Art Essay

Learning Project One

Assignment Two

Chapter One:

How did Christo and Jeanne-Claude conceive and install the Gates Project? What was the intended symbolism of the project and how was it perceived by the public?

The Gates Project was built on Central Park property in New York City. It was built with the intention of making the public more aware of the surroundings of the park. The pattern that they used was very eyecatching. It consisted of 7503 orange steel gates draped with orange colored material (Sayre 1). The gates appeared to flow through the park like an orange river.

It made the visitors really think of the space, history and beauty of the park. Most of those who visited the site thought it was wonderful. Unlike the Japanese who disagreed with the previous sentiment, they thought the project was almost a slap in the face due to the U.S. refusal to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. This was an agreement that dealt with global warming (Sayre 3). When the artwork was to be taken down, it was re-purposed into other things so that it would not leave any carbon footprint, this was the intended symbolism of the project.

Chapter Two:

Discuss the concept of iconography and its place in history and culture. Using the Arnolfini “wedding portrait” describe your initial reaction and then list and explain the literal iconography of each of the items that hold deeper meaning in the painting.

Iconography is something that is relative to a specific culture, in that, if you are not raised in that culture you probably would not understand the true meaning behind the picture. Even if someone where to explain the portrait to you that understood the true meaning, it may be lost in translation. It would almost be like a person who is Catholic taking part in the month of Ramadan. You may understand that you have to fast during daylight hours, but you might not understand why.

My initial reaction to Arnolfini “wedding portrait” was that the female in the green dress was pregnant and may be having labor pains and that the male figure was giving her re-assurance. But with further reading I found that the green dress is for fertility (she was not pregnant). The size of the woman’s stomach, at the time, was considered a thing of beauty. The male figure without shoes is in reference Moses and not wearing shoes at the holy ground (Sayre 35). The burning candle hanging above them is representative to Christ being present. The dog represents faithfulness (marital fidelity) (Sayre 35).

Chapter Three:

How does Chris Ofili’s work The Holy Virgin Mary bridge his African heritage and his Catholic upbringing. Leaving YOUR content reaction out of your answer discuss the media and