Life & Death Through elaborate carving, casting, painting, and other technical processes, artists can ingeniously turn dead stone, metal, or plaster into vivid human-looking sculptures. George Segal’s Blue Women In a Black Chair, which was made in 1981, is a typical painted sculpture that reflects the core of human emotions. The Untitled large man accomplished by Tom Claassen in 1999, likewise, is another excellent reflective sculpture. Although these two are both outstanding pieces mirroring experiences in real life, they differ in materials, size, color, and body gesture in order to present different stage of human being, conveying different meanings.…
In the book, Stiff, Mary Roach ventures to convince the audience of the idea that using cadavers, or dead people, is effective in progressing research in a number of career fields. Through creating a conversation about advancements in forensics and medicine, she argues that donating one’s body to science after death is advanced and necessary. Even though Roach discusses other fields that cadavers positively affect, she mainly bases her assumptions off of chapter three. In chapter three, “Life After Death”, Roach describes the process of human decomposition. In this chapter, Roach employs first and second-hand experiences backed by humor to effectively argue why human cadavers are essential to medical research about bodily functions and processes.…
Elbert Hubbard once said “Art is not a thing; it is a way.” Art is all around us; from the floor we walk on, to the color of the walls around us, to the music we listen to on the radio. Many kids have taken on a lot of different forms that did not exist many years ago. Today, we fill our world with street art not exactly thought about to be art like mimes, circus acts, puppetry, mask theater, vaudeville, and storytelling through movement (Rapp 4). Art is an essential part of our society today and has been for many years.…
Mary Roach's nonfiction book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, humorously outlines the ways the human cadaver has served the living since the ancient Egyptians. The acceptance of death is difficult to accept, but Roach's book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers manages to subjectively objectify the horrid experience of dying. Despite being nonfiction, Roach writes in a very opinionated tone that lightens the subject and makes her book a compelling and easy read as it describes the many fates that human dead bodies can have. In the introduction of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach establishes that cadavers are capable of doing fantastic and awesome feats without any negative effect being able to make…
This mummy case was also reflected the social realities that the image defines the appearance of the member of the society at a particular time . Their imagery combines the conventions of behavior and appearance appropriate to the members of a society at a particular time as defined by age, gender and class. From top to bottom, first the portrait of Artemidorus attracts the attention with golden leaf crown and golden leaf decoration.…
Sydney McKissick Mrs.Vermillion AP Language and Composition 31 October 2017 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers On her exploration of the body after postmortem, Mary Roach begins the book by attending a medical seminar about the dissection of heads. At the seminar there are forty heads of people who have recently died, draped in white cloth, waiting on the arrival of surgeons. When the heads have been uncovered and the dissections have started, Roach describes the process of objectification. Objectification is taught during the first year of med school in “gross lab” Through this physicians and students learn to think that cadavers are not related to the people that they once were.…
The cultural artifact that I propose to study is the bust of the Queen Nefertiti who was an Egyptian queen and the Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. The Queen is known to the modern world for her famed illuminous bust that now resides in Berlin’s museum. Nefertiti’s bust was created by the sculptor Thutmose and was discovered in his workshop by the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. The bust is an example of providing us, the Ancient Egyptians examples of art and how they regard facial proportions. The bust is considered the most copied works of art from Ancient Egypt.…
Also, some see it as taking a powerful stand against racism, and others see it as promoting a kinder, gentler form of prejudice. This shows how the spectators of an art piece use their own nature to create an interpretation of the…
Jessica Mitford’s “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” questions the embalming process, or as said by Mitford “restorative art” (128) that is used to preserve a dead body resulting in disrespect toward the deceased and their family. Throughout the essay she explains in vivid detail the entire process and how a body can be turned into a counterfeit body to make sure it does not start decaying and look perfect for the family. Mitford questions the legality of the embalming process and shows the reader the truth behind what is shown at a funeral home when the family sees the body. Mitford talks about death a topic most of society avoids having a conversation about to reveal issues that revolve around funerals and what happens to the deceased bodies.…
According to a survey conducted by the Ecology Global Network, in the article “Birth and Death Rates,” it sates on average, 151,600 people die each day. In addition, an article by The American Transplant Foundation, titled “Facts and Myths,” states that at minimum, 21 people out of 123,000 men, women and children on the organ transplant list join the death rate every day. Incidentally, a single person can donate their body and save up to 8 lives. Thus if 20,000 of the 151,600 deceased donated their body, less people in need of a transplant would die. Instead, out of 151,600 deaths only a little over 8,500 deceased were donated.…
The Day of the Dead is a holiday that is celebrated by people all around the world. Most people celebrate this holiday out of love and commitment to their loved ones. Mexico is the number one country that celebrates this particular holiday. One major mural in this holiday is a sugar skull. A sugar skull is a representation of a departed soul.…
Art can be interpreted and demonstrated in a different variety of ways. Whether it is through dance, theater, music, or visual art individuals who incorporate art in their lives express their own feelings, ideas, and creativity. Being able to explore the four different stages of art was a great and remembering experience because one was able to see and explore the creative expression of the individuals who were part of the performance. In general, the Day of the dead visual art altars engaged their audience by expressing strong historical connections and powerful emotions.…
Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos in Spanish, is a traditional two day festival which originated in Mexico. During the holiday communities gather to celebrate the lives of friends and family who have passed away. This holiday which incorporates ancient indigenous rituals with Catholic beliefs focuses on welcoming back the spirits of loved ones to honor them, celebrate their lives and acknowledge ones eventual fate. Recently, however, Day of the Dead has come to be associated with Halloween, despite the various differences in beliefs and practices. The holidays growing popularity has led to the commoditization of some of the Day of the Dead icons, such as the sugar skull.…
Throughout the semester, when observing multiple forms of art; while all struck me to be beautiful, the one individual piece of work that I saw truly inspiring was the Bronze Head of Ife, which dated back to 600 A.D. This work inspired me because of how the art was way ahead of the time period in which it was created. The procedure to craft these bronze heads was complex in the way of casting the metal, and furthermore, it required large amounts of manual labor. This form of artwork was underrated at first, though as cultural and economic factors were introduced behind the Ife Head, the opinions quickly changes. At first sight, many viewers would think the art is unskilled and behind from the European forms of art. However, on the contrary,…
Almost everyone , living in Bible Belt America, will know the story of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross, and surprisingly, people thought to themselves Jesus' crucifixion would make the church a more enjoyable service to get through. Therefore, the universe brought forth Lamentation by Giotto, Entombment by Raphael, Entombment by Titian, Descent from the Cross by Pontormo, and many more artistic depictions of Jesus dying. In contemporary western society, the idea of finding someone suffering beautifully is alarming. However, the idea of Jesus dying excludes the other half of the story.…