Lettering

Timeline

650 b.c.

 

Governance:

-          The Messenians revolted against their Spartan rulers.

-          Beginning of the second Messenian war.

-          The town of Abdera was founded in Thrace by colonists from clazomena.

-           Babylonia under the rule of Shamash-shuma-ukin rises in revolt against the Assyrians

-           The first pyramid of the Teotihuacan culture was built in Cholula.

       Cypselus becomes the first tyrant of Corinth

-           Zhou Xiang Wang becomes King of the Zhou dynasty of China.

-          In Greece it was the age of the tyrants.

-          The Chinese licensed lady lovers. This is considered as the 1st example of legalized prostitution.

 

 

Technology:

-          Ancient Greeks started using large diameter punches to imprint images and designs onto coins and tokens.

-          Evidence of writing systems appear is Oaxaca

-          Duns and Brochs first use in Scotland

-          Iron tools being produced

 

Commerce:

-          Greece began using the drachma for currency.

-          Jade artifacts are traded in as far as southern central America

 

Institutions:

-          Ball courts, used in ball game of central American civilizations, found in Olmec centuries

-          Peraca culture develops in south Peru

-          Ceremonial complex built in Chiripa, Lake Titicaca

-          Hillforts begin to be constructed in the southwest

 

650 a.d.

 

Governance:

-          An early Mayan classic temple in Copan was closed and covered.

-          Ritual items of flint knives and stingray spines was later discovered.

-          Civil strife occurred during this time, which followed about 30 years of drought. This led to the demise of the Moche civilization.

-          The Khazars’ aggressive territorial expansion drove some Bulgars westward.

-          The Bulgars soon founded a kingdom in the southeastern Balkans that is now known as Bulgaria.    

-          In Mexico the Teotihuacan culture began declining.

-          Arabs introduced Islam to Afghanistan.

-          A Saxon monk founded St. Botolph’s Town in England.

-          Japanese emperor Kotoku unites Japan and issues Taika Reform Edicts.

-          Byzantine empire retakes alexandria

 

Technology:

-          Construction on the Dome of the Rock begins

-          First Shinto shrines built in Japan

-          Kallikinos invents Greek fire in Constantinople

 

Commerce:

-          Traders from Arabia established Islamic settlements on the coast

Institutions:

-          Buddhism reaches Tibet

-          Buddhism replaced by Confucianism as a state religion in Japan.

-          Mosque built in Kerala

-          Monastery built on the isle of Lindisfame

-          Pope Martin I is arrested by the exarch and taken to Constantinople

-          Slavs establish established independent bohemian kingdom

-          Hawaii islands are colonized from the Marquesas islands

-          Kingdom of Nobatia is incorporated into Makuria

Chair Project

In this chair project we were asked to design a chair using only ninety degree angles and chip board. We had a very specific amount of material that was available to us. This was to be a space for someone to use for several different purposes, such as a desk, a counter, a shelf, many different things, so it had to be multi-purposed and functional.

Drawing (In class and out)

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This movie tells the stories of several people in love. We all, based our backgrounds and experiences can relate to a different character from this movie. The characters themselves all come from different backgrounds and therefore react to things in very different ways. Throughout the story the director decides to include certain artifacts that may seem random but serve a specific purpose. Some of the objects included are a bike, and a flower. The flower is what the nymphs use to enchant the different characters, and change their perspectives on each other. This starts out as a game, but they have all become so accustomed to each other's normal reactions, that once they change they become completely confused and upset.

The Willow Wren

For one of my classes i was assigned to read the fairytale "The Willow Wren." This story taught of why birds act the way that they do. In this story there are many different artifacts included, such as a hammer, and a barn. There is so much description that the reader knows exactly how to view this tale. 

Week 1

Each week we are given a prompt. From this prompt we are to draw things from everyday life, each class, each meal, each day, and each night. We are expected to include sketches of anything we think of when hearing something to do with our prompt. 

This week our prompt was a grouping of five words. Cycle, Translation, Story, Multi-view, and  Artifact.

"Artifact" was one of the hardest words this week. I thought about my own artifacts. Some things that tell a story about me, and my past. Objects that tell my own history. I was asked to choose five objects for one of my classes and i took into careful consideration which items i chose. I wanted them to portray who i am accurately and creatively. Each item represented a very important part of my life.

Then i began to think about other historical artifacts, from architecture, from the history of the world, and how, in fact, EVERYTHING is an artifact. Everything tells a story of the world. We become so used to certain things in our everyday lives that we ignore them. These prompts help us to stop and really take in our surroundings. To actually sit down and think about what an object, an animal, a plant, anything teaches us about the world we live in.

The word "Multi-view" also comes in to play. Each artifact can tell many different stories, and can mean many different things to different people. We all see things in many different ways. In a physical sense, we talked about in History of Architecture, each building has many different sides. There are many different ways to view one place, object, or person. Each side looks different. Each person sees each side differently.

The word "story" was one of the easiest words to write about. Keeping the word in mind i was able to think about the stories behind the items that i drew, the life behind each object. When reading the Grimm's tale "The Willow Wren" i thought more about how stories are created and for what purpose. I came up with these reasons; to teach lessons, to record history, and to entertain. 

While sitting in my history of architecture class i'm learning the story behind architecture. Why and how it started, and how it developed, and continues to develop. It taught of commodity, Firmness, and Delight, which are all very important to architecture, but in a broader scheme, anything you do in life.  
Translation was a more difficult word to comprehend. It got me thinking about how stories translate over time. Their meanings, along with the meaning behind architecture, or any other art form change over time. Human perspectives change, therefore people will see things differently at different points in time. For example, the world trade centers once represented a place where people from all over the world come and work together. But after September 11, 2001 these buildings mark a devastating point in American history. 

This word also got me thinking about literal translation of languages. How we as a planet interact in different tongues. One of my favorite languages is french. When learning this language i would say sentences in english, but i would begin to translate them to french in my head. This was not only fun, but a very good way to learn. Thinking about this in more depth i wonder if we do the same things with other things that we learn. 

The word cycle, especially at this point in my life while i build new relationships and try to hold on to old one's , made me think of my friends and family.  Any relationship is a learning process. Whether it be best friends or boyfriends, you learn from each other, and work off of each other's wants and needs. Any relationship teaches you a lot about yourself as well. What your wants are, what your expectations are, and how you react to different situations. There is a very intense cycle of emotions with any relationship.  But in the end you learn, you learn from every new experience. The cycle of life. 

What was most intriguing to me was how intertwined all of these words are. Artifacts tell stories, there are multiple views to each artifact, there are cycles of how people will react to different artifacts, or stories, and how those stories translate over time will change.