Native Americans - Hagia Sophia

It really is astonishing to see the stark differences in societies and cultures when looking at Native Americans to the Romans. When Columbus landed in North America in 1492, he described the natives and being extremely primitive when compared to his European culture. Their main weapons were bow and arrows, while Columbus and his colleagues had swords and armor plating made of metal. It was interesting to hear in his diary that the natives were submissive and would do almost anything he asked. He went on to write that that they would make great servants/slaves. It has been typical throughout human history that with the presence of a more advanced civilization, the less advanced civilization usually doesn't fare well.

Going back in time to the Romans around 27 BC - 476 AD, they were so incredibly advanced for their time. They built massive structures like the Colisseum and Hagie Sophia which still stand to this day. Many researchers still don't understand the methods by which they built some of these magnificent structures. I can only imagine what they would've created if their civilization still existed today.

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Performance Art Definition

Performance Art to me is something done to bring awareness to some aspect of sociality and culture. Often, performance art is driven by deep personal experiences by an individual, often negative experiences that create trauma for that individual or group. Performance art is often done in ways that are attention grabbing, obscure, and odd. Doing things in this way grab people’s attention and shines light on a subject that might not otherwise see the light of day. That being said, one has to make themselves uncomfortable and vulnerable in order to get their message across. It can be extremely difficult for people who are already vulnerable to expose themselves in this way but at a certain point, it has to be done. If the message has little relevance to themselves then the performance art piece will suffer as a result. Why try to send a vulnerable message that has little relevance to you when you could do something more personal. Everyone has their insecurities. Dig deep to find you...

Howard Goodall on Opera

As someone who is not very familiar with opera at all, it was very eye-opening to be exposed to some of the history of opera and what makes it so special. I would say the only real exposure I’ve had to opera was Antonin Pavarotti’s performance of “Nessun Dorma”. My parents often played it for me when I was a kid and I always loved singing along. Learning about Claudio Monteverdi, the father of opera, was interesting because until watching Howard Goodall, I had no idea he existed. He was known for his very popular secular and sacred works that were very emotional in nature. Like a lot of art, hearing that opera is very much tied into social events and politics doesn’t surprise me. It was interesting to see a play like Le Mariage de Figaro grow to such popularity but get banned by several governments. It took people like Mozart to disguise certain political messages in order for them to actually be heard instead of banned by aristocrats and monarchs.

Music Works and Comments

The first movement I'd like to talk about is Psychedelic Rock. I'm personally not a huge rock fan because it hurts my ears. That being said, my favorite artist from this genre (and favorite artist in all of music) is a different breed and that is the one and only, Tame Impala. Tame Impala's songs are created almost entirely by Kevin Parker. Parker writes, produces, and performs all of his music. Even though he is a modern artist, he still uses old technology to record his music. It gives his music a more organic feeling than what new digital equipment gives. My favorite album of his is "Currents" which is perfection from start to end. Next up is "InnerSpeaker" which is older and more psychedelic. The second musical movement that is one of my favorites is Motown. Featuring artists like Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, it’s hard to resist the auditory bliss that comes from listening to this genre. Some of my favorite songs are “Cruisin’” by Smokey and the ...

Beau Babics - Art & Technology FMX 211

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