Days of Bonding at the Boston MFA.

CHINA: Han Dynasty, Tomb Gate, 1st c. CE

I spent two days taking my students through the Boston MFA earlier this month. We started with Ancient China and then worked our way through Egypt, the Ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, and the Islamic world. We spent about an hour in the Ancient Chinese galleries talking about funerary art ranging from the Bronze Age through the apex of Confucianism and the entry of Buddhism from India.  


Some of the students seemed a little distracted (and maybe I was too), because The Clock was playing in a theater right next to where we were gathered. Waiting politely until our discussion was complete, someone yelped out, "can we please see what this clock thing is?" and since I am borderline obsessed with it myself, we went in. They couldn't tell that I was nearly bursting with happiness at the chance to share it with them.

And of course, this is what comes up during our five minutes in there. Billy Bob Thornton colorfully lamenting the official onslaught of Christmas in Bad Santa. 

Bad Santa

Really, can you blame him? Ok, I should say, I love both this guy and this movie. Watching Bad Santa used to be one of our annual Christmas traditions.
Ah, well. It made for a nice contrast to the silent and ancient art that we spent the day looking at.

This trip marked a shift in the classroom community (for one thing, getting them out of the dark classroom worked wonders). As we looked at so many of the objects and cultures we'd been getting to know back at Colby-Sawyer, I could see my students getting excited. They knew something about these things and it was so much fun having spontaneous conversations about the things we recognized. I loved those two days (I was a little worried that the second day wouldn't compare to the first, but it totally did) and I'm glad that I didn't give up when it seemed like I wasn't going to be able to make the trip happen. Seeing these things together enhanced our connection, the class as a whole and me, their animator of information. What a gratifying experience to hear the student's exclamations when they spotted something, sometimes they would see something before me and would run around asking where I was so that they could proudly point it out.

Some highlights:

CHINA: Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion, Sui Dynasty,  580 CE

ANCIENT EGYPT: Menkaure, 2490 BCE

ANCIENT EGYPT: Akhenaten, 1349 BCE

EGYPT: Fayum (Greco-Roman period), Egpyt, 1st c. CE
Encaustic wax portrait on sarcophagus

ANCIENT NEAR EAST: Assyrian Winged Deity featuring Cuneiform: the oldest text!

ETRUSCAN: Sarcophagi, c. 350 BCE

I can't wait to do it again next semester!

Ancient Chinese Vessels (Boston MFA Visit Tomorrow)!

After struggling through red tape for a full week (please, please let my students leave the state with me and see amazing works of art), finally, the trips have been secured! Major coup. For the next two days I will be showing my students the MFA's collection of art from Ancient China as part of our discussion on early religious practices, and later Daoism and Confucianism during the Han Dynasty. 

Two of my favorite things are these Bronze Age ritual vessels used to hold wine. The vessels were filled and placed in tombs as offerings for the deceased ancestors. Reverence for the dead was and still is very important (make them happy and you will find good fortune or at least escape the wrath of unhappy spirits).

The first vessel was made during the Shang Dynasty in the 11th century BCE. The second is from the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty replaced the earlier Shang Dynasty by force, but absorbed many of their artistic conventions. Both feature taotie, the supernatural zoomorphic decorative reliefs of man-eating monsters with a head but no body. These were depicted on ritual bronzes to guard tombs from evil spirits. 

It was during the (Eastern) Zhou Dynasty that many great philosophers arose, such as 6th century BCE contemporaries Laozi and Confucius. Their philosophies would not be practiced or expressed in art until much later.

Christian Marclay's The Clock

Coming soon!

Christian Marclay, The Clock (still), 2010, purchased with funds provided by Steve Tisch through the 2011 Collectors Committee

The Boston MFA has plenty of information regarding this upcoming show. I am excited to learn that it will be running from September 16th though October 8th (during regular hours and three 24 hour showings). I plan to attend the first marathon event. I hope I can stay awake!

MFA Boston Acquires The Clock by Christian Marclay

There were long lines when artist Christian Marclay’s latest creation, a 24-hour film, “The Clock,’’ showed in New York and London (which is why I missed out on the experience). But today, the Museum of Fine Arts will announce plans to bring this masterpiece to Boston. Check out the article from the Boston Globe here.

 

Kismet! Now all I have to do is make sure I'm in the Boston area on September 17th and 18th. 

Boston and all East Coast people: this is an absolute must see!!
See post below or follow link to see a short clip.