Course Project Part One PDF

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Course Project Part One...

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1 Exploration Document Shawna A Moore HUM200

Cultural Artifacts My first work is Starry Night by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, he painted this piece 1889. He painted this piece by memory and it is based on a constellation arrangement he had seen earlier on in the night sky of Provence. (Melanie Lee) I picked this piece because I have always been intrigued by it, even as a young girl. All the beautiful colors that it is in it. But also because the look of the painting is interesting as well and seems to have a deeper meaning to it. When you look at it from the top; there is a calm feel to it and it almost puts you at ease. There is whirling clouds, shining stars and a bright crescent moon. Then as you get down to the bottom of the painting, it takes a darker turn and it looks like there is pain and sadness in this painting. Many felt that van Gogh's turbulent quest to overcome his illness is reflected in the dimness of the night sky. (Peggy Carouthers) My second work is Stars Over the Dordogne by an American poet Sylvia Plath. This poem is emotionally moving that addresses the poet's deep depressive state. The poem takes you on a journey to the Dordogne River in France. She looks at the sky and sees the stars but suddenly they vanish. This poem is also supposed to be a representation of Plath's planned suicide. (Emma Baldwin) Common Theme The common themes by both of these works is a series of death. Van Gogh's painting is considered symbolically. The cypress tree could be seen as a bridge between life - which it shows represented by the earth and death which is represented by the sky. (Peggy Carouthers) Some other themes come into play as well, loneliness and loss which is clear because Van Gogh was always looking at that night sky whenever he could. It seemed he had been longing for hope for

2 some time. As for Plath's poem, it represents death by playing on both those same two themes; loneliness and loss. Since she was battling with depression, it is said that all hope and optimism left her when she wrote this poem. This poem has been said also that it was supposed to be a planned suicide letter, and because of her failed marriage with her husband. (Emma Baldwin) Personal Experience The theme of death is all around me; not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes things come to an end so something better can come along. At the beginning of the year, a romantic relationship with someone I thought that I really loved died out and they broke up with me, with that I felt loneliness and loss. I felt like my world was coming to an end and I didn't know what to do. Not to mention there were a couple deaths in the family as well. What I got out of the assignment was that death isn't always necessarily a bad thing. There is beauty in it, just like there is beauty in life. Profession Death can mean a lot of things, especially when it comes to the literature aspect of things. In poetry, fiction and even drama, death is seen as a central theme that gives way to other themes ranging from justice to rites of passage. Even in ancient literature, authors were utilizing death as a theme to elicit an emotional response in the reader or the audience. Being in the line of work I am in, sometimes things can get dark. The field of work I am in, is working with people who have substance abuse with either drugs, alcohol or sometimes both. I see people come in, who are not well and sometimes they are very sick. They go through the process of a detox at first and then they transition to a residential setting. During this epidemic we have been in, we have lost a lot of lives due to substance abuse. Some people either just don't want to get the help that they

3 need or in some cases it is just too late. I feel like the theme that I have chosen for this project fits this work situation because sometimes things do indeed get dark. Humanities Resources My first resource is an analysis of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. It gives a detailed overview of the painting. The author of this article goes in complete detail of the painting. It is relevant to my project because I am doing a project on this painting and also it is giving an analysis on the painting. The process that I went to find this resource was pretty easy, I just looked up an analysis on the painting on Google and found the one that went into the most detail. My second resource is an article by Peggy Carouthers and it is about the history of the painting and it goes into detail about that. It is relevant for my project because again, I am doing the project on this painting and it is about the history of it. The process I went to finding this article was researching the history of the painting. My third and final resource of this was an article about the painting as well. It is a look at the viewer's point of view of the painting. My first resource for Stars Over the Dordogne is an anaylsis of the poem which is by Sylvia Plath. It just gives you an overview of the poem, what it means and more about Sylvia Plath's background. The second resource I used for Stars Over the Dordogne was another analysis essay from a different website and author. It just gives you more details from a different perspective. The third resource I used for this poem was the history of the poet and it dives a little deeper into the poem and why Plath had decided to write this poem. Historical Context The historical context of "Starry Night", was it was a famous painting that was done by a Dutch artist in 1889. He painted this famous piece in Saint Remy, France while he was a patient, seeking treatment for his mental health. He ended up painting this piece by memory - and it was

4 based on a constellation arrangement he saw earlier in the night. It is believed that it is one of the most famous paintings in the world. (Peggy Carouthers) Van Gogh lived his life in the unknown most of his life and he wasn't really popular. He was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and became interested in art at a young age. (Peggy Carouthers) After working in various professions, he finally began his artistic career in 1880 when he enrolled in classes in Brussels at an academy called Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts. (Peggy Carouthers) Syliva Plath was born in October 27th, 1932 in Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA. She was well known as an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. One of her poems called Stars Over The Dordogne is a personal, confessional poem. It provides the reader insight into the poet's battle with depression. The themes that call for this poem are loneliness and loss. Many who have read this piece believe it is as a confession of her planned suicide. (Emma Baldwin) It is said that Sylvia Plath was distraught with her failed marriage and break up with her ex Ted Hughes, so she decided to take her own life. Similarities and Differences Despite one work being Dutch and the other American, both "Starry Night" and "Star Over the Dordogne" manifest the themes of both loneliness and loss in similar ways. Both works display an illustration of being alone and suffering. For the longest time, Van Gogh battled with his mental health, with this it required him to feel isolated especially with him being in an asylum. (Melanie Lee.) Van Gogh's painting is similar to Sylvia Plath's work because with Plath, she felt isolated and alone as well. Even to the point where she took her own life. (Emma Baldwin) They are different because they are written in two different time periods. Not only that, one is done by a man and the other a woman. It gives you two different outlooks, and two different upbringings. Medium

5 To create meaning in "Starry Night", Van Gogh painted this piece, very detailed too. There is an overwhelming night sky that takes up most of the background.(Melanie Lee) Van Gogh did this painting with oil paint. The sky is swirling, flowing lines appear to be swishing across the background in a gentle, wavy motion. (Melanie Lee) The sky is bright with yellow stars that look like fireballs. It is contrast with a cool blue, fluid night sky that takes on an amazing variety of blue and grey. There is also a crescent moon at the top right hand corner that radiates a more orange, brighter light from the rest of the stars. (Melanie Lee) This is what I believe the medium is for Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night". The medium of Stars Over the Dordogne is a personal, confessional poem. It provides the reader insight into the poet's battle with depression. In the poem, the poet delves into the themes of loneliness and loss. It is said that this piece was an admission to her planned suicide. Thesis Statement Despite utilizing completely different mediums and having creators separated by decades of time and countries both "Starry Night" and "Stars Over the Dordogne" evoke the themes of loss, loneliness and even death through their meaning influences and the promotion of each of their pieces. Some would say that van Gogh's painting gave emphasize on the symbolic meaning of death. The stylized cypress tree in the foreground links it to death and van Gogh's eventual suicide. The cypress also represents immortality. In the painting, the tree reaches into the sky, serving as a direct connection between the earth and the heavens. (Melanie Lee.) With "Stars Over the Dordogne", Plath wrote this poem as a personal, confessional poem about her battle with depression. It is said that this was her last poem before she had also took her own life. (Emma Baldwin) These two works are similar in a way because if you dig deep enough into both these works you will see that both these artists were struggling and they definitely needed some

6 kind of professional help; they both took their own lives. These works are different from each other because one work was done by a man and the other by a woman. Another way they are different is because one is a painting and the other is a poem. Audience The ideal audience for my presentation would include anyone who has (or is interested in developing) a sense of art history and also different types of art such as paintings and literature. This presentation may also appeal to people who are interested in either of the creators; Van Gogh or Plath. The audience could benefit from learning how both these two creators' history and what lead them to create these pieces while anyone else could develop a stronger sense of (or at least appreciation of) art and art history by studying how these works and other throughout the humanities. Message To tailor my audience and make it more understandable and relatable, I will try to connect the art history evident in my works to positive examples of recent art (history) activity, such as recent displays that are inspired by both the works. These edits should be made to make my presentation relatable and accessible to anyone in my audience regardless of their views of the works or art history.

7 References Melanie Lee. nd. An Analysis on Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night: www.vggallery.com/visitors/002.htm Baldwin, Emma. "Stars Over the Dordogne by Sylvia Plath". Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/sylvia-plath/stars-over-thedordogne/. Accessed 21 July 2021. Peggy Carouthers. July 14th, 2020. A Brief History of van Gogh's Starry Night: www.artandobject.com/news/brief-history-van-goghs-starry-night Nd. Nd. Nd. Anaylsis Of Stars Over the Dordogne: https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Analysis-Of-Stars-OverThe-Dordogne-F3NZDZ93LS6 Alicia Zelazko. September 20th, 2017. The Starry Night: www.brittanncia.com/topic/The-StarryNight Nd. March 7th, 2017. Stars Over the Dordgone: http://meetingbenches.com/2017/03/stars-dordogne-wan-dulled-much-travelling/...