Cross-Cultural Comparison Research Paper (cumulatively 25% of your grade): This will be an ongoing assignment throughout the semester, which is meant to improve your writing skills as well as work on the specialized craft of writing about art. You will work throughout the semester on this paper to develop a carefully researched and organized thesis essay. For this paper, you should compare and contrast any particular example(s) of work discussed in your text with another artwork from a different culture. It is important to focus your comparison of the works on the two different cultural contexts from which they belong. The focus of the cultural comparison is left up to you to discover and refine, but should ultimately be clearly defined as the thesis of your paper. You should be creative, thoughtful, and challenging in your thesis. You should also be sure to back up your ideas with careful analysis and research of the works discussed.
Transcript
Cross-Cultural Comparison Research Paper (cumulatively 25% of your grade): This will be an ongoing assignment throughout the semester, which is meant to improve your writing skills as well as work on the specialized craft of writing about art. You will work throughout the semester on this paper to develop a carefully researched and organized thesis essay. For this paper, you should compare and contrast any particular example(s) of work discussed in your text with another artwork from a different culture. It is important to focus your comparison of the works on the two different cultural contexts from which they belong. The focus of the cultural comparison is left up to you to discover and refine, but should ultimately be clearly defined as the thesis of your paper. You should be creative, thoughtful, and challenging in your thesis. You should also be sure to back up your ideas with careful analysis and research of the works discussed.
Specifics: This paper should be at least 4 pages in length. You must have at least 4 sources in your bibliography and at least 2 non-internet sources. You should be sure to cite all of you sources. You should use MLA or APA format.
The following slides introduce examples of possible paper topics:
(Please note: These are only examples and you are encouraged to think of your own topics):
Example #1
Thesis Statement
One of the greatest patrons of the arts throughout history has been that of religion. Around every corner of the globe different cultures have had vastly different religions and deities, but how they worship and honor them can be strikingly similar. In Europe’s Gothic period, exquisite churches and cathedrals were created in order to further serve the Catholic faith. Paris’ Notre Dame is one such cathedral that utilizes building techniques and styles from a variety of times and places, but most notably the Gothic style. The inclination to build larger, taller, and grander cathedrals, like the Notre Dame Cathedral, was a competitive nature understood and relished by patrons half way around the world in India, as expressed through their commissions of gopuras. While the final touches were being constructed on Notre Dame, work was just beginning on the Minakshi-Sundareshvara temple in Madurai. This temple complex was dedicated to Shiva and Parvati, two main deities in the Hindu faith, while gopuras, or large gateways, were dedicated to the rulers who commissioned them. Both the Notre Dame and the Temple of Madurai serve both spiritual purposes as well as representations of the wealth and power of those that commissioned them.
Notre Dame, Paris, view fr. south 1163 - 1250
These windows serve as powerful symbols for Suger’s mystical understanding of the nature of God:
Light is a visible manifestation of God’s presence: you can see it and feel it, but you can’t touch it.
The glass transmutes the light creating a very otherworldly effect, inviting contemplation, and allowing the soul to come into union with the presence of God.
Stained Glass: The Holy Ghost
As Hinduism flourished in the India, temple architecture developed rapidly. Local rulers rivaled each other in the building of temples to their favored deities- Shiva, Vishnu and the Great Goddess Devi.
Outer Gopura of the Minakshi- Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai, South India, Nayak Dynasty, mostly 13-17th century with modern renovations
This temple complex is dedicated to the goddess Minakshi (the local name of Parvati) and Sundareshvara (the local name for Shiva).
The temple complex stands at the center of the city and is the focus of Madurai life.
The exterior of this Gopura is embellished with thousands of sculpted figures, evoking a world of gods and goddesses
Example #2
Thesis Statement
“The Japanese Garden is not simply nature, not simply ‘self create’, as the literal translation of the Japanese word for nature – shizen- would have us believe. The Japanese garden is and had always been nature crafted by man. It belongs to the realm of architecture and is, at its best nature as art” (Nitschke, 10)
Japanese gardens are seen as beautiful and tranquil places. There are different uses for the gardens such as for tea houses and for meditation, but each as seen as art transcribed through nature. Unlike Japanese gardens, the French gardens of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV were used as a way to show triumph over nature in his kingdom. The gardens of Versailles were used to show wealth and Louis XIV’s standing. The Japanese never saw the role of gardens in this way, yet both were enjoyed for their beauty as sculpted and controlled art environments.
French Baroque Garden Design – Versailles’ garden done by Andre Le Notre – broad straight avenues radiating from a series of round focal points – precise geometry and order , classically symmetrical – adorned by sculptures and statues – 1400 fountains
Karesansui (“dried-up mountains and water”) – the dry landscape gardens of Japan
Dry gardens began to be built in the 15th and 16th centuries in Japan. By the 16th century, Chinese landscape painting influences the gardens’ composition, and miniature clippings of plants and beautiful stones were arranged to resemble famous paintings.
The rocks can be seen as representing islands in the sea, or mountain peaks rising above clouds.
Rock Garden, Ryoan-ji, Kyoto, Mutomachi period, c. 1480
Ryōanji (Peaceful Dragon Temple) is a Zen temple in northwest Kyoto, Japan. It is best known for its Zen garden, a simple gravel-and-rock arrangement that inspires peace and contemplation.
Some other examples of possible topics for the paper……
Theatricality in Baroque art and Ukiyo-e Prints of Japan
Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes,c. 1598, Oil on canvas, 145 x 195 cm
Bernini, Cornaro ChapelChurch of Santa MariaDella Vittoria, Rome, 1642-52
Notice the marble clouds under St. Teresa.They seem to float (actually they are supported by a hidden pedestal and by hidden metal bars sunk deep within the chapel wall.
Otani Oniji II, dated 1794Toshusai Sharaku (Japanese, active 1794–95)Polychrome woodcut print on paper15 x 9 7/8 in.
The actor Otani Oniji II is captured here in the role of Yakko Edobe.
A yakko is a manservant often used by samurai to perform violent deeds.
Sharaku was renowned for creating visually bold prints that gave rare revealing glimpses into the world of kabuki.
Successful kabuki actors enjoyed great celebrity status.
The fantastical and surreal in Japanese Ukiyo’e prints and Northern Renaissance “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Bosch
Katsushika Hokusai. One Hundred Tales (Hyaku monogatari) [ghost emerging from well]. Edo: Tsuruya Kiemon, 1830. From an album containing five color woodblock prints, 12 in. x 10 in. each.
"The Plate Mansion" (Sara-yashiki) The legend of Okiku tells the story of a maid who, after breaking one of a set of precious Korean plates, was bound and thrown down a well by her master. The tale was told throughout Japan in a great variety of forms, the most popular version established in 1795, when Japan suffered an infestation of a type of worm found in old wells that became known as the "Okiku bug" (Okiku mushi). This worm, covered with thin threads making it look as though it had been bound, was widely believed to be a reincarnation of Okiku.
Katsushika Hokusai. One Hundred Tales (Hyaku monogatari). [skeletal ghost]Edo: Tsuruya Kiemon, 1830. From an album containing five color woodblock prints, 12 in. x 10 in. each.
"Kohada Koheiji” In this tale based on an actual event, Koheiji was killed by his wife and her lover. As revenge he returns to haunt the couple while they are in bed together inside mosquito netting.
Katsushika Hokusai. One Hundred Tales (Hyaku monogatari) [horned figure with child's head]. Edo: Tsuruya Kiemon, 1830. From an album containing five color woodblock prints, 12 in. x 10 in. each.
"The Laughing Hannya" (Warai-hannya) In this image, Hokusai combines the visage of two demons, a hannya--a woman who was believed to change because of deep-seated jealousy, into a demon--and a yamanba (also, yamauba, "mountain woman")--a demon believed to devour infants brought to the mountains. In this ghastly portrait, the hannya/yamauba is shown reveling in her demonic meal of a live infant.
Katsushika Hokusai. One Hundred Tales (Hyaku monogatari) [lantern-headed ghost]. Edo: Tsuruya Kiemon, 1830. From an album containing five color woodblock prints, 12 in. x 10 in. each.
"Oiwa" (Oiwa-san) Oiwa suffers facial disfigurement after being poisoned by her husband. She dies after going insane, and returns in various forms--particularly that of a paper lantern--to haunt him.
Hieronymous Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, open,details central panel, 1505-1515, oil on wood panel, Center panel 7’ x 6’, each wing, 7’ x 3’, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Hieronymous Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, details, right wing
Landscape painting in European vs. Chinese culture
Above: Albrecht Altdorfer, Danube Landscape, 1525
Left, Landscapes, dated 1630 by Dong Qichang (Chinese, 1555–1636)Album of eight paintings; ink on paper, 9 5/8 x 6 5/16 in.
Performative art in Asmat culture vs. the contemporary art of Nick Cave
Body Mask (Det), mid-20th centuryAsmat people, Ambisu village, New Guinea, Papua (Irian Jaya) Province, IndonesiaWood, fiber, leaves, paintH. 64 in.
The art and religion of the Asmat people of southwest New Guinea center primarily on the spirits of the recently dead. Nearly all Asmat subgroups celebrate, or celebrated, the mask feast, a series of rituals culminating when the dead, personified by performers wearing full-length body masks, return to visit the community. The mask seen here portrays the dead. Each mask of this type represents, and is named for, a specific individual who has recently died.
At the climax of the ceremony, the masked performers representing the dead emerge from the forest and tour the village, where they are offered food and hospitality.
They eventually arrive in front of the men's ceremonial house, where the dead and the living join in a dance, which continues long into the night.
The following morning, the dead, now properly fed and entertained or frightened by threats of violence, depart for safan, the realm of the ancestors.
