1. Nature, Knowledge, and Technology;
Entertainment and Visual Culture
Session 12
Exploring Art: A Global Thematic Approach
Chapters 14 and 15

2. Colosseum
Theater at Epidaurus
“Houses” for the Arts

3. “Houses” for the Arts
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Opera House

4. Claude Monet
 Brushstrokes became more
important than imagery.
 The Impressionists’
emphasis on observation
paralleled the ideas of
scientists and philosophers
of the day, who argued
that reality was only what
could be sensed,
measured and analyzed.

5. Nature and Photography
 Famous black
and white
photographer,
Ansel Adams
 (Nature
untouched by
humans)
 Terje Sorgje, a
famous (present
day) time lapse
photographer
 http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=Rk6_hdRtJOE

6. José Clemente Orozco

7. José Clemente Orozco. Gods of the
Modern World, 1932-1934. Fresco.
One panel in a cycle of murals entitled An Epic of American
Civilization. Baker Memorial Library, Dartmouth College, New
Hampshire, USA.

9. The Critique of Learning
The artist Orozco presents
the argument against the
pursuit of sterile
knowledge.
sterile: adj. unable to
produce children/totally
clean/free from bacteria
or any other living
microorganism.

10. The Critique of Learning
This painting is a warning
against the academic
(teacher/student of higher
education) who is completely
occupied with sterile research
or learning that has no value
outside of academia.
academia: n. the environment
or community concerned with
the pursuit of research,
education, and scholarship.

11. The Critique of Learning
Orozco believed that
sterile education passes
for knowledge, but it
actually keeps the
young busy without
giving them any real
wisdom or
understanding.

12. The Critique of Learning
The rhythm of the lines is
strong, from the
verticals of the
academic robes, to the
black and white of the
skeleton’s ribs, to the
book spines below.

13. José Clemente Orozco. An Epic American
Civilization, 1932-1934. Fresco.
A 20-panel cycle in Baker Memorial Library, Dartmouth College,
New Hampshire, USA.

14. José’s thoughts…
 “The American continental races are now becoming aware of their
own personality, as it emerges from two cultural currents—the
indigenous and the European. The great American myth of
Quetzalcoatl is a living one embracing both elements and pointing
clearly, by its prophetic nature, to the responsibility shared equally
by the two Americas of creating here an authentic New World
civilization. I feel that this subject has a special significance for an
institution such as Dartmouth College which has its origin in a
continental rather than in a local outlook—the foundation of
Dartmouth, I understand, predating the foundation of the United
States.”
 As Orozco surely had been told, Dartmouth College was chartered
for the purpose of “the education and instruction of Youth of the
Indian Tribes in this Land . . . and also of English Youth and any
others.”

15. West Wing

16. East Wing

17. Reading Room: West and East Wings

18. 1. Migration
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

19. 2. Snakes and Spears
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

20. 3. Ancient Human Sacrifice
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

21. 4. Aztec Warriors
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

22. 5. Coming of Quetzalcoatl
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

23. 5. Coming of Quetzalcoatl
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

24. 6. The Pre-Columbian Golden Age
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

25. 7. Departure of Quetzalcoatl
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

26. 7. Departure of Quetzalcoatl
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

27. 8. The Prophecy
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

28. 8. The Prophecy
The West Wing: The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl

29. 9. Totem Poles
The West and East Wings

30. 10. Cortez and the Cross
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

31. 10. Cortez and the Cross
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

32. 12. The Machine
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

33. 13. Anglo-America
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

34. 13. Anglo-America
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era
o If there was one word you would use to describe “education,”
what word would you choose?
o Think back through all of your past and current teachers and
professors. Who has made the biggest impact on your life?
o Talk about a teacher that made a negative impact. …Why?
o Talk about a teacher that made a positive impact. …Why?

36. 14. Hispano-America
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

37. 14. Hispano-America
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

38. 15. Gods of the Modern World
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

39. 16. Symbols of Nationalism
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

40. 17. Modern Human Sacrifice
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

41. (Catharsis, Mexico,1934.)
A separate painting by Orozco. He totally opposed
modernization that continued the cycle of war.

42. 18. Modern Migration of the Spirit
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

43. 18. Modern Migration of the Spirit
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

44. 18. Modern Migration of the Spirit
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

45. 19. Chains of the Spirit
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

46. 19. Chains of the Spirit
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

47. 20. Modern Industrial Man (3 part)
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

48. 20a. Modern Industrial Man I
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

49. 20b. Modern Industrial Man II
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

50. 20c. Modern Industrial Man III
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

51. 20. Modern Industrial Man (3 part)
The East Wing: Cortez and the Modern Era

52. The Mirrors

53. The Mirrors: Coming of Quetzalcoatl,
Cortez and the Cross

54. The Mirrors: Ancient Human Sacrifice,
Modern Human Sacrifice

55. The Mirrors: Migration,
Modern Migration of the Spirit