800-word avt101 research thing

My research generally revolved around topics I find interesting and inspiring.

Beginning with Andreas Gursky and his enormous, almost oppressive photographs I
moved towards other artistic movements specifically mural art and Chicano
movement. At this point I began investigating ancient civilizations, something I am
fascinated with. Tying in the Olmec civilization with the Chicano movement opened
a new road for vertical research involving the Mayans and ancient Egyptians.
I thought it was particularly interesting how my original research intentions
shifted during the course of the semester. At first I had wanted to tie in graffiti art
with the mural topic. The fact that I have been working on a research paper in
another class about graffiti made logical sense to fulfill another class’ requirement. I
discovered that despite my interest in graffiti, it wasn’t something I continuously
researched in my spare time. Perhaps contrary to many of my peers, my free time is
spent reading about ancient spirituality, art blog hopping, and watching
documentaries. With this research project I attempted to continue my spare time
research with the addition of a sketchbook and pen to think on paper. My decision
to connect the Olmec civilization with Chicanos instead of graffiti art can be
identified as the turning point in which my research shifted from a typical focus to
one of genuine personal curiosity.
Knowing very little about the Olmec I researched their artistic creations with
emphasis on the famous Olmec Heads. These colossal sculptures are sometimes nine
feet tall and depict what are believed to be Olmec rulers. The facial features of these
heads are very iconic and continuously associated with Olmec art, such as smaller
sculptures and carvings. What I found was interesting was the argument that the
Olmec originated in Africa using the aesthetic qualities of Olmec Heads as evidence.
Many proponents argue that facial features mimicked similar styles in African art
and sculpture in West Africa yet this idea isn’t widespread. Another interesting
similarity I thought of was the presence of pyramids in both Africa (Egypt) and
South- Central Mexico (Olmec). Granted Egypt isn’t West Afrika yet it is safe to say
the knowledge of pyramids was not isolated to Egypt and many neighboring
cultures were exposed to these iconic monuments. Olmec pyramids were step
pyramids such as the one in La Venta Mexico. The connection to Egypt exists within
similar step pyramids such as the pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara plateau. While I
haven’t discovered scientific evidence supporting this claim, I find it an interesting
connection. Apart from similarities to African cultures I include information on the
Maya to compare and contrast with the Olmec. Considering the Maya were a much
closer civilization in terms of geography to the Olmec, the cultural similarities are
easier to accept compared to the African-Olmec lineage.
Mayan and Olmec culture exhibits similar aesthetic in terms of spirituality
and art. The jaguar, fish, were-creatures, earth, and weather are common motifs
used in sculpture, ritualistic costumes, myth, and possibly day-to-day life. These
similarities allow some to argue the Mayan civilization was actually just a
unification of smaller civilizations present in the geographical region. The Olmec are
thereby believed to simply be a part of the Mayan conglomerate. Some evidence to
this claim includes the lack of knowledge regarding the Olmec’s decline as a
civilization. Again, the lack of concrete evidence supported by scholars leaves this
belief incredible yet it is interesting nonetheless.
Another connection I made between the various ancient civilizations I
researched was the use of hieroglyphs for communication. The Ancient Egyptians
Mayans and Olmecs all displayed glyphs in one form or another. Egyptian
hieroglyphics are a well-known aspect of the civilization, ubiquitously seen on
monuments, pyramids and burial chambers. In ancient Maya, the Dresden codex
depicts astronomical tables with very accurate detail. The codex, written in glyphs,
is believed to be the earliest book written in the Americas. Finally, the Cascajal block
is an Olmec tablet which scholars have not been able to decipher. Pictorial glyphs
cover the large slab resembling crops such as corn and other vegetables. The
purpose of the block is unknown yet it provides an example of Olmec glyphs that is
comparable to Egyptian and Mayan counterparts in terms of aesthetic.
My favorite thing about this research assignment was how I tied my research
all together. Despite the focus on topics aside from art, there is still a presence of art
and visual aesthetic in my research. Each point or note I wrote down connects to
another issue or topic in some way. On the blog, I wrote keywords that I attributed
to individual posts. Olmec and Ancient were the two keywords that contain the most
hits for research pages. This labeling technique allows the viewer to click a word,
and see the research that includes the topic. While this method of documenting
research is much more laborious, it does provide a strong way to learn information
and continuously become exposed to new topics via the lateral research.