Et à la fin...

  Well I think we can all agree that this has defiantly been a wonderful class! I really loved reading The Cave Painters and learning about the cave paintings! (Seriously, now I want to go study in caves in France for the rest of forever!) But really, this class was awesome. I never thought the seemingly simple question of "What is Art?" would be so hard to answer! Now I feel like I can touch the surface of this question, but I don't think it can ever be fully answered. Having this blog was a great experience as well! I loved reading everyone else's throughout the semester and this was so much more motivating to work on compared to Moodle posts.

   This is it for me, but I hope everyone has a fantastic break and a great spring semester!

               -Holly

This is Jean-Claude, my octopus cake :)

Research

  This semester, I chose to do my research project on the path of classical mythology in art. I've always had a fascination with classical mythology and the art that is inspired by it. Classical mythology is one of the most common inspirations in art and has been for nearly 2,800 years. I think it is one of the subjects that has been most apparent since it was introduced in Ancient Greece.

  I had used the HSU data bases a few time before this semester, but now I feel like I could be racking up frequent flier points I use JSTOR so much! Between my 3 anthropology classes, JSTOR has seen a lot of me this semester. Between some really fabulous articles I found on said database, and using some books I had myself and the library was so kind to lend me, I was pretty golden on information materials. I thin the most difficult part of my research process was that after I was done with part one, I put it on the back burner for a few weeks. When I finally went back to it, I had to go over everything again, so I guess it wasn't too difficult per say, but more tedious (but that was my own fault, of course).

  I think the most surprising thing I discovered was the representation of classical mythology in Medieval Times. I wasn't sure what I would find, but it was interesting how the portrayal of classical mythological figures altered, like the example in my presentation of Hercules and how he went from classical to arabian to saint-like and then back to classical-- all within a span of a few hundred years.

  If I was to continue my research on classical mythology, I would probably focus on its influence in one era, like just in Medieval Times or the Twentieth century. I think it would be really interesting to focus deeply on one time period and go into further detail. A question that may be interesting to continue with would be, "What influence did the rise of Christianity have on how classical mythology was interpreted in Medieval Times?" Maybe one day I will have the opportunity to answer this question or other relating to classical mythology.

-Holly

American Pop Culture

  Over Thanksgiving break, my friend and I went to Los angeles for a concert. When trying to figure out how I was going to consume art this semester, I decided that this concert was perfect, with examining how pop culture has exploded in America, and many eccentric artists are born from it. So don't laugh but the concert we went to was Katy Perry.

  The concert was held at the Staples Center, and it was completely packed! There were so many people there, it was insane. Many of the people dressed up like in ridiculous outfits (which all seemed to have had much time and effort put into them). Just observing the different dynamics of people there was fascinating. The ages ranged from 8 or 9 up to couples in their 50s. I find it always intriguing the difference in crowds at concerts. I've been to my fair share of concerts and what I've observed is that the more flamboyant or "poppy" the performer is the bigger the age range. Some of the other concerts I've attended, such as Mumford & Sons or Keane, the crowd is more college aged and up, virtually no children. Interesting point...

  Anyway, back to Katy Perry...

  Katy's entrance was another unique aspect to this concert. It started with a pre-filmed movie that prefaced the performance with a story line of her in some kind of "candy land" place. Through out the concert (during costume changes), the film would continue and then lead into the next set of songs. It all seemed to correlate one way or another which I thought was a rather clever idea. The film aspect made the concert seem much more like a show rather than just a performer singing their songs.

 
  Overall the concert was filled with a really high energy level. It was really amazing to see such a mass of people who don't know each other to be having a great time all together. Even though the thousands of people in the audience weren't involved in the actual performance, tons of people were dancing around and singing, which made it much more interactive feeling, like the energy form the songs and Katy herself was flowing into everyone there.

  I went to this concert not expecting much, but coming out of it I'm glad I was able to experience it. It is a great example of American pop culture and I really think this kid of performance is one of the few truly modern American art forms.

(We were in the second to last row in the whole place so I didn't get any good pictures so here are the sources of the pictures I found online.)

Picture Sources:

http://www.picowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Katy-Perry-Los-Angeles-Concert.jpg

http://celebshut.com/wp-content/uploads/celebrities/katy-perry/concert-photos-from-salt-lake-city/Katy%20Perry%20Concert%20Photos%20from%20Salt%20Lake%20City-09-520x812.jpg

http://marieclaire.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/11116%7C00004dbc7%7Cab6d_rexfeatures-1288922v.jpg