Q&A #2 American Visions

1. Why do you think the new American nation wanted to associate itself so much with classical Greece and Rome?
I think the main reason is that both Greece and Rome are known for having been strong civilizations. So strong, in fact, that they are the origin of the entire occidental world. Following the example of those ancient civilizations to implement ideals in your nation is a way of foreseeing and aiming towards grandeur. By putting into practice these traditions, America was intending to create a civilization as strong and influential as those of the ancient world.

2. How, according to Robert Hughes, is the plastic classicism of Las Vegas íronic in comparison to the early ideals of the United States?
The irony, according to Robert Hughes, lies in the fact that while the United States based its early national ideals on the roman ideals of democracy, civic responsibility, and public virtue, the American Roman Empire -which can be found in Las Vegas- has an entirely different purpose on mind: pleasure and excess.

3. Why did Washington become the U.S. capitol, as opposed to New York or Philidelphia?
Because the early fathers of the United States of America wanted a clean slate, an empty land, where they could design the capital of their nation and that would reflect its ideals. Unlike already existing cities like New York or Philadelphia, they wanted a place that could be seen as completely American, a place without any remnants of the colony and the British rule.

4. What city or type of city planning is Washington, D.C., based on, and why?
Washington D.C. was inspired by the French creation of Versailles, which was design for the royalty. The idea is to set the palace -or in this case the capitol- in the centre so that everything surrounds it and radiates from it. Besides, is there a better way to reject the English than by embracing the French?

5. Why was Montecello so important to Robert Hughes? What does it say about early American life and culture?
Montecello was created by Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America –and an architect as well. The fact that Jefferson built his house from scratch shows how he preferred doing everything himself. This wasn’t altogether uncommon amongst the early Americans, another example of this DIY custom was Benjamin Franklin who invented –and even discovered- many things. Robert Hughes considers Montecello to be very important because he believes Jefferson to be thefather of the American architecture and patron saint of all do-it-yourself-ers.

6. How is the University of Virginia a metaphor for early America and their desire for or sense of identity?

7. What was the first real American sculpture? What did it represent?
The first real American sculpture is the statue of George Washington, which is located at the heart of the state house. The importance of this sculpture is that it portrays the first president of the United States as a normal citizen, instead of portraying him as a superior. This shows one of the ideal of the Americans, which is democracy.

8. Why did American´s originally reject the building of the Washington Monument?
The ideas and designs for the Washington Monument were questioned and rejected several times because some groups of people thought that the simpler designs didn’t pay justice to this national figure, while other groups believed a more elaborate design would contradict Washington’s democratic ideals.

9. What happened in the 1960´s to reinvigorate the meaning of the Lincoln Memorial?
The Lincoln Memorial was brought back to attention when Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of the memorial and gave his speech “I Have a Dream” to thousands of African Americans and everyone watching on their TV’s.

10. How did television, according to Robert Hughes, destroy the necessity of monumental political sculpture?
According to Robert Hughes, TV has become the main organ of social memory and its speed and pseudo intimacy has killed the ideal of the heroic monument. Once people are able to see these important figures on TV, the magic of seeing them represented in sculpture is lost forever.

11. Why do you think the black granite wall of the Vietnam Memorial became so important as a sculpture, even though it is just a black granite wall?
The black granite wall of the Vietnam Memorial is carved with all the names of the soldiers who fought and died during this war. The names evoke the feeling of nation as an entity and the individualism of each American soldier who gave their lives for the rest of the nation. This monument brings Americans together in the common grounds of loss, gratitude, and remembrance.

12. Who was Benjamin West and what was his role in early America?
Benjamin West was an Anglo-American painter who was known for depicting history from a more actual perspective instead of a remote past. The Death of General Wolfe (1770) made Benjamin West famous; it even became George III’s favourite picture.

Q&A #1

1. As you know, we will be looking at the United States throughout the semester. What sort of background experience do you have with its history and its history of art?
As a former British colony, the United States of America inherits most of its artistic traditions, or at least its earliest forms of artistic expression -without taking into account Native American art- from the European tradition. The most representative subjects portrayed by these early American artists during the Colonial era are landscapes and portraits of affluent families. However, these artistic traditions suffered from drastic alterations over the centuries which give way to innovative techniques and movements like Abstract Expressionism with Jackson Pollock or Pop Art with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

2. Name any historical novels or authors from the United States that you have read in the past?
I don’t believe I have read any historical novels about the United States. As of American authors, I’ve read: Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Washington Irving, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, O. Henry, and some other –more recent- authors.

3. What is the difference between Ragtime music and Jazz?
To be completely honest, I don’t know.

4. List 5 influential American Poets:
Edgar Allan Poe, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and Gwendolyn Brooks.

5. List 5 influential American Painters:
Norman Rockwell, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, John Singleton Copley, and George Bellows.

6. How do you think the United States has influenced, or been influenced by, Mexican painting and music?
Mexican culture has been, for many years, exposed to American culture which has affected our society in many ways, especially by music and television. However, in more recent years, the United States of America has been receiving a similar kind of influence and has been affected by it as well. This is due to the strong Mexican migration to the US. Nowadays you can see Mexican artists on American television or listen to them in the radio.

7. What is modern dance?
I’m not sure.

8. What kind of ‘performing arts’ have you been exposed to here in Mexico?
Mostly theater.

9. List 5 influential and important American Historical figures:
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr.

10. How do you think the Indigenous Cultures of the United States differ from those in Mexico?
Native people in the United States were -for the most part- nomads, while in Mexico these groups stayed in one place for long periods of time which allowed them to create civilizations. Also, when the British first came to the United States they slaughtered a lot of Native Americans, and nowadays the few that remain live in closed communities. On the other hand, indigenous groups in Mexico remain more or less intact.

11. Why do you think skyscrapers became prominent in the United States?
I wouldn’t know.

12. What is digital Art? Give an example:
Digital Art is a form of visual art that uses technology for its creation. An example could be artists that use Photoshop to create “photography”.

13. How has photography thought of as an art form in the 19th century?

14. Which presidents of the United States do you remember for being important figures in American History?
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.

15. Why do you think monumental sculpture is important to a nation’s identity?
I think it is important because it portrays historical figures that represent and elicit a sense of nationalism, bringing together all the inhabitants of a country.

16. What would be an example of an important piece of American theatre?
“A Street Car Named Desire” (1947) by Tennessee Williams.

17. Why do you think the visual Art of the American West is so different from any Eastern United States Art or Painting?
I think the main reason is because the landscape is so different and societies have developed their own traditions, which are representative of this area. Also, the Unites States has territories that once belonged to other countries, which has also affected the development of these areas. While the east is known to have inherited more European traditions, the west is known for its cowboys, Native Americans and the gold fever in 1849.