Video Review

I chose the four videos: Buddhism, The Great Wave (Japanese Art), Islamic Art:India and the Middle East, and African Art. Each of these videos I chose because they were things I remembered specifically from the readings in the book. Since they stood out to me more than other parts I decided they would be the best videos to watch.

They key concept of Buddhism was that each individual needed to find their own way to enlightenment by freeing themselves from those things that inflate the ego. It meant seeing the world in a different way. It also displayed the way Buddhism spread and how people continued to honor Buddha after he died. This video relates to the readings because it explains the path to enlightenment as the book did and also shows some of the art and architecture that was used and created during Buddha's time and how they related to his life and lessons. African Art key ideas I thought were that many of the materials used in African art did not last long, so although they displayed forms of art that were very old, the works themselves were no more than a few hundred years old. They also talk about how the art represented ideas, such as success in the hunt. There was also a difference explained in conceptual and perceptual art and how these flow from either objective reality or the artist's imagination. It also talks about the use of ritual or performance art, which relates to the book in that we learned about how masks were used in rituals as a means of spiritual communication. The Islamic art video discusses the key idea of how images of humans and animals were forbidden. Plants, flowers, and patterns were primarily used in Islamic art. This relates to the readings in that the readings emphasize the use of geometric patterens and script in Islamic art that made it very beautiful. It also examines the architecture in Mosques and places of worship, also seen in the readings. I also like how it said that Gothic style owes so much to Islam. It gives an idea of how styles were adopted from other cultures and expanded. One of the key ideas of the Japanese art video was that The Great Wave is probably the best known image of western art and that no other image represents the same feeling. Also, that the images were not necessarily of Japanese tradition, but of European style, especially in the use of the writing which normally goes vertically in Japanese. I thought this was the more interesting of the videos because it really went in-depth explaining every detail of The Great Wave and makes you want to understand why each detail was included. This video really expanded what was said about Japanese art in the book while explaining a great work of art.

In my opinion the films were a great educational tool to use to reinforce the readings from the book. They capture your attention better and let you learn about the different styles individually and visually instead of trying to take in all of the cultures of art in the chapter at once. I thought they were enjoyable to watch and make it much easier to learn about the concepts of art that the book is teaching us through the readings.