1W11 – Researching Byzantine art(architecture, icons)- Early Christian Art

The first orthodox christian churches were designed inside with frescos and mosaics. The mosaics, with their simplicity show figures liberated from their human substance.The transgretion of the real world and the raising to the absolute, the divine, prevails in these work of arts. The esoteric power of the byzantine figures is evident with their movement, cloth folding and other elements of the composition.Allways in the byzantine art the rules of forehead compositions and symmetry are evident.

Before 1974, when Turkey invaded Cyprus, the Kanakaria church mosaics were regarded as being among the most important and some of the very few surviving examples of early Christian art. It decorated the ceiling of the 6th century AD church of the Panagia Kanakaria in northern Cyprus.  Unusually, it survived centuries of earthquakes and invasions.  But in the late 1970s, looters hacked the mosaic from the church, figure by figure, and smuggled the pieces off the island.

Two fragments were recovered in 1984, but nothing was heard of the others until 1988 when an American art dealer paid $1 million in cash for four more, which were handed over in Geneva airport.  Once back in the USA, however, their provenance was exposed and the Cypriot church successfully sued for their return.

It was not a completely happy homecoming.  The mosaic fragments had suffered badly when they were looted, transported and ‘restored’.  A figure of Christ was even chopped in two.  The damage is such that they cannot now be replaced on the ceiling of the Panagia Kanakaria, but are displayed in a museum.

 

1W11 – Researching Byzantine art( Architecture, Icons)

Constantine the Great made Christianity the sole religion of the Roman Empire.

There was a sign in the sky “above the sun” and with it the words “conquer by this”. That night in a dream he said he saw Jesus telling him to use the chi-rho sign “as a safeguard in all battles”. Constantine ordered it to be put on his soldier’s shields – and won the battle. The symbol is made of the first two letters of ‘Christ’ in Greek – chi (X) and rho (P) .

The art established during the centuries is known as Byzantine Art. Byzantine art is divided to 3 eras (protobyzantine, mesobyzantine, isterobyzantine)

St. John in Lateran is the Cathedral of Rome, the mother of all churches in Rome and in the world. Founded by Constantine, during the time of Silvester (314-335) it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. The current basilica dates from the 17th century.

The foundations of the first church were found under the St. John in Lateran.

The term basilica comes from the rooms of Roman courts called basilicas (Greek: basilikos, royal). The prototype of the first Christian churches was based on the basilicas prototype. The Christian Basilica was an oblong building with an apse       at one end and lighted from above.

Christian basilicas have been built in Cyprus too. One example is the church of the saint Kyriaki in Kato Pafos. The granitic columns can be seen at the site. They have belonged to the initial basilica that has been destroyed.

Many Greek basilicas but also churches of the west will be built based on this type. The church of saint apollinare is a characteristic example.

One example in Greece is the Theotokos Aheropoitos in Saloniki.

 

Parallely we have another type of church the pericentral church. The pericentral churches have pericentric columns that hold the dome.Two examples are the church of Saint Constantia(Rome) and Saint George(Rotonda-Salonica Greece).

The perfect sample of domed basilica is The Agia Sofia.It’s a work of two architects, Anthemios and Isidoros.It was built after the direction of the emperor Justinian.During the inauguration of the church in 537 Joustinian shouted that he had outdone King Solomon. Of great artistic value it’s decorated interior with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings.

 

 

 

Like Justinian i would like to build a small chapel, not a huge church to offer to God and my society.

Researching Byzantine art(architecture, icons) to be continued…1W12.

1W11 – Week Reflection

Researching Byzantine art, iconography and architecture is very important for my proposal.  The pro-Christian Roman emperor Constantine I dedicates the city of Constantinople (in Greek “the city of Constantine”), established on the site of the Greek city Byzantium, as the new capital of the Roman Empire(330). In 1453 the Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople.In 1930, Constantinople is renamed Istanbul (in Turkish, “the city”).After the fall of Constaninople in 1453 the glory still lives today in the art left behind. Beautiful architectures stand to remind us the history. Iconography in temples also remind the past. But the effects of the cultural development of the Byzantine Empire had an impact on modern nations such as Cyprus (my country), Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Armenia, Ukraine, Albania, Belorus, Syria, Turkey. I will post photos of Byzantine art in my next post.

1W10 – Researching 3D modeling(3d sculpture)

 3D Modeling(3d sculpture), organic modeling

For my project the 3d modeling will be a major phase. The model of a chapel will be created before being constructed so researching for rendering of 3d environments and architectural structures such as a chapel will be very important. Organic modeling will be studied and researched too. I have researched 3d organic modeling for week 10 research. I have sculpted a face using the software Z-Brush. Z-Brush is a great program for organic modeling and i am going to use it for my project.

 Character experimentation

I will probably model an angel for my project.Experimenting with 3d sculpting is very engoyable and interesting. I need to research in more depth the character creation because i need to come up with a nice angel character.I also need to consider things like clothing for the character creation. Many possibilities have to be studied. At the moment i have experimented face 3d sculpting and came up with a character. With few motifications i came up with another character, the opposite of an angelic face, an evil face, a demonic one!So using the “good” i have transformed it to evil like the fall of the angels who bacame demons!

Below is the experimentation of character creation using Z-Brush

 

1W10 – Week Reflection

This week research following my timetable was reasearching 3d modeling and 3d sculpting. Maya and Z-Brush software are great applications for implementing computer 3d modeling. Especially when using Z-brush the feeling is like real sculpting. You are sculpting the so called pixols (3d pixels) like on clay. I will probably model an angel that will be rigged and animated for my project. I should submit the week reflection earlier today but i will try to submit new posts for this research since it will extend for the weekend too.

1W9 – Research – Byzantine Manuscripts

Sending a letter to municipal council of my area.

In order to get a permission to build a small chapel in the park near my house i need to contact Nicosia-Latsia municipality. For this reason i have to send a letter getting an approval for the construction of the chapel in two years, when i will also complete my project. In case of getting a negative reply i need to change plans and the direction of my project. I hope that i will get the approval to complete the project with the  construction of the chapel at the park of Pavlos Iiisou near my home.The park was deticated for the memory of the forester Pavlos Iisou who died during his attempt to extinguish a fire at the forest of Pirgos of Tilliria.Iisou, his surname is the same as Iisous, meaning Jesus. A chapel in the park would be a nice religious monument and also an artwork that will change the character of the park. It will be offered to the community of my neighbourhood and the municipality of Latsia.

The letter below is written with Neobyzantine fonts and with a look of byzantine manuscripts. It was illustrated with black and yellow ochre ink and watercolors. I will experiment with this byzantine manuscript look for documents relating with my project in the future. The byzantine manuscripts are supposed to be important historical documents. Because my project is influenced by byzantine art my letter for the approval of municipality of Latsia has the same influence.

The letter as it will be sent next week at the municipality of Latsia is shown below:

 Translation:

DearMunicipal Council,

 This letter is sent to you, the people who manage the subjects that concern the Municipality of Latsia. An urban entity that is constituted by live cells and spirits, the people of Latsia, should live the generations that will come in a beautiful and happy environment. It is certain that the environment of person has an impact on his psychology. Observing the rapid built-up growth and the work that is created specifically the last years we realize a metamorphosis of the character of our Municipality. This metamorphosis is the result of a healthy growth of thriving local society that is constituted by its members.This metamorphosis  is coordinated and directed by the elected municipal council and the mayor. For the work that is carried out every person can intervene ,and his voice can be heared by the  municipal council which is elected by the society. Thus writting this letter i expect to overview my proposal that concerns the Municipality Latsia. The proposal concerns the creation of chapel in the space of the park Pavlos Jesus. The chapel will be erected with the conform opinion of municipal council and with personal expenses of the rapporteur of this work. I intend to complete the work in an interval shorter of 2 years and its completion will coincide with the delivery of postgraduate research. You can watch the my research at the following link – http://chrysanthosvoutounos.wordpress.com/

The work will cover small extent of the park and will have small dimensions, probably 1.5 x 1.5 m. the precise dimensions of work will be studied during the course and the whole work will be designed using photorealistic 3d programs before being constructed. This work will be intellectually beneficial for my neighborhood and the Municipality of Latsia.

Bibliography – Web

  Paul Halsall.(1998)   Byzantine & Medieval Studies Sites [Internet]
 Available from
<http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medweb/>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

Institute of processing speech.(1996)   Byzantine art – Manuscripts [Internet]
 Available from
<http://www.xanthi.ilsp.gr/istos/frames/xeiro.htm>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

 Tatiana Nikolova.(2003)   Byzantine Medieval Hypertexts [Internet]
 Available from
<http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~slavman/hypertexts/>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

 GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT.(Greek Gospels [Internet]
 Available from
<http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/apr2006.html>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

 Louis W.G. Barton.(2001)    [Internet]
 Available from
<http://scribeserver.com/medieval/byzantin.htm#notation>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

 Neobyzantine Movement.(1997)    [Internet]
 Available from
<http://www.neobyzantine.org/download/fonts/>
[Accessed  10/11/2006]

1W9 – Week Reflection

For the Unit 1 assessment we are required to complete the project proposal essay.Before that we have to submit a draft version of the essay in the first week of January.

There wasn’t a chat session on this week but the week was productive because we had the chance to think about our projects.I had to and research about illustrated Byzantine Manuscriptts.I have to work in the weekend to experiment for this area of my research.I will create a letter that i will send to my community town hall.It will have the look of a Byzantine manuscript with illustrations.

For the next 6 weeks we have to research and experiment with proposed areas of research.I have attached a timetable with the suggested key texts areas of study.

1W8 – Week Reflection

The group task for week 7 and 8 is finished.Everybody submitted their individual task for the completion of a document describing a digital arts installation of a space. My task was to write about the Market, explaining the market potential and popularity of the project. The interested parties and sponsors of this project were outlined.During the last chat the final decisions were taken concerning the individual tasks but also for the whole project.

For the project proposal i have submitted an image of  Nokia n95 with a still of my work and some comments for my work.

I found this task quite difficult because we had to agree for the project theme and the details for presenting it.It is difficult to choose among many good ideas.

It was very constractive to participate in this project because i have learned the key points for a succesfull art presentation. A presentation can be documented firstly and then applied in a real digital installation of a space.