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• In what ways, in your opinion, poetry and image-making practices overlap, coincide? Thinking of the respective functions of poetics and visual representation in society, let's discuss what kinds of cultural resources could nourish them both... In Sarah Morris's article how do poetic ways of thinking about pictorial imagery contributes to our understanding of the frescoes?

• What are Sarah Morris's criticisms of the "ritual" interpretation of Thera frescoes and the spaces in which they are painted? Thinking of the function, or rather the power of Shamanistic rock paintings from the beginning of the semester, what possible function can we assign to the frescoes in their semi-domestic context?

• What does Sarah Morris mean when she suggests that the ships and cities frieze of Akrotiri West House Rm 5 "is narrative in the most literal meaning, "erzahlend" or storytelling" (515)? Let's unpack.

• Maybe like this: Visual poetry or this: Invisible cities.

It can be challenging to try to identify one sole, all-important reason or justification for the creation of the Thera frescoes, as their functional purpose is harder to define than the power displays in Mesopotamian art and the funerary practices of Egyptian statuary and reliefs. Of course, danger lies in broadly generalizing any art as only fitting one purpose as assigned by contemporary viewers. While it’s understandable to figure that peculiar scenes might represent something ritualistic (and thus something that might not yet be known to contemporary archaeologists), assuming that all of this artwork must be cult-based ignores other cultural contextual clues. Morris notes on page 513 that the use of nature and landscape in paintings was prevalent for dwellings we know not to be shrines or temples, but instead private homes. She refers to the paintings from the West House specifically as a “decorative complex” that looks to be aesthetically pleasing, not ritualistic or religious.

Yet it could be successfully argued that calling the paintings something like “art for the sake of art” undermines how they tie in to storytelling and that narrative’s impact. Morris likens the nature paintings to the scenes in which heroic figures wage their conquests and missions. The scenery is part of the narrative story and every bit as important as the hero, whether this manifests itself in paintings or epic poetry. This is obvious in the wall frieze of Akrotiri with the ships, since it is literally depicting some story for the sake of aesthetic pleasure; however, the frieze not only narrates an event (which may or may not have historical basis) but also helps represent cultural ideals in a way that is always visually appealing. It needs to be reiterated that this does not make the wall paintings and frescoes frivolous or devoid of meaning in any way; as a matter of fact, they are infused with the energy of alluring heroic depictions that perhaps reach the viewer on an emotional level.

The specific use of symbolism and scenery helps to make this emotional impact. Representations of majestic and rugged landscapes and mythical plants and animals bring the fantastical and extraordinary to the forefront. The depiction of wildlife, realistic and mythical, demands the attention of the viewer because of how strikingly it juxtaposes the world of reality and fantasy. This works wonderfully for displaying the epic actions of sailors and adventurers because it highlights the magnificence of the men who are able to travel to the ends of the earth (or maybe somewhere a bit closer) while still connecting their humanity to that of the person who looks upon the frescoes with his or her own eyes.

Caitlin

Posted at Oct 07/2008 11:05PM:
jed: I thought that the frescoes were very unique from the other narratives we discussed. The interpretations of them were far more extraneous. I began to realize that no matter the tone in which the texts we read were presented, that there wasn’t the same evidence found in previous readings to support the conclusions drawn. We, in many more ways than the previously examined monuments, cannot deduce a specific meaning. The lack of texts in these frescoes increases the inertia to our arguments as well.

What we were able to deduce was that the frescoes were indicative of the status of the place in which they resided. It was no small task to create one, and therefore resembled a quality of elitism. We learn, by studying their culture and digging further into the meanings of these frescoes that, like the Egyptians and Mesopotamians before them, the Minoan upper class was inextricably linked to the life of deities.

It was reasoned in the Anne P. Chapin article that the landscape settings in Minoan fresco art implies certain non-secular qualities, namely in the variation of seasonal flowers depicted in simultaneous bloom. From this peculiar quality it can be ascertained that indeed, the landscapes depicted were symbolic of the god figures of the day. This therefore relates the elite tier of people from Minoan civilization, like Egyptians and Mesopotamians, to the godheads of the day. However, unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, this elite class is not necessarily royalty, but is certainly the upper crust of civilization.

The part that I liked the most of our last week’s discussion was about Sarah Morris’ claim. It made me realize the uneasiness in me. When we look at artifacts we try to connect them to something that would make sense. We usually relate things that we don’t understand to religion. The easy way out. This sometimes reminds me of our discussions of literature in the sense that how detailed and in depth we go into symbols that we may sometimes go beyond what the author had actually intended to convey. Why can’t a woman wear a red dress because she wanted to, without being subject to the symbolism behind the color of red? I really liked Sarah Morris’ claim because I believe there was, should have been, evolution in what we do, how we do, besides our physical and emotional evolution. So, if today we do art for the art’s sake, then it should have some roots from the past. We sometimes hang landscape pictures, portraits on our walls and sometimes we even have some sculptures in our rooms. Why do we have them? Is it because of our religion? Not usually. We say that they are there because we like them, and because we like to decorate our rooms. We know the word decoration comes from the word decorum, which meant appropriateness in ancient Rome. In other words, we actually find our decorations appropriate. So why shouldn’t they? Why do we separate ourselves form them with such a distinct line? I definitely think that when we are looking back in history, trying to understand the artifacts that we have found, we should empathize with those people. The burned house that we talked about with some of the tablets near the entrance, scattered, and other tablets at the back of the room, suggest that people valued the things that we consider as artifacts differently since those were not just artifacts for them, those were part of their lives. In other words, if we empathize with those people, we will get a better sense of their lives, their cultures, and the artifacts we find. We should consider at all times that those people lived just like we are living right now. The artifacts that we find at archeological sites, if they were not too huge to carry, are probably the things that those people didn’t value much. They haven’t taken those things with them while leaving. And they felt comfortable building a new building on top without doing excavations, while being aware of the things that were embedded. In other words, we should not attempt to understand with prejudice but with empathy.

Besides this, talking about the shipwreck that is now exhibited in Bodrum Castle made me very excited. I had forgotten what were the findings from it. It reminded me of the combination of archeology and diving, which is great! And I will definitely try to identify the Thera painting in the Asterix-Atlantis Episode. (It was very surprising to find out that Asterix wasn’t a famous cartoon in US.) And and and I loved that painting from Netherlands.

Can

Posted at Oct 10/2008 07:24PM:
katie: Minoan fresco art shows a clear departure from Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, depicting daily activities and realities rather than symbolic representations. The forms in the frescoes are also more natural, flowing, and realistic. I found it interesting how this change in subject matter also corresponded with the ability of the public to view the art. Minoan frescoes were part of the architecture of palaces and open ceremonial spaces, both of which were more public than most Egyptian art, for example tomb paintings. I found that the most striking and interesting difference though was the removal of text from art as it became focused on daily activities rather than explicit political messages with explanatory text. Thus, the Minoan frescoes represent a shift in both subject matter and style of the decoration of a building.

In class we discussed “decorum,” and how it relates to the word “decoration” which is usually misinterpreted as nonfunctional art. Really, decoration, in ancient terms, relates to the appropriate filling of a space. Thus, the decoration of Minoan temples and ceremonial spaces with daily scenes is not trivial just because it has no apparent symbolic or ritual meaning. In fact, these decorations appropriately fill public spaces with scenes of people interacting in normal activities, which suit the people who fill the space and view the art.

Posted at Oct 14/2008 09:11PM:
gianna: In Minoan art there were many instances in which the images were tied with poetry. In their society, poetry and images had similar functions. Their images were not made to have a functional use or to depict an in-depth narrative as was the art in ancient Egyptian times. They indeed told stories but in a poetic way, depicting similar scenes to those in Greek poetry like the Odyssey and the Illiad.

Sarah Morris points out that in the West House, a house in which nautical Minoan frescoes have been found and researched, it was first assumed that the isolation of the maritime theme on these walls made it the home of a sea-captain and that the depictions were scenes of personal experience of an adventure in Libya. But while this room (Room 4) does have a nautical theme, it presents a general maritime decor rather than presenting a specific narrative. She also discusses the depiction of a woman on the doorway which leads to room 5. She holds a "brazier" and she sprinkles some substance which then seems to release a fragrance which can be read as a scene in which the women is preparing for a ceremony leading from Room 4 to Room 5. However, a more practical explanation is that she is releasing fragrance near the lavatory. With these aforementioned examples, Morris makes it clear that in her opinion the Minoan art frescoes are not to be "read" into but to be seen for what they are, as works of art relating to poetic symbolism and beauty.

I have come to appreciate the Minoan frescoes after reading Morris's article. Because they relate to such beautiful poetry such as Homer's Odyssey, one can infer that the Minoan culture was appreciative of the literature and fictional culture around them and really appreciated beauty.

Posted at Oct 15/2008 02:16PM:
julia: The Minoan art was very different from the art in which we previously studied. In Morris's article the frescoes are placed in the a private home instead of a public place. Many of the past art we studied was public art and was meant to send a message to the citizens of that state or their enemies.

The connection of the Minoan art to epic greek poetry was very intriguing. The narratives found in the frescoes at Akrotiri parallel the Grecian epic poetry, which actually came after the creation of these frescoes. Due to the ambiguity of the cities depicted in the frescoes, many have compared it to cities of Grecian poetry. Some parallels that can be made between the frescoes of Thera and the Grecian poetry is the fact that they both focus more on sea-fare than warfare, and that the frescoes focus more on heroic ideas and the narrative than on the details and technique of the painting. While there are no written documents of epic poetry at the time the frescoes were made, the frescoes are believed to have accompanied epic stories and provide supplemental narrative to the poetry. Though there have been no written documents proving this, the frescoes at Thera have opened up the idea that they are the precursor of the Greek poetry.