Week 10 Video Review

Islamic Art at the V&A 1. I selected this video because I wanted to have at least one of the Islamic Art videos and was wondering what the "V&A" was (Victoria and Albert Museum, for the record).
2. -Art is not a part of Islamic religious rituals.
-The Qur'an is their religous text and one form of their art is reproducing it using elaborate manuscripts.
-There are a lot of intricately crafted carpets and textiles in Islamic Art, unlike art in many other cultures/religions.
-The artists of Islamic art are hard to trace.
-Other important artwork includes ceramics and architecture
3. The video discussed Islamic art and the type of architecture that they used for their Mosques. It helped reinforce when the book talked about how some cultures' artwork was not the same as the prominent artwork that is found in other cultures. European art focused more on paintings and sculptures and architecture where Islamic art focused more on what the Europeans thought of as "lesser" decorative arts.
4. See end of posting

Buddhism
1. I selected this video because I wanted to learn more about the different religions
2. Buddhism looks to destroy all desires and all things that feed the ego. These things are all obsticles that must be overcome to reach enlightenment.
-The elaborate Bodi Tree is used to symbolically represent Buddah in Buddhist art.
-Buddhism has evolved and actually shares a lot in common with Hinduism.
3. This video discussed Buddhism a little more in depth and gave me a greater knowledge of what their beliefs are. Seeing all the great monuments dedicated to Buddah was very interesting. They give off a different feeling than that of a huge ornate cathedral.

Hinduism
1. I selected this video because I wanted to learn more about the different religions
2. -Cremation is an importent aspect of Hinduism: it is believed that cremation provides the deceased with direct access to heaven
-Their gods and goddesses are very similar to the Saints that can be found in Catholocism: Each of them has a purpose and represents something that is important.
-Their palaces are extremely decorated (I felt, almost to the point of it being overdone).
3. I never really thought of Hinduism gods and goddesses as being similar to the Catholic Saints. The video pointed this out and I think it helps me understand/relate to the religion better. The book talks briefly about Hinduism and this video definitely gave me a stronger understanding of the religion because I could tie it into something that I know.


Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum
1. I selected this video because I wanted to see what the National Palace Museum was like because all museums are so different.
2. -The collection of pieces featured span over 5,000 years of history. The collection was very diverse and showed artwork from pottery, carvings, cabinets, ink drawings, and much more..
-Many of the works of art here you have to go and see at the museum
3. I found many of these works of art very intersting because of how different each of the works was from one another. The video had such an array of different items and forms of art that it kept my interest in each piece. The book can only have so many pictures, and seeing such a diverse collection helped me see that Chinese art is not so focused on a few forms of artistic craft (like I found European art to be), but many different forms of art.


4. I thought the films were all interesting. I think that they went more in depth than the book and helped me take a deeper look at each of these cultures/religions and better understand not only the concept of the religion (in the case of Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism), but I could better understand why they portrayed their artwork the way they did. I was also able to make a connection with Hinduism by relating it to Catholocism and it made me think how similar some aspects of religions can be to eachother.