Like the blog title suggests my name is Kyle, I am an anthropology major with an emphasis in archaeology. My interest of study is Mesoamerican archaeology and in particular the Maya. I have been to Belize these past two summers as part of a filed school to further study archaeology in the Maya region. I am originally from San Diego and some of my favorite hobbies are staying in shape and wake boarding.
Well that's enough about me and on to the heart of the matter, what is art? This is a really tough question to ask mainly because just as pieces art is subjective and open to interpretation so is the definition of art. My psersonal definition of art is something tangible, and it can perform a range of different purposes, such as telling a story or recounting an event either personal or general. Art can also entertain or digust, it can influence and controll people and set people free. art can capture emotions as well as give emotions and feelings back to the viewers. According to Gardners art through the ages she states that "most think of art, quite correctly, as part of the present-as objects people can see and touch. But a visible and tangible artwork is a kind of persisting event"(Gardner, 1). This is from an art history perspective and she is talking about how something tangible like artwork can represent things that are not tangible like history. Many pieces of art are reflected by the cultural, political, and social status of where the piece comes from, artwork then becomes like a reflection or narration the past. One of my favorite classes i ever took was AP art history in highschool and its very intersting to see an art hostorians perspective.
What I hope to learn this semester in the anthroplogical study of art is how art influences archaelology and how to use some information of this class to help me look at art that will allow me to see a glimpse of the past and try to understant how and why this culture made certain of art, and what impact that art has in that culture.
Gardner, Helen, Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, and Richard G. Tansey. Gardner's Art through the Ages. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College, 2001. Print.
