Video Blog: Ancient Asian Art

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.
I chose the video "The Great Wave" because I am interested in Japanese culture and art. I did not realize that the video centered around this one artist, Hakusai, but I enoyed learning about him. I chose to watch the video on Buddhism because I find its beliefs and teachings to be inspiring and I wanted to know more about it.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
In "The Great Wave", the key concepts I learned about included the life of Hakusai and his artwork as a painter and print maker.  I learned about the meaning of this famous painting of the "Great Wave", and how Hakusai was influenced by European art. It has different interpretations for Westerners than it does for Japanese. Japanese see it as a testament of courage and cooperation. The importance of Mt. Fuji was explained. I also learned about the influence of Japanese art on Western art during the turn of the century, how it went out of style in WWI and how it impacted Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol and David Hockney.
The video on Buddhism, explains the life of Siddhartha Gautama, how he found enlightenment from meditating under a Bodhi tree. "Tanha" is the way to extinguish all worldly desires and is the halfway point of between the earth and the point of Nirvana. The golden age of Buddhism began monasteries during Siddhartha's life . Buddhism broke into two main groups after his death. In Sanchi, the great Supta was built and this began a pilgrimage point for Buddhists. Buddhism has continued to grow all over the world, in Java, Borobudor stands as the largest Buddhist shrine and we find Buddhist temples in New York City

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
The video on Hakusai relates to the section of chapter 19 that explains the art of Japan. We can see the Shinto influence in Hakusai's work that depicts nature which Japanese had great reverence for. The video on Buddhism is also related to the text in chapter 19, both the book and video explain the creation of Buddhism and the Great Supta of Sanchi that only represents  the Buddha through symbolism.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?
I thought that the video on "The Great Wave" was very thorough and informative. It gave a very in depth look into not only the paintings meaning, but its cultural and scientific aspects. I liked the imagery of  the video on Buddhism and it really gave me a better understanding of the history and progression of the Buddhist religion.