Kent State Student Annual Art Show

This year the Student Annual includes a wide variety of media and shows what precisely the art program at Kent State is all about. The Student Annual is a juried show that happens every spring to give Kent State's finest artists a venue to show their work. This year the show was juried by Alex Coon Director of the Massilon Museum.

Immediately on entering the show you are dazzled by several large sculptural pieces, one an elaborate metal pulley system by Katherine Foote called A Study of Line in 3 Dimensions, another large than life Bouncy Horse by Hunter V. Elliot. Marchelle Simms sculptural wall piece entitledHis Beginnings garnered the Graduate Best in Show award. One cannot miss the large sculptural wall piece by David Masters called There's Truth Beneath The Floor Boards, which won Graduate at Large award.

The show also gives a wide look at the metals program, including pieces from nearly every level. But all of these pieces stand alone against advanced level pieces, indicating the strength of craft in the program. Notable pieces include Marissa Racht Ryan's Interlocking Rings from Invisible Cities Series and McKensie Jones's Cameo Necklace both made in the entry level Jewelry class. Advanced students like Julie Deutschman with her Memento Mori necklace which includes real butterfly wings, and Jessica Mantheh who created an entire sandwich made out of metal and other found objects.

The show also boasts some beautiful textiles. Joanne Arnett wove a large piece made on the jacquard loom is woven with metal entitled Two Years and a Fine of $2, 000, as you walk past the work the image seems to change due to the way the light shines on the metal. Another piece by Kelsey Leib, made out of yellow and orange monofiliment glitters in the march sunlight that reluctantly shines through the gallery window.

Prints are a large part of the show this year, two of which recieved awards. One print by S. Birch Land is white on white, another by grad student Pamela Testa is a beautiful leaf design, another by grad student Veronica Ceci depicts an action commonly seen around campus: a man intently looking at an iphone screen.

Paintings are not to go without mention. From highly abstract concepts such as the work of grad student Shawn Watrous who won graduate runner-up, to a wonderfully painted image of a vacuum cleaner by Joshua Humm called Bachelor Pad Oppression,  to a cubist interpretation of the Kent Mills by Sarah Gretsinger.

The show is full of variety and gives a wide range of works big and small, in many different media. Furthermore it is a great showcase of the work of graduate students, several of which will be having their MFA shows the week after spring break. Lori Gipson, a metal smith has two pieces in the show, including a vessel which is a preview to her MFA show. Tim Stover also has a piece in the student annual, working in colored glass, will be something different to look forward to. It will be exciting to see larger collections of pieces from Joanne Arnett and Pamela Testa as well.

This is the last day of the Student Annual show. The MFA Thesis Show will start the week after Kent State's spring break, April 2-5.

--Caitlin Binkhorst

Pondering the Black Death

So, we all know the black death happened. The biggest plague to ever decimate society.

Or something like that.

No one really knows how many people died, which is a problem. Everyone who was around wrote WILD and exaggerated accounts of how many people they buried each day, and how many people died. They did this to make their town seem particularly bad off, and their survival so much important.

Not to mention we have NO idea how many people were actually alive in the 1300s. All we know is that the population had just breached an amount that could be supported by the amount of food produced. 

But the plague was not the only mass death of the 1300s, or at least not the first. The great famine of 1315 killed thousands and starved everyone else so that when the black death hit in 1347 they were so malnourished that they didn't have a good enough immune system to survive.

Which explains why so many people died in the first wave.

About every 5 years or so another wave of plague hit and more and more people died. There were also a series of crop failures and bad weather that were on a more local level that greatly affected populations, but by this time the population had normalized and there weren't too many people to feed in Europe.

The great famine began because in 1314, it never stopped raining, there was no summer, no time to plant crops, no land to plant crops as even mansions were recorded to be under water, and no time for crops to mature. And this was a HUGE problem, because over the last hundred years or so, the population increased so much that people started farming in areas they had never been able to farm before, or that simply were not smart to farm.

So when it rained and rained and rained, and there was a HORRIBLE harvest, many many people starved because there wasn't enough grain, and people who could hunt and hand animals were supplementing the grain shortage with more meat and veggies. Which meant less of those too. Overall there was a HUGE shortage in food. And LOTS of death.

One generation later, the kids are in their 30s, working hard in the fields. Lucky to be alive and have survived the famine, and WAHBAM. PLAGUE.

And not just one, but probably two different kinds of plague. Pneumatic that spread through the air, and Bubonic that spread through fleas and rats. What joy? So this explains why so many people in the prime of their lives who wouldn't normally be suitable to plague die.

Overall, the 1300s were not pleasant.

WHOA! Volcanos and Syphilis! Medieval? Yes!

Syphilis, a disease that has long been reported to originate from the new world, along with potatoes and other delights, was discovered in advanced stages on the bodies of medieval people in a grave in east London. Read the full story here: The History Blog: Volcano Caused Mass Deaths in 13th c. London

This is kind of ho hum. It was pretty exciting to believe that when Europeans came to the new world, they brought all those diseases, and wah-bam! Native Americans gave them Syphilis... But, no...


Also in the news, VOLCANO SHUTS OUT SUN, in 13th Century Europe, causing a mass burial of poor starving folks near the same grave.

This is exciting, because as we all know, or should, Europe was hit with a Little Ice age, which begins with a cooling period at this exact time. The 1300s started with bad weather, continued with the great famine, and ended with constant black plague. Along with my favorite horrible rulers, and the best hundred years war to ever happen, in France. Not to mention constant rioting from underfed poor people who couldn't afford to buy the food they were harvesting for their masters.

So now, we have a cause for the biggest cooling trend Europe had seen since the fall of Rome. Very Exciting!

Of course there are questions, like HOLY CRAP thats a big volcano! An ash plume that is big enough to cause a change in the climate of Europe for 600 years is pretty darn big. Where was it? If it killed so many people in Europe how did the people near it fair? Will it happen again?

Plus, if so many people were killed in London from starvation in the 1250s from this event, how many other people died in other large cities? Could burial sites attributed to plague victors, in actuality be volcano victims?

And of course what does this have to do with art? Nothing, but its exciting. And lots of artists probably died. Or at least there was a decline in the production of certain goods do to labor loss. This could explain why they stopped creating Limoges Enamels around this time. But it doesn't explain the increase in Ivory production. Ho-Hum.

Mashed Potatoes and Noodles

I apologize for not blogging in forever.I guess I thought for some rediculous reason that life would be easier after mid terms and spring break were over. WELL it wasn't. I thought I would have time to blog, or write my thesis, or breathe, well... I didn't. I'm lucky to be alive.

But the semester is over, and I finally have time to write my thesis. But, today I'm cleaning my apartment instead....

And I created a new entree. Because I am a college student. And college students are poor and always hungry. (I also worked out today, go me).

College Mashed Potatoes and Noodles

2/3 cup of potatoe flakes
1 can of condenced noodle soup (off brand works great)

Directions:
Mix together in large bowl. Microwave 3 mins. Caution hot. Eat.


Hope you enjoy,

~C

PS. I have lots of ideas about roman blog posts romeing around my head. Get excited.

MARCH MADNESS

In Art history land, March is the month of midterms. Which is awful, so between setting up art shows, writing my thesis, and staring blankly at the Madonna of the Stairs by Michelangelo, I've... well been crocheting a table cloth.

But medieval people didn't crochet. Crochet is a net-making technique that had been used in Scandinavia for centuries, and was only introduced into western Europe in the late 18th century, and WABOOM, everyone thought it was the cats meow in the twentieth century.

And now, here i am, making a pineapple table cloth.

So what did medieval people do in March? Well, remember march was alot nicer back then due to the wonderful medieval warming period. They grew all sorts of things we wouldn't imagine growing them, like vineyards in england! Who knew? Yeah, they did.

Anyway, the medieval people loved to depict the labors of the months. Why? Because they liked scenes of everyday life. And probably because they could point and ask people why they were standing around in march.

So, because I should be sleeping/studying/doing something productive, I leave you with the month of March from the tres riches heures du duc de Berry!

  Crap. March looked yucky back then too.

Saintly Sunday: St. Thomas a'Becket

So, those of you who actually read Pillars of the Earth and didn't just watch the TV show, know all about St. Thomas. And, essentially, what happened in the book happened in real life. But, for those of you who haven't read one of the best books ever, get to it.  Oprah got this one right. 

So Thomas was a very religious fellow who eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He did some nice plus things there for a while, and then eventually, stirred up a ruckus about Henry II who tried to limit the power of the church, like all rulers who want the power do. Then, Henry, was really pissed at him, so he refused to have his coronation ceremony in Canterbury, where it is supposed to take place. 

Then, Thomas started excommunicating people left and right who pissed him off. And we know how that goes, everyone gets angry. 

So, Henry, whether he meant to or not, sent some knights to Canterbury to deal with Thomas. 

They came unarmed, leaving their arms outside the church, and told Thomas he had to go with them to Henry to answer for what he did. But, Thomas didn’t want to do that, obviously, and said no. The knights got angry, as large brutes do, and ran out for their arms. 

About this time, Thomas and the rest of his churchmen were heading out to start Vespers, their nightly prayers. By the time the Knights got back, they were on the steps leading to the church. 

And now the fun part begins, the knights start hacking at Thomas left and right, injuring other clergymen in the process, and all the while, they keep walking into the church, so by the time they hack at Thomas’s head and his brains spill all over the floor they are in the cathedral. And that’s a BIG No No! The knights ran away, and the monks preyed and prepared the Archbishop’s body for burial. 

Everyone who heard about this was upset, one just doesn’t kill an archbishop in a church. It isn’t done. I mean, you watched Hunchback of Notre Dame right??? Well, do it!!!! 

Anyways, he was seen as a martyr straight away and canonized shortly afterward. He didn’t really do any cool things in his life, and wasn’t too miraculous in his death, but a HUGE cult of St. Thomas developed, which probably escalated him to martyrdom.

This reliquary casket shows three knights stabbing Thomas above an altar while two monks watch on. On the top half of the casket they show his burial preparations.

This one shows about the same image, except Thomas is turned to the viewer and the monks aren’t there. And, well he is being stabbed in the neck too. Which is great.

And there is this one, which is similar to the last except there are four knights and they seem to be dancing a jig while trying to kill him.

These things were VERY popular.  And there are many more.

This one has lost some of the coloring in the figures, but again we’ve got Thomas being slashed at the head by the knights. 

Whats even more interesting is these are all Limoges Enamel pieces, produced in southern France. They were the primer casket creators of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Thomas didn’t die until 1170. So, these things were being made within 100 years of his death, when the memory of his martyrdom was still fresh! Which is kinda strange for medieval saints, it usually takes about 500 years to gain any glory. 

There is also this pleasant manuscript

Thomas is the one behind the altar, but it looks like the friendly monk is going to get some sword action too.

It is also amusing to note that in Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, the pilgrims were in fact traveling to Canterbury to visit Thomas’ shrine. Everyone wanted to see this guy, and I suppose he did do some miracles there every once in a while.

Phillip I and forward thinking marriage

I am reading the Lady, the Knight, and the Priest, which is a book about medieval marriage and it starts out with the most hilarious story of Philip I.

Note: Philip is the grandfather of Louis VIII who was Eleanor of Aquitaine's first husband.

Philip married his first wife, Berthe when they were relatively young. And they were married for a long time, 20 years, and she only produced one son, Louis VI (Abbot Suger's childhood friend). Philip was afraid he wasn't going to have an heir, and all hell would break loose and France would be broken apart (ie: what happened with Eleanor).

So, he decided to put Berthe in a castle in the middle of no where, a castle that technically belonged to her anyway, and essentially forget about her.

Then he decided he would marry Berttrade. But there were a few hitches, the first, Berthe was still alive and he was still married to her, and second, Berttrade was married to his vassal the Duke of Anjou.

Naturally, he married her anyway, and apparently, the only one who cared was the bishop of Chartres.

In the meantime, Philip I was in the middle of planning the first crusade, and when he called his vassals, and bishops, and knights to him, Bishop Chartres didn't show up. This was against every law there ever was, and everyone had a fit! So the bishop went to Rome to hang out with the Pope.

At the time there was a "prepare everyone's souls for the end of days" kinda thing going on with the clergy, so the Pope listened to the Bishop Chartres and his feelings about Philip's concubinage, and such, and they decided to excommunicate Philip.

This was a problem. If Philip, the king of France was excommunicated that means that all of his vassals and everyone else gets excommunicated too. Finally, after years of being married to a married woman while being married to someone else, people started paying attention.

Philip said it didn't matter, he didn't really care, and his sons were legitimate. His marriage was blessed by the bishop of Reims who crowned them.

So, everyone went on for a while, continued to be excommunicated, and Berthe died, Berttrade had three kids, and people started lobbying that the excommunication be removed. But, there was still the hang up that she was married to the Duke of Anjou.

The Duke of Anjou, apparently didn't really care. He was rumored to be quite the skirt chaser, and had four wives before Berttrade. In reality, he was probably the worst person in this situation. But, because he needed some cleansing of his soul, when approached by Bishop Chartres, everything was in line for him to make some startling accusations, and annoy everyone.

By this time Philip was old, and he was starting to worry about the afterlife and hell. The knowledge that he had sinned, or at least that others thought he sinned, weighed heavy on his mind. So, he renounced his relationship to Bertrade publicly, but their children were still legitimate, and they still lived as a married couple, it was only a formality.

The moral of the story is first, having the wife of another wasn't such a big deal back then. No one really took notice until their personal souls were in danger. And even then, it wasn't enough to make Philip think what he was doing was wrong.

Secondly, Bishop Chartres, just wanted to cause problems. He probably had a fight with Philip about something else, and wanted to get him back, and thought this was the best way to do it. And from a modern perspective on medieval times, it certainly sounds like they were doing wrong, but in reality, no one really thought they were.

Could it be that medieval people were more open about marriage than people today?