African Art: I chose this video because I've always found African art to be interesting. I also like how abstract it is and wanted to know more about it and see more types of African art and how it developed.
Buddhism: I chose this video as well because I think Buddhism is an interesting religion. I also don't know much about it, and this video definitely helped me understand it. It was also cool to explore the art behind the religion and what it means and how it connects to the religion. It was also cool to see the different areas around the world where Buddhism exists.
2. Key Concepts
African Art: From this video I learned that art plays an important role in African religious traditions and that they combine art with the dynamic power of dance. The masks that they use in religious traditions or for their dance are used to connect with the animal or person that the mask was made to represent. With the mask they become one with it instead of just playing a part. They used it to connect and to prosper, sometimes even to gain power. I also learned that artists were respected among the community but now art is more used for commercial means instead of more for religious and expressional means. I also learned that Europeans didn't become aware of African art until the 19th century, and then they thought of their art being too childish. I learned that there is a perceptual versus a conceptual meaning between how Europeans viewed African art and how Africans viewed their art (reality vs imagination).
It was cool to see how they incorporated the Bush cave drawings with the video. It helped connect other parts of the book together and to help make sense of it.
I think the part that stood out to me the most in this video were the Zimbabwe walls. It was amazing to see it and to learn that it was created in the 9th and 13th century. It looks amazing even now years later left as ruins. Just imaging how it would have been then is quite amazing. there had to been hundreds of people in this enclosure living together and working together.
Buddhism: I knew Buddhism started in India but I didn't remember how it came about. It was interesting to relearn that; that a man living a wealthy life had finally seen the realities that the common people were living and was amazed, talked to a monk, and then found himself meditating under a tree, and received the Buddhism religion. The proclaimed message of love by Buddha is quite interesting and I think it helps represent the religion because whenever I think of Buddhism I always think of peace and equality. It was also interesting to learn that Buddha was around for a good portion of the beginnings of the religion. I also didn't know that there was a golden age of Buddhism. But it was during the time that Buddha was alive and had created attention to it. It was also interesting to learn that Buddhism isn't centrally big in India where it was created but instead places like the United States and Indonesia.
I loved seeing the sanctuary in Indonesia, Borobudur. The temple took about 100 years to build. I also didn't know that when making a pilgrimage they usually have to walk clockwise in the temple to let go of material and to attain virtue. Seeing the finely carved stone in the temple was quite amazing to look at and I could definitely see how it could take 100 years to create. It definitely looked like something that I could never be able to create, not even any of the tiny carvings.
The last temple they showed in the United States also left an impression on me. It was amazing to see this huge statue dedicated to Buddha in the temple, and that the temple had to be built around the statue.
I was just intrigued at seeing these temples and seeing their structure and detail that they poses. It really does make someone speechless; I'm not quite sure what to say about the Buddhism art, but that it definitely leaves me speechless.
(Both of the videos also led to the conclusion that these arts are truly Heaven on Earth)
3.
These videos relate to the text because they bring it to life. Being able to see it visually in a text book and then being able to see someone else explain it and show different examples really helps me get a better understanding. The videos touched on all of the parts that the text had included with them. The text book did go into more detail, and more areas of art than just Africa and Buddhism. The text and the videos both went over the understandings of the masks in African art and how their art connects with their religious traditions. With the Buddhism video, the text also went over the temples and over the meanings and also to the Buddhist temple with the 4 gates that surrounded the one temple that showed the 4 stages of Buddha's life. But there were more videos for us to pick. So all the videos together give a better understanding of the text as a whole, but I really wanted to watch the two that I picked. If I find more time in my weekend or coming up weeks, I'll definitely will have to check out the rest of the videos.
4.
I like the films. I like how the Buddhism film was like a virtual tour of Buddhism, its art, and its temples. It was interesting to watch the guy go to the different temples and also interesting to see the different temples in different countries. The videos add depth to the text because its a second wave of information about the same things, but in a new perspective. Its also nice to see more visuals and to be able to listen instead of having to read.
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