W4A1
Question 1:
a. Why do you believe each culture undertook the creation of your selected monumental work of architecture and sculpture despite the difficulties of accomplishing them? What can we assume about a work of art without such knowledge?
The moai statues of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, are some of the most mysterious structures ever seen (Cothren & Stokstad, 2011, p.873). Easter Island is one of the most remote islands in the world. It is 2,300 miles from the coast of South America and 1,200 miles from Pitcairn Island. The moai sit majestically on the coast and face inward. Each statue is different, some have hats and some have earrings. The moai may have been tributes to their chieftains, or to their ancestors. They could also have been statues of their deities, but there is little known about the early inhabitants. There are approximately 1,000 of these statues, including unfinished ones still at the quarry. The reasons for erecting these statues are unknown. How were they moved from the quarries, about four miles? One theory is that the moai were moved using logs cut from the trees on the island, rolling them to the coast. In doing so, they cut down most of the trees and caused their own environmental disaster. The soil no longer had the roots of the trees to protect them, and started to erode (Tyson, 2004). This may have led to war among the population because of lack of food and resources, and the decimation of the population, thus making the moai a monument to ecological disaster.
Why did they build these moai? We can only assume that it was for a religious or spiritual reason, or perhaps to honor their ancestors. Most of the traditions of the Easter Island people were lost due to the...
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...mber 20). The Mysterious Sunken Ruins of Nan Madol . In The Weather Channel. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://uk.weather.com/story/travel/mysterious-sunken-ruins-nan-madol-20131120.
Cothren, M. & Marilyn Stokstad. (2011). Art History, Volume 2, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Learning Solutions.
Easter. (2014). Easter Island. In National Geographic. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/easter-island/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_n1p_us_se_c1#.
South University Online. (2013). HUM 1002: History of Art from the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Week 4: Masks and Masquerade. Retrieved from myeclassonline.com
Tyson, P. (2004, April 20). The Fate of Easter Island. In NOVA. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/fate-of-easter-island.html.
The island is about 4 square miles and is today a place for tourism in the great lakes. Many thousands of years ago though this was a little piece of land with bluffs reaching high above its surroundings and was a merely a small piece of land surrounded by water. It was because of these bluffs the appearance of the island resembled a turtle and led to it being named “The Great Turtle” (Piljac, 1998). Currently the island reaches several hundred feet above the lake and it’s because of this geography that many nations saw this as a perfect military post and would be used over and over again throughout its history as such.
The Hawaiian Islands are well known for their beauty, tranquility, and unique culture that have shaped this state into what we see today. The special bond that the natives have formed between themselves and nature is not exactly one of a kind, but it is something that can truly be admired. Around approximately 300 AD, Hawaii was discovered by Polynesians who arrived by canoe from Tahiti. These migrants brought their polytheistic spirituality and formed a large intricate society with hierarchies consisting of many chiefs. Alongside the ruling of the chiefs, the newborn Hawaiians followed a strict belief system known as Kapu akua otherwise known as the “law of the gods”. The Kapu was a strict set of rules and restraints that dictated all aspects of ancient Hawaiian life, including political. These rules were used as a means to control the lives of lower class and female population in order to honor their gods and maintain balance within their Mana.
DeWitte, Debra J. et al. Gateways To Art. New York City, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Print.
West 31st Street, NY: Chelsea House, 2009. Print. Fitzpatrick, Virginia. Art history: a contextual inquiry course.
South University Online. (2013). HUM 1002: History of Art from the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Week 4: Art of the Americas: 14th Century to the Present. Retrieved from myeclassonline.com
In this ancient place there were all different kinds of remnants from what looked to be a permanent settlement, which led us to believe that it was formed in the Neolithic period. Scientists also believe from the skull fragments found that the Cro-Magnons were the hominid type that inhabited the area. Some of the fossils found helped to prove that the settlement was immobile because the fossilized plants were apparently in a specific arrangement, showing that they were planted purposefully. Some of the cotton grown in this area was apparently used to make woven cloth. Remnants of corn meal were used to make some of the mortar for their establishments, along with mud and sand. They also made their bricks, which were much larger than today’s, from mud. Some of the teeth from the Cro-Magnons were found to be stained. They were thought to be from the coffee ingested due to the high amounts of caffeine deposits in the bones.
Today most experts believe that Easter Island was first settled by Polynesians looking for a new homeland. About 1680 A.D, the quality of life on the island began to decrease. At this time, clan rivals erupted in a bloody battle between long ears and shorts ears. This destruction of the islands natural resource undoubtedly contributed to its decline.
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
More in depth, the entire concept of art and what is art differs in the world of the nonliterate societies. This is the first rule that needs to be analyzed. In addition to, the objects westerners view as art is actually a small piece to a bigger puzzle. To the Natives, the overall puzzle or purpose is to created and stabilize the cosmic order in which they live in. It is through this process of rituals and sacred ceremonies to keep order that objects are created of beauty, but for bigger reason. Not to hang on a wall or leave behind a glass case; but rather, keeping order and doing away with chaos that could destroy their existence.
Kleiner, Fred, Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History, Fourteenth Edition The Middle Ages, Book B (Boston: Wadsworth, 2013), 348.
By far the biggest mystery are the Moai Statues that stand 20 to roughly 69 feet tall and weigh at least 20 tons obviously a feet for pre-modern man to produce. These statues were made as a way to show dominance by the multiple tribes found on the island. The tribes competed trying to make their Moai statue better and taller than the next tribes. The mysteries of the Moai statue and the island’s history that bring fame to Easter Island are not as enigmatic as the fame brought to the popular novel and film The Lorax. The film tells the story of a boy who meets the Onceler who knew of a time when truffula trees existed. The Onceler tells his story of cutting down all the truffula trees in the forest to make Thneed, a new trending product, which made the Onceler rich, but The Lorax warned him to stop cutting down the truffula trees however he didn 't listen. When all the truffula trees had been chopped down, all the animals left the forest and the Onceler became poor and regretted not listening to The Lorax. In the end the Onceler gives the last tree seed to the boy and the boy plants
Lewis, R., & Lewis, S. (2008). The Power of Art. Connecticut, United States: Cengage Learning.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol 2.13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2010.
Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-modern. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1992.
The veil of mystery over Easter Island has been covering the island since we first stumbled upon it, the popularity of the island has grown immensely, and the mystery still encom-passes the island to this day. The History of Easter Island is one filled with prosperity and hardship, the inhabitants of the island experienced everything. The island is world re-nowned for the hundreds of giant statues called Moai, which are placed all over the island. The island is shrouded in mys-tery and due to this scientists, archaeologists, engineers, and linguists alike have hypothesized theories about the is-land. Over the years scientists have made many more intriguing discoveries about Easter Island, removing