Blog #5 (11/15/18)


For my piece of art, I chose to analysis the Manuscript Illumination with Adoration of the Magi which was drawn sometime between 1515 and 1525, in Ghent, Netherlands, by the Master of James IV of Scotland. Some say the artists name is Gerald Horenbout, but it is not positively determined. The medium of the drawing is Tempera, ink, and shell gold on a piece of parchment. It is 6 1/2 x 4 5/8 in. In the 16th century, religion was played a detrimental role is all actions that occurred. Kings and Queens were the leaders of their faith during this time, and their subjects were expected to follow in their footsteps.
At first glance, it seems like people are coming to visit a baby. I originally thought that the mother of the child was a queen and that it was her subjects paying tribute to their new prince or princess. That thought has now been debunked. When looking further, you can see that some of the men in the picture look to be kings and there are 3 of them. After realizing that, I made the religious connection to baby Jesus in Christianity. This makes sense considering the large role religion played in the lives of these people. There are also men kneeling in the bottom of the image and those men seem to be the Magi, kneeling before Herod. It is said that the technique, use of space, and color scheme are similar to those that can be attributed to the Master of James IV of Scotland. The colors used in this drawing are very repetitive, if you were to focus on just one of the colors, you would find that it is also used in many other areas of the drawing. The colors used are also very bright which helps to illuminate everything in the front of the drawing. Not only is the kneeling the center point of the drawing, but it is also the brightest. Even though everything in the front is emphasized, there is still special detail done in everything in the background. This shows that the artist spent lots of time and effort to be sure that this looked good.
I think that this drawing, as well as all of the others done in this time period, pay attribute to an authoritative figure. Whether is be the King or Queen of the time or a special religious figure, they all seem to resemble some figure. But this image in particular, exhibits the important of religion during the time period. The Catholic and Protestant religious were the most commonly found through Scotland and both of which put God above all other beings. This is exactly what is portrayed in the drawn image. Baby Jesus is being put above all others and being seen as the most important, and one to praise.

Blog #4 (11/4/18)

Freebie:)

Blog #3 (10/20/18)

                                   Axe . “The Cleaner You Are, the Dirtier You Get.” 2018.

This advertisement pictured above, published in 2018 by the company Axe, exemplifies one of the Seven Deadly Sins, lust. The advertisement displays two people, a man on the left, and a woman on the right. The man on the left is seemingly, and quite obviously, naked in the shower with soap covering the majority of his back side. At first glance the woman also appears to be in the same setting but when you take a closer look, you realize she is not. The woman, who also has her back facing the audience, is wearing a corset.

The phrase "The cleaner you are The dirtier you get" is titled across the bottom of the advertisement. This, coupled with the primarily naked man and woman, portray the idea of 'lust' in the advertisement. After interpreting the concept of 'lust,' you can begin to see the different portrayals of this idea. The goal of an advertisement is to sell a product and in this case, the product is axe body soap. The man on the left can be seen using this soap to wash himself while showering. On that side of the image is the first part of the phrase, "The cleaner you are." This is then followed by a woman on the right, who also has the upper part of her backside exposed, who is seemingly unlacing the corset she is wearing. On the right side of the image is the last part of the phrase, "The dirtier you get". Axe is a company with an intended audience of men of every race, wealth, and age. With that being said, the makers of this advertisement tempted men with the idea of sex, or lust. The image is saying that if you use this body soap to wash in the shower, than you will have all women 'unlacing their corsets' for you.

Using sex, or other pleasurable temptations, has become a common way for advertisers to entice both men and women into buying their products. This has always been a thriving concept throughout the development of our society, as can be seen from the creation of the Seven Deadly Sins some hundreds or thousands of years ago. For some reason, people are intrigued by the mere idea of pleasure more so than the things that would actually serve to benefit their lives. This advertisement for Axe body soap is just one example of this pertinent aspect of our society today.  

Blog #2 (10/7/18)
The name Emma comes from German descent, which is ironic because it is more commonly found in the United States. The name in the German language means 'universal'. I do not think the literal definition of my name defines me. My name is something I was given when I was born. I would never change my name but I do sometimes wish it was something more unique. My name is important to me because its what I am known as. This means it could follow either a negative or a positive connotation. My goal is make sure that there is no negative connotation surrounding my name. However, this does sometimes prove to be difficult seeing as how common the name Emma is. There will always be a sense or 'boringness' surrounding my name due to its commonality. This is something that I will live with for the rest of my life but that does not mean I am going to let it define who I am. I am different than the thousands of other Emma's that you will find in the world. So, rather than me being defined by my name, I am pushing to define my own name. 

The concept of being 'two' is something I can relate to immensely. I definitely have 'two sides'. There is the side of me that adults see and the side of me that my friends see. During school when I am speaking to adults or other administrators, I am very respectful and speak with proper grammar. It, to me, is the right thing to do when speaking to superiors. Similar to when our teachers are being observed by their superiors, they become more studious and behave to the expectations they are upheld to. The other side of me is the one that talks and interacts with my friends. I am much more open and behave like myself around them. There is not an obligation to act different or act to a certain standard. This side of me isn't afraid to make stupid jokes or have a good time. I think having two sides is part of our society today. Whether it is a 'good' and 'bad' side, 'school' and 'home' side, or 'adult' and friend' side, there will always be sides of you regarding different situations.

Every person is there own individual. We say and think what we want, and do what we want, to a certain extent. This leads to the various personalities seen across the globe. We all lead different lives and will most likely never interact with one another. It is crazy to think that we are still all connected. We are part of the 'larger whole,' which is the Earth. Every action we partake in has some sort of consequence. There is no determination of the extent to which this consequence reaches besides its effects on us. If we choose to throw a plastic bottle out of the window it leads to a build up of plastic waste and pollution on the Earth. This could cause damaged wildlife, ocean life, and even human life. Although we are all separate individuals, we still contribute to the over arching 'larger whole,' the Earth.

Blog #1 (9/23/18)

I chose this picture taken by photographer Wing Young Huie. The photo was posted to the album titles “We are the other” and was taken at Blue Ox Coffee Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2012. This album is host to many pictures of men and women holding up a sign, each saying something different.

The image contains a middle aged man, Hai, holding up a sign that says “When I come the US, I don’t have nothing. With my bare hands and hard word, I now own two barber shops”. The picture also shows the background that Hai is standing which is a coffee shop that many people seems to be busy in, living their day to day lives. This picture grabbed my attention because of what the sign said. Whoever wrote the saying is obviously very uneducated and not from the United States. The grammar is very wrong, along with the sentence structure used.

The sign proves to the viewers that Hai is a literal alien. He is not from the United States which makes him alien. Being an alien differentiates him from the fellow people in the coffee shop and all other Americans. He is separate from them which portrays the concept of “othering,” literally.

Huie posted to his blog that the woman standing to the left of Hai in the coffee shop is the manager Melanie. The day this picture was taken was the first day that Melanie and Hai ever spoke. Hai had been witnessed throwing rice at pigeons and sweeping the street at the same corner outside her coffee shop since it was opened, seven months prior. These actions taken by Hai also serve to further alienate himself from the other passerbyers on the streets. It is not very often that you will find a man sweeping the sidewalk of 38th street in Chicago. Also, people in American will feed birds bread, rather than giving rice to pigeons. By Hai partaking in these actions, and him being an alien to the United States serve to differentiate himself from the rest of the American people.

Atwood in, The Handmaid's Tale, also portrays the concept of ‘othering’ in a similar matter. In her novel, handmaid’s are subjected to many non-human type ordeals. They are forced to each wear the same outfit and to hide their bodies and faces when walking out in public. This further objectifies them to being used as solely sexual objects and not actual human beings. Handmaids in the society of Gilead are seen as one of the lower social classes. They do what they are told, when they are told to do it. By forcing them to each wear the same bright red outfit, they can be spotted by anyone and differentiated from their fellow citizens.

The handmaid's, including the main character Offred, are subjected to this concept of ‘othering’ through each of those ways. By making them each wear the same thing, any other person walking along the streets could tell what social class they are in. In today's society, it is quite a bit harder to tell what social class someone is in based primarily off of their clothing. Both the handmaid's from the novel, and Hai from the photograph are 'others' due to the background and their present actions in the society they live in.

Huie, Wing Y. Untitled . Minneapolis, 2012.