students or historians. Art students can refer to the method and how the painting was paint and for the students who studied the subject History of Art & Design. 


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References


Eyecon Art, art history pages. Retrieved at August 10, 2011 from: http://robinurton.com/history/Renaissance/northrenaiss.htm

Garden of Praise, free educational materials. Retrieved at August 9, 2011 from:

1400- 1500 in fashion. Retrieved August 9, 2011, from Wikipedia

Virtual Museum, Retrieved at August 10, 2011, from:

Jan Van Eyck. Retrieved at August 6, 2011, from:

Giovanni Arnolfini. Retrieved at August 6, 2011, from:

Brussels griffon.  Retrieved at August 10, 2011, from:





Thursday 18 August 2011

Assignment 3: Art Appreciation & Criticism

%3Ctable+align%3D%22center%22+cellpadding%3D%220%22+cellspacing%3D%220%22+class%3D%22tr-caption-container%22+style%3D%22margin-left%3A+auto%3B+margin-right%3A+auto%3B+text-align%3A+center%3B%22%3E%3Ctbody%3E%0D%0A%3Ctr%3E%3Ctd+style%3D%22text-align%3A+center%3B%22%3E%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ukudKzWujLk%2FTlUat_borxI%2FAAAAAAAAACk%2FlDBbASaldZ4%2Fs1600%2Fsdsd.jpg%22+imageanchor%3D%221%22+style%3D%22margin-left%3A+auto%3B+margin-right%3A+auto%3B%22%3E%3Cimg+border%3D%220%22+height%3D%22640%22+src%3D%22http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ukudKzWujLk%2FTlUat_borxI%2FAAAAAAAAACk%2FlDBbASaldZ4%2Fs640%2Fsdsd.jpg%22+width%3D%22468%22+%2F%3E%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Ftd%3E%3C%2Ftr%3E%0D%0A%3Ctr%3E%3Ctd+class%3D%22tr-caption%22+style%3D%22text-align%3A+center%3B%22%3E%3Cspan+class%3D%22Apple-style-span%22+style%3D%22font-family%3A+%27Times+New+Roman%27%2C+serif%3B+font-size%3A+x-small%3B+line-height%3A+18px%3B%22%3EArnolfini+Marriage+by+Jan+Van+Eyck+painted+around+1390-+1441.+32.4+in+X+23.6+in%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Ftd%3E%3C%2Ftr%3E%0D%0A%3C%2Ftbody%3E%3C%2Ftable%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cb%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+14pt%3B+line-height%3A+115%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cb%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+14pt%3B+line-height%3A+115%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cb%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+14pt%3B+line-height%3A+115%25%3B%22%3EPart+I%3A+D%3C%2Fspan%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22%3EESCRIPTION%3Co%3Ap%3E%3C%2Fo%3Ap%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+50%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%0D%0A%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cspan+class%3D%22Apple-style-span%22+style%3D%22font-family%3A+inherit%3B%22%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3EThe+Arnolfini+Marriage+artwork+is+painted+by+Jan+Van+Eyck+who+born+in+Netherland+%28c.+1395-+before+9+July+1441+at+the+age+of+45-46%29.+Arnolfini+Marriage+is+painted+around+1390-+1441+%2814+or+15+century%29%2C+with+oil+paint+at+the+size+of+32.4+in+X+23.6+in.+There+are+2+main+objects+are+found+which+are+the+man+and+the+woman.+The+man+is+called+Giovanni+di+Arrigo+Arnolfini+which+located+at+the+left+part+of+the+painting.+He+wore+underneath+which+is+a+double+of+patterial+material.+It+was+probably+silk+damask.+Besides+that%2C+Giovanni+Arnolfini+wore+an+outer+garment+called+Houppelande+or+known+as+Tabard+which+is+purple+color+and+linen+with+fur.+Moreover%2C+he+wore+a+hat+that+plaited+straw+dyed+with+black+color+that+usually+wore+in+summer.+Other+than+that%2C+he+also+wore+a+ring+at+his+third+finger+which+means+that+Giovanni+Arnolfini+can+be+proved+that+he+is+a+married+man.%26nbsp%3B+%3Cspan+class%3D%22Apple-style-span%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+small%3B%22%3EThe+woman+who+appeared+at+the+right+side+of+painting+known+as+Giovanni+Cenami+which+is+Giovanni+Arnolfini+wife.+She+wore+a+plain+gold+necklace+and+a+plain+ring+at+her+left+hand+and+right+hand.+She+wore+an+outer+garment+that+called+Houppelande+or+also+known+as+Tabard+which+is+green+in+color+decorative+with+dagging+that+linen+with+yellow+colored+fur.+Giovanni+Cenami+wore+the+underdress+that+is+blue+in+color+and+also+linen+with+yellow+colored+fur+at+the+bottom+of+near+to+her+feet+that+almost+touched+the+floor.+The+background+of+the+painting+consists+of+the+bed+which+is+big+in+size+and+red+in+color+and+carving+on+the+chair+or+bench+against+to+the+wall+to+the+right+partly+hidden+by+Giovanni+Arnolfini.+There+is+a+window+located+at+the+middle+left.+There+have+oranges+on+top+the+chest+and+lie+on+the+window+sill+which+can+be+found+at+the+left+of+middle+below+the+window+of+the+painting.+Oranges+is+a+sign+of+wealth+and+it+is+very+expensive+in+Burgundy.+Two+shoes+are+appeared%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fspan%3Einside+of+the+painting+which+is+located+at+the+mostly+left+bottom+that+is+brown+in+color+known+as+clogs+and+a+red+shoe+that+located+at+the+right+middle+of+the+painting+near+the+bench.+In+between+bottom+of+the+man+and+woman+there+is+a+little+dog+brown+in+color+is+an+early+form+of+the+breed+now+known+as+the+Brussels+griffon.+The+following+object+that+I+saw+is+a+convex+mirror+framed+with+wooden+that+located+right+in+the+middle+of+the+painting.+Inside+the+mirror+there+is+a+reflection+of+two+human+figures+that+facing+the+couples+in+front+of+the+door+inside+the+room.+One+of+the+human+figure+wore+red+in+color+and+another+is+wore+blue+in+color+cloths.+One+of+them+assumed+to+be+the+artist+and+may+refer+to+the+requirement+to+witness+the+wedding.+On+top+middle+of+the+painting+there+is+a+brass+chandelier+that+is+large+in+size+and+functioned+as+a+pulley+and+chain+mechanism+to+lower+the+brass+chandelier+to+managing+the+candle.%26nbsp%3B+There+is+an+oriental+carpet+that+places+on+floor+that+partly+hidden+by+Giovanni+Cenami.+There+is+a+small+broom+hanging+at+beside+of+the+bed.+Lastly%2C+there+is+a+signature+signed+in+the+form+of+Gothic+script+by+Jan+Van+Eyck+located+in+between+of+the+brass+chandelier+and+convex+mirror+middle+of+the+painting.+In+the+painting%2C+most+of+the+objects+form+a+three+dimensional+such+as+the+couple%E2%80%99s%2C+bed%2C+clogs%2C+dog%2C+bench%2C+chandelier%2C+mirror%2C+window%2C+and+the+chest.+Most+if+the+shapes+appeared+in+the+painting+is+geometric+shapes+such+as+the+mirror%2C+window%2C+chandelier%2C+carpet%2C+shoe+and+fruits.+Whereas%2C+organic+shapes+are+the+dog%2C+the+couple%2C+bed%2C+and+the+broom.+Color+that+used+in+the+painting+are+cool+color+such+as+purple+color+can+be+found+at+Giovanni+Arnolfini+Houppelande%2C+green+color+can+be+seen+at+Giovanni+Cenami+outer+garment+Houppelande%2C+and+blue+color+wore+by+Giovanni+Cenami+as+her+underneath+cloth.+In+case%2C+warm+color+such+as+yellow+color+can+be+found+at+Giovanni+Cenami+outer%26nbsp%3Bgarment+and+underneath+linen+with+fur%2C+red+color+can+be+seen+at+bed+and+the+bench%2C+and+the+background+and+the+dog+are+brown+in+color.+Jan+Van+Eyck+painted+this+Arnolfini+Marriage+portrait+with+shades%2C+highlight%2C+and+light+and+dark+to+make+the+picture+to+be+more+realistic.+Most+of+the+lines+that+appeared+in+the+painting+are+vertical+lines+that+can+be+found+at+the+bed+curtain%2C+window%2C+chandelier%2C+couples%2C+Giovanni+Arnolfini+hand+position%2C+broom+and+cloths+there+wearing.+In+addition%2C+diagonal+lines+appeared+as+we+can+saw+the+couple+holding+hands+form+a+diagonal+line.+Moreover%2C+horizontal+line+can+be+found+at+the+window%2C+chest%2C+floor%2C+bed%2C+shoes%2C+and+Giovanni+Cenami+hand+position.+In+between+the+couple+form+a+psychic+line.%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B+text-align%3A+center%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-family%3A+%27Times+New+Roman%27%2C+serif%3B+font-size%3A+12pt%3B+line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%3Co%3Ap%3E%3Cb%3E______________________________________________________________________%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fo%3Ap%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%0D%0A%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cb%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+14pt%3B+line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3EPart+II%3A+A%3C%2Fspan%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22%3ENALYSIS%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fb%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cspan+class%3D%22Apple-style-span%22+style%3D%22font-family%3A+inherit%3B%22%3E%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+12pt%3B+line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3EThe+Arnolfini+Marriage+used+the+techniques+of+oil+painting%2C+applying+layer+after+layer+of+translucent+thin+glazes+to+archive+the+effects+of+glowing+colors+and+highlighting.+Besides+that%2C+Jan+Van+Eyck+used+the+method+wet-in-wet+to+archive+the+light+and+shade+and+three+dimensional+forms.+On+the+other+hand%2C+the+artist+had+drawn+the+artwork+onto+the+wood+panel.+Moreover%2C+in+the+middle+of+the+painting+Jan+Van+Eyck+wrote+a+signature+that+is+in+a+Gothic+script+form.+The+painting+is+in+symmetrical+balance+as+the+approximate+symmetrical+balance+of+Giovanni+Cenami+make+the+right+part+heavier+than+the+left+part+where+Giovanni+Arnolfini+at%2C+forming+a+unity+of+the+painting.+The+man+%28Giovanni+Arnolfini%29+and+the+woman+%28Giovanni+Cenami%29+took+75%25+out+of+100%25+of+the+whole+painting.+Giovanni+Arnolfini+scale+is+smaller+because+of+the+purple+color+of+his+Houppelande+equivalent+with+the+background.+Whereas%2C+Giovanni+Cenami+occupied+most+of+the+space+because+of+her+green+Houppelande+contrast+with+red+color+and+form+complimentary+color.+Giovanni+Cenami+played+a+role+as+a+dominant+in+the+painting+because+of+her+color+contrast+between+the+backgrounds+whereas+Giovanni+Arnolfini+played+a+role+as+a+sub+dominant+in+the+painting+because+of+his+Houppelande+equivalent+with+the+background.+Colors+such+as+green+%28cool+color%29%2C+red+%28warm+color%29+and+purple+%28cool+color%29+created+contrast+and+lead+it+to+form+rhythm.+Repetition+of+vertical+line+appeared+most+at+the+couple%E2%80%99s+cloths+and+the+window.+For+horizontal+line%2C+most+of+it+appeared+at+the+background+of+the+couple%E2%80%99s+such+as+the+floor%2C+window%2C+bench+and+the+bed.+The+subjective+view+that+I+can+see+that+from+the+painting+is+a+happy+married+couple%2C%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fspan%3Elooking+forward+to+the+baby+born%2C+artist+painted+this+beautiful+moment+due+to+the+couple%E2%80%99s+marriage+anniversary+and+I+can+feel+that+the+couple%E2%80%99s+is+very+warm.%3C%2Fspan%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0D%0A%3Cdiv+class%3D%22MsoNormal%22+style%3D%22line-height%3A+200%25%3B+text-align%3A+center%3B%22%3E%0D%0A%3Cspan+lang%3D%22EN-MY%22+style%3D%22font-size%3A+14pt%3B+line-height%3A+200%25%3B%22%3E%3Co%3Ap%3E%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fo%3Ap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Wednesday 3 August 2011

Kitsch

Being requested by lecturer Dr. Ray to find out what is Kitsch. All the way long i have researched about Kitsch, i totally don't understand what is it talking about. All my sources are found in the internet, some site said this some said that. Different sites have different meaning. The way of they explained are not really understanding or not clear enough. Might be my own problem for not understand the real hidden meaning.

Through out the research and my own understanding about Kitsch is a typically negative product that is a worthless copy of art of recognized value and it is purely for commercial purposes rather than works created as self- expression by an artist. For my own opinion and my own understanding, Kitsch can be said as copying other people famous artwork or anythings, and use it for commercial reasons or applied in our things.


Example of Kitsch:

Left: The transformation of the original plastic bags. Right: The original plastic bags.


As can that the plastic bags on the right are very well- known in China. Almost every household owned this plastic bags. This bag are very convenient, can be loaded with a lot of things, durable and sell with very low price. In Malaysia, this bag are mainly sell in night market and shops that sell bags. Although this bags are not expensive but well- known enough yet, i think it still applied Kitsch because it copy the original one or done some pattern on it and sell it commercially. People still can recognized which is the original ones.



Below: Original England flag.  Top Left & Right: iPhone casing and Polo Ralph Lauren shirt  


I found that the England national flags are used as a iPhone casing. Basically, iPhone casing that printed on England national flags are selling everywhere no matter in the shops, stalls or even night market in Malaysia. Other that the basic design of England national flag, there are casing that stick with fake diamonds, swarovski crystals and etc. As also can see the model wearing the shirt also printed with the England national flag. The shirt can be found at any Polo Ralph Lauren shops in Kuala Lumpur.


Left: Burj Al Arab, Dubai  Right: Telekom Tower, Kuala Lumpur


Malaysia Telekom Tower, Kuala Lumpur obviously looked similar with the Burj Al Arab, Dubai. Both of this tower have the similar shape that is a yacht. I think everyone will said that Burj Al Arab hotel is more suit to its concept or can be said as make sense because the building is build on the middle of the sea with the yacht but Telekom Tower  is at the middle of Kerinchi link, Petaling Jaya. Might be the latest trend of that time.


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References

- Polo Ralph Lauren. Retrieved at July 3, 2011. 
  http://www.blackpoloshirt.net/ralph-lauren-england-flag-polo-blue-1082-branded-polo-shirts-uk

- Merriam-webster. (2011). Retrieved at July 3, 2011.
  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kitsch

- Dictionary.com. (1979). Retrieved at July 3, 2011.
  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kitsch

- The University of Chicago. (2002). Retrieved at July 3, 2011.
  http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/kitsch.htm

- Kitsch. (August 21, 2010). Retrieved at July 3, 2011.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Recently i am doing some research about the Egyptian Hieroglyphics for my History of Art and Design class. On my own opinion, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are very similar to Chinese ancient scripts. Before the Chinese character form, people used logographic to representing each objects they want to wrote down. Chinese used to craved down into the bamboo scroll but ancient Egyptian used to wrote down to papyrus paper.

In my research, ancient Egyptian used hieroglyphics for almost 3500 years ago and also as the formal writing system used by the Egyptian that contained combination of pictogram, logogram, and alphabetic elements. Ancient Egyptian used a lot of hieroglyphic characters and each of them represents a common object in ancient Egyptian.

In between the hieroglyphic there are few writing system that are phonetic reading. Phonetic reading is the most non- determinative, sign are phonetic in nature, meaning the sign is read independent of its visual characteristics. Besides that, Egyptian hieroglyphic script contained of 24 uniliterals that symbolized it stood for a single consonants, much like letters in English. Moreover, phonetic complements in Egyptian writing is often exaggerate in fact, it happens very frequently that a word might follow several characters writing the same sounds, in order to guide the reader and for semantic reading, characters also can be read for their reading. For logograms, it is used to defines the object of which it is an image. Determinatives in ancient Egyptians hieroglyphics are placed at the end of a word.
In English words with the same spelling would be followed by an indicator which would not be read but which would fine-tune the meaning. For example: retort---> "rhetoric".

Nowadays we used to wrote or printed on papers that made by trees, but for ancient Egyptian era they invented the world's first paper that made by papyrus plant and produced it into papyrus paper. The way of papyrus was made by peeling the stem off papyrus reeds and slicing the inner core into thin pieces. After the wet strips of reed were placed in a wooden frame overlapping each other, another layer of wet strips was laid in the other direction. This created a sheet of paper. The method of producing papyrus paper was similar to Malaysia Malay traditional handmade called webbing/braid/plait in Malay known as "anyaman". For ancient Egyptians a substitute for a pencils was a brush that made of reeds. The reeds was softened and and shaped at the end. They mixed with soot and water to produced ink.

Anyaman (Malay tradisional braid)
Papyrus plant
Example of papyrus paper

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References

- Ancient Chinese Writing. 1999-2011. Retrieved at July 2, 2011

- Hieroglyphics. 1998- 2011. Retrieved at July 2, 2011
   http://www.greatscott.com/hiero/

- Ancient scripts: Egyptian. 1996- 2010. Retrieved at July 2, 2011
   http://www.ancientscripts.com/egyptian.html

- Omniglot. 1998- 2011. Retrieved at July 2, 2011
   http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Art Critisism – Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer

Last Judgement of Hu- nefer


In this assignment, my group is doing art criticism based on the painting named 'Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer' from the Book of the Dead in Chapter 7. This painting was painted on a papyrus scroll. It was found in the tomb of the scribe Hu-nefer in Thebes from the 19th Dynasty, which is around 1280 BCE, during the New Kingdom of Egypt. This papyrus scroll is 39cm long in actual size.

We can see King Osiris on the right, dominantly. Behind King Osiris, there are two women. There is a bird-like object on the top of King Osiris and it is a falcon with a huge eye holding a feather in its claws. In front of King Osiris is a falcon-headed man, which is King Osiris's son. On the left-bottom, there is a dead man's soul being held in hand by Anubis. Anubis in the left side of the beam balance that looks like it is adjusting the beam. On top of the beam balance there is a man head of while two things at the side, which looks like a stone and a leaf.

Elements that applied in this painting which are value, lines, shapes, and texture. Value in this drawing is 2D. The lines applied in this painting are horizontal line, vertical line and curve line. Horizontal line is seen on the floor tile. Curve lines are seen on the body and head of the characters. Besides that, the painting is made up of organic shapes and geometric shapes like rectangle, square and round shapes. The texture of the painting is rough.

In addition, principles of design in this painting are scale. Scale of smaller human figures that are sons of Horus. Repetition of symbols (ankh) and human figures that appeared on top of the gods at the hall of judgement. In the painting also appeared shapes that are rectangles. The most dominance in this painting is King Osiris and the sub dominant is soul. Repetition creates rhythm that is lines and hieroglyphs that are long and short on the middle- bottom wall create flowing rhythm like a staircase. Colors used on the top-left part of the drawing are olive green, white and yellow ochre makes the subjects pop out more. In addition, the bold and thin rectangle also creates rhythm.

This papyrus scroll is created by using painting technique, by applying colors of black, olive green, white and yellow ochre. There is also drawing technique used to draw out the characters and shapes, and writing of hieroglyphs on the wall in the painting. 

For the subjective interpretation, we find that the painting looks like the first soul (bottom-left) is led towards and the other Anubis in front of the scale is weighting something while Amemet looks like a demon that is starring at the right side of the scale and also at Thoth that is recording the readings of the scale. The second soul looks like he is led by Horus towards King Orisis for some sort of judgement while Isis and Nephthys looks like they are helping King Orisis out throughout the process. On the top-left of the painting shows something like a soul is talking or praying facing the gods and witness. 

The imitative perspective on this painting of the objects are the scroll, flail and crook held by King Osiris, ankh, heart, scale, ostrich feather held by the falcon Utchat, scribes and reed brushes used to recording by Thoth. The subject matter in this painting is papyrus and ink. The ink used in this painting is the mixture of soot, vegetable gums with water on a wooden palette. Peoples in this painting are 4 sons of Horus (Imsety, Qebekh, Hapy and Duamuatef), Maat (God of scale), Amemet (Heart eater), Anubis (God of the
dead), Hu-nefer (soul), Osiris (god of the afterlife), Horus (God of sky, war and protection), Thoth (God inventor of writing), Isis, (Goddess of magic and life), Nephthys (God nature of death), Shu (God of air), Tefnut (god of emotion) Ra-heru-khuti-tem (god of sun), Geb (God of earth), Utterance, Southern, Northern, Western Ways and Perception.      


The artist's intention of painting this is to be passed down generation by generation so that their future generation knows more about the afterlife process and judgement.


The audience who appreciates the artwork is artists, museums, Egyptians, archaeologists, national art gallery, future generation, art students, and tourists. People who commissioned this artwork would be the government, artists, businessman/women and people who have interest in this artwork.


In conclusion, 'Last Judgement of Hu-nefer' tells everyone to be kind hearted and do good deed so that their heart won’t be eaten by Amemet. This painting is to be passed down generations by generations to keep their culture and beliefs recorded and spread so that Egyptian culture will never be forgotten. 





Wednesday 13 July 2011

Assignment

1. Telekom Museum, Kuala Lumpur

Telekom Museum, Kuala Lumpur is one of the example of Greek Culture that applied in Malaysia. On my personal opinion, people added this element onto the building design is because to assort with the theme. The purpose they design this building is to lead people to recognize the building easily with their first sight with the typical retro design.


2. Oasis Damansara

Oasis Damansara located at Damansara, Petaling Jaya is one of the example of Egyptian culture that applied in Malaysia. Oasis means dwelling place or green island. In the picture above we can see that there are a row of pyramid that planted with grass on top of it. In my opinion, the purpose of building this pyramids in front of the office buildings may referred to the "feng shui". In Malaysia especially Chinese believe in "feng shui" and pyramids are built in front of the office buildings is to safeguard the success of their business.


3. Methodist Primary school in Sibu


Methodist Primary School that located in Sibu, Sarawak that applied Greek Culture in Malaysia. This school founded in the year of 1903. People added this element onto this building is because of the current trend. However at that moment, most of the architecture are built in this mode. This school architecture also know as Neo- Classical structure. Pillars are built in front of the main/ front door. It is a memorable building tend to the structure of building and the historical stories.


4. Roman footwear


The footwear worn by the Romans changed very little from the foundation of the Roman Republic in 509 B.C.E. to the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. The basic outdoor shoe was known as the calceus. At the Roman Empire men wearing a basic Roman sandal. Romans used different footwear styles to indicate the status and power of the wearer. In the 21th century, Roman footwear are usually wore by women but lately due to the changes of trend/ fashion men also wearing roman footwear. In Malaysia, no matter men, women, and what ages are you, people love Romans footwear due to its trend, comfortably and easy to mix and match.




5. a) Panathenaic Stadium

5. b) Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur

In Malaysia, Staduim Bukit Jalil do applied the Greek Culture. This is because as i can see that the Stadium Bukit Jalil look similar to Greek Stadium in the aspect of design which is in a "U" shape or "O" shape, chairs at the side, and the purpose of the stadium. Greek Stadium function as a entertainment purpose such as a theater, sports event, meeting and etc. For Stadium Bukit Jalil also having the same function. Singer from oversea either local singer would like to held their concert at the stadium and sometimes there will be a local football match or international match. Both stadium also intend a lot of chairs to audience to sat down. 


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References


- Panathenaic Stadium. Retrieved at July 13, 2011



Sunday 10 July 2011

Lu Xun

In my research about Lu Xun, i have found that there are 2 historical people called Lu Xun. One of the Lu Xun was a military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He is also best known for defeating Liu Bei's forces at the Battle of Xiaoting in 222. For another Lu Xun was a Chinese literature and arts in the first decades of the 20th century.