Welcome to Language & Culture II 2013!!!

Hello, Dear Students. This is the blog of our subject. This means will be used for complementing, sharing work and it`s our path to the subject's virtual platform called ecaths. 

My piece of advice is to check this blog and the platform on (at least) a weekly basis, as you will be assessed for participating.

Here goes link to  2013 syllabus:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B89-Hv57WDTqXzdGOHpNTmItMDQ/edit?usp=sharing

And this is an essay on High and Low cultures for the first classes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qovvskzWMA4R4ff-9cSejd72gDMvVjs6O5ckBzKihic/edit?usp=sharing

Surrealism

Click here to get the PPP on Surrealism by Jungblut and Cardozo. You will find more information in the e-caths blog.

Art Nouveau

ART NOVEAU

It is an international style of art, architecture and graphic design which was most popular within the period from 1890 and 1910. the name of “art noveau” is  French for new art, but it is also known as “jugendstil” in Germany,  which is the german for “youth style”,  “secession” in austria-hungary, “floreale” in Italy and “liberty” in England.

The name of this movement was taken from an art gallery called “maison de l’art nouveau” in Paris.Samuel Bing was his owner. He was a German art dealer. This gallery was famous for featuring exclusively this kind of art, including furniture and decorative objects.

Art Nouveau was most popular in europe but its influence was global, frequently  influenced by localised tendencies.

One of the major visual influences on Art Nouveau was the Japanese art that entered the west after Japan was opened to trade in the 1850's. many westerners were intrigued by japanese art's decorative qualities and conception of space and nature.

The creators of Art Nouveau advocated the end of the distinction between high art such as painting and minor art such as decoration.

Reactions to the cold, mechanical landscape of the industrial revolution and the rigid classical styles embraced by art academies gave birth to the art nouveau movement.

It came to break all connections with classical times, it was  a complete change in the way of thinking about art in terms of a new society and new production methods, sicking to apply art to everyday lifeto make it nicer.  From that time on, art should not overlook everyday objects, an artists should work on everything from architecture to furniture design, also jewelry, pottery, metalwok, graphic design, glassware, textiles and sculpture, to add harmony and beauty to everyday life.

Gustav Klimt "The Kiss"

 AS REGARDS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS STYLE:

Ø      it combines organic lines, feminine forms and a general return to nature as the inspiration for art.

Ø      typical colourfull flat patterns, -eliminates three-dimension by reducing shading-

Ø      intertwined organic forms of stems and flowers.

Ø      emphasized handcrafting instead of industrial manufacturing  -the idea of merging art with utilitarian objects was partially inspired by a reaction to the ugly manufactured goods that were beginning to dominate daily  life-

Ø      curving lines

Ø      modern techniques with new materials such as iron and steel, -symbolic materials of first industrial revolution- glass, ceramic and concrete.

Ø      principal subjects are birds, flowers and female shapes-

Ø      artifacts are beautiful works of art but not necessarily functional

Women

·        women were often depicted in a highly sexual manner, in confident postures which conveyed a strong sense of power and independence. Art Nouveau artists were also some of the first to use sexy women in advertisements for products such as train tickets, cigarettes and bicycles. Although sexually provocative advertisements are commonplace today, they were new and fresh in the 19th century.

Architecture

• Art Nouveau Architects such as Antoni Gaudi, created buildings with ornamental structural elements, sinuous flowing lines, open floor-plans and ornamental facades. They frequently used iron, steel, glass, ceramic and reinforced concrete. They also made use of technological innovations such as elevators and electric lights.

Sinuous Lines

·         Art Nouveau took its sinuous lines and curves from the natural world. For many artists, the use of lines went beyond ornamentation and decoration. They saw these lines as visual symbols of spiritual energy. This put them in opposition to a contemporary Aesthetic movement, and academic rigid classical art which advocated "art for art's sake." The patterns of Art Nouveau lines took many forms, ranging from the symbolic to the floral and the organic.

MAIN REPRESENTATIVES:

IN BRITAIN

-         Arthur lasenby liberty

-         Charles ashbee

-         Charles rennie mackintosh

IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM

-         Alphonse Mucha

-         Victor Horta

-         Henry Van De Velde

-         Hector Guimard

-         Émile Galle

IN SPAIN

-         Antoni Gaudi

IN AUSTRIA

-         Gustav Klimt

-         Joseph Hoffman

IN GERMANY

-         August Endell

-         Hernann Obrist

Galería Güemes, Buenos Aires

In Argentina, there was a strong predominance of agricultural exportation, being the importation of manufactured products mainly from europe.

Another factor which contributed was Buenos Aires strong dependence on french cultural tendencies.

And then, of course, the strong immigration produced during this period –final XIX century to early XX- the immigrant s hadicraft would leave their mark on architecture, furniture design, decoration and graphic design.

Galería Güemes, Inside 

We can see architecture of Art Nouveau for example in “ Galería Güemes” and in “Confiteria El Molino”  in Buenos Aires.

Then in Rosario, “El Palacio Cabanellas”, “El Club Español”  y el “Edificio Trasatlantica”  works  of  spanish artist Frances Roca I Simo

Nowadays it is considered as an important transition from 19th to 20th century before “Modernism” and recognised by UNESCO for its significant contributions to cultural heritage.

Such as Ccasa Batllo” and “Casa Vicens” of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona among many others.

Work done by Chazarreta and Krause

The British by Benjamin Zephaniah

Poet Benjamin Zephaniah joins sixth form students from Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire to recite his poem The British in a restaurant in Spalding

http://ww.bbc.co.uk

The British

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.

Leave the ingredients to simmer.

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.

Allow time to be cool.

Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all. 

Benjamin Zephaniah

http://www.poemhunter.com

Check ecaths blog for the instructions on the assignment you have to do.

Welcome Emma!!!

Emma Greaves is a young  University student from England. She`s    Language Assistant with the British Council  and will be working in La Plata for four months. She has visited our class  and has  introduced us to her country and the cultural diversity that means being British in the 21st century.  This is the second time a Language Assistant works in our Institute and it`s a pleasure to share knowledge, culture and friendship with them. (Alice Roughton visited us two years ago).
It is also good to remember, as Emma pointed us, that the British Council  programme for "Asistentes de Idioma" is also available for Argentinian students to work in the UK. If you want more information, click here.


Emma will be working with us for the rest of her stay and we hope that many classes benefit from her warmth, knowledge and understanding. Besides , her accent is extremely clear for all!!! Thanks, Emma!!! 


Log into our ecaths blog and find more about her class.

In our E-caths blog, you´ll find the texts on Interculturalism in the classroom and Some concepts...

Pop and Mass Culture

These are the links to the PPP about Popular and Mass Culture we dealt with in class.


https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/129Ja-UXcF5sEql5bFYZHEw9YIiocVqdOcFxK77fIPbU/edit



https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BnO_5sLQ50MXtNWTV5ZoTh92pStUzME-8_EqfJyD3hE/edit

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12FMtvTj8LpVKxDLibrrB6vh4Nw2CpjYR6BT7uVCW5dA/edit

Feliz comienzo!!!

Para festejar el comienzo de clases, algo de Arte y Cultura...
Una maravilla (el cuadro de Van Gogh y la animación)
A disfrutar...


Starry Night (interactive animation) from Petros Vrellis on Vimeo.

High and Low

Watch this video on differences between High and Low Culture and in view of what you have read, make a comment.

Happy Christmas!!!

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1971 by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono Band. Although ostensibly a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.







Remeber the message...War is over if you want it!!

World War I & The War Poets

The Web provides us with good resources to study about WWI.

PPPs about the WWI: Reality of war,WWI,WWI(2),WWI(3).

Photo Archives: WWI Image Archives; Trenches on the Web

WWI timeline

About the War Poets:

PPP , click here to download: Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke

Manuscript of "Dulce et Decorum est"

About Owen´s poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" and here. Audio of the poem, here.

Jessie Pope´s "The Call"

A slideshow with audio of the poem

Another Presentation by Alice

Alice made a great presentation on Multicultural and Contemporary and Post colonial Literature for Lengua y Cultura I but it is a subject we´ll be dealing next term so here is the link to her PPP.

Andy Warhol, Mr America

More about Andy Warhol. You can see part of his work in MALBA, Buenos Aires. For more info, click here.

To enlarge and read, click images:









Taken from the information leaflet given in the exhibition. To know more about Mr Warhol,

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

The Thatcher Government

Realated to the 80s and 90s, and the novel Nice Work by D.Lodge, we have talked about Margaret Thatcher´s government in the UK.
Here is the Iron Lady herself...

Talking about the controversial sinking of the Belgrano in the Malvinas War

The Lady on socialism...

From her speech you can see many characteristics of her government

Assignment for Language and Culture II

Cultural references of the XXth century.

a. Find in different EFL textbooks currently being used in our schools (either in EP or ES) examples of cultural references corresponding to topics developed in our syllabus. They could be:

1. Icons or cultural images.
2. Characters or important personalities.
3. Topics or relevant events.


b. In each case mention the textbook and publishing year, teaching point, age group, what icon, character or event is the example referring to(with a short explanation of it; not longer than 400 words. Please avoid the internet copy and paste!!!).

c. Reflect upon the references, taking into account the relevance of the examples for the students , its effectiveness as regards the points taught and suggest changes if you consider so.

d. You are expected to include the photocopy of the lesson where the cultural reference is found, the sources and the bibliography used in each case.

e. The whole work (not including the photocopies of the text analysed) should not be longer than 4 pages. Prioritize your own reflection on c.

f. Date to hand in: second week in August (hand in during examination boards)

g. Please if you have doubts, post them here in the "comentarios" section so everybody can profit from our reflections.

Painting in the XXth century: Individual Manifestations

Minimalism

• Developments in Post-War II.
• Work stripped down to its most fundamental features.
• Origin: New York 1960.
• Reaction against Abstract Expressionism: Art was not self expression

Features

• Geometric and cubic forms purged of all metaphor.
• Equality of parts.
• Repetition.
• Neutral surfaces.
• Industrial materials
  

Painters

• Piet Mondrian (geometric abstraction painter)
• Frank Stella (American – 1936)
  Stripe paintings.
  Picture as object rather than as a representation of something.
  Wide range of colours.
  Variety of materials:metal, wood, aluminum)
  
  
  

Mondrian

Frank Stella

Sculptor
Tony Smith. (1912 – 1980)

• American sculptor, visual artist, and a noticed theorist on art.
• Simple geometrical modules combined on a three-dimensional grid.

Tony Smith

NEO-EXPRESSIONISM

• Emerged in the late 1970s in Europe as a reaction against the conceptual and minimalist art of the 1970s.
• Portrayed of recognizable objects such as the human body in a rough and violently emotional way.
• Use of vivid colours and banal colours harmonies.

ARTISTS

• Robert Combas (1957. France)

• Remi Blanchard

• Herve Di Rosa (France)

• Kenny Scharf (1958. America)

• Enzo Cucchi (1949. Italy) Key member of the Italian Transvaguardia movement
  

Robert Combas-Peal Harbour-1988

• Kelly D Williams (American artist, designer, and writer/poet)
• Miquel Barcelo (1957. Spain.) Violent brushtrokes and stern image.
• David Salle(1952. America.)Yuxtaposed images or images painted on top of each other.
  Subject matter: the popular, the gratuitous, and the pornographic, combined in ways that appeared deliberately incomprenhensible. Sources of images: magazines, stock photographs and pornography.
  
  

Williams

Barcelo

Salle

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

• American artist. 1960-1988.
• Graffiti artist and Neo–expressionist artist.
• Three broad styles:
• Earliest period(1980-1982) Basquiat used painterly gestures on canvas, often depicting skeletal figures and mask-like faces. Other imaginery: automobiles, buildings, police, children’s sidewalk games and graffiti.
• Middle period(1982-1985) featured multipanel paintings and individual canvases with exposed stretcher bars, the surfaces denses with writing, collage and seemingly unrelated imagery.
• Final period (1986 to his death). New type of figurative depiction, in a new style with different symbols and content from new sources.


• QUOTES:


• “Every single line means something.”


• “Believe it or not, I can actually draw.”


• “I wanted to be a star, not a gallery mascot.”


• “I don´t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.”
  
  
  
  

Work done by Diana Martínez, for the subject Language and Culture 2