WORLD ARTS AND IDEAS

Discussion 4.1: Picture this… the Acropolis!

You are a reporter covering the devastation and aftermath of 9/11. As luck would have it, you wander into a wormhole and are transported through time and space to Athens in the 5th century BCE. As you gaze up at the constructions on the Acropolis (initiated a generation after the Persian invasion) how do the experiences and ideas that you view in this architectural complex and within the 5th-century city of Athens itself compare with what you witnessed in New York City? What political, artistic and cultural ideas seem similar and what ideas seem different?

Discussion 4.2: After Alexander

Where and how do we see the world of art change after the conquests and eventual death of Alexander the Great? Identify 2 examples that demonstrate the changes that you believe were directly related to the Alexander’s conquests and discuss how these conquests affected their creation.

Discussion 4.3: Terracotta Warriors

Discuss the religious, political, and personal components of the art of Shih Huan ti’s terracotta warriors. Why terracotta? Why were so many life-sized statues created and then buried? What were the religious, magical, or political ideas that were expressed in this site?

Discussion 5.1: Roman Art

Roman Art is sometimes described as just an Italian version of Greek Art, however as you’re beginning to see it’s much more complicated than that. Identify two examples of art or architecture from the Republican period and discuss what aspects of these express native “Roman” values, ideas or traditions.