Relief Sculpture

Art History Assignment

A Chronological Time Line

"Time isn't used, it's experienced."
-- Hopi proverb.
"Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire."
-- Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Argentinian author. Labyrinths, "A New Refutation of Time" (1964).
"We are always acting on what has just finished happening. It happened at least 1/30th of a second ago. We think we're in the present, but we aren't. The present we know is only a movie of the past."
-- Tom Wolfe (1931-), American author, journalist. Ken Kesey's philosophy, as explained in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, chapter 11 (1968).

Chronology is the study of a field in logical time order or eras. A time line highlights individual works in relation to other important art works, events, inventions, and achievements. A typical time line is a large and long list of eras (1000 BC, 500 BC, AD 1, AD 500, 1500, 1600, 1800, 1900, 2000) that highlights major events, and might be found in a book or mounted on a wall.

Make your own time line based on

relief sculpture.

Research this art form, obtaining small photos of relief sculptures from art books, art magazines, or other sources-- photocopying when necessary.

Make notes with each image about important artist, title, media, size, place, and of course dates. Categorize the art works, and add clear labels, arranging them chronologically along a sequence of dates.

Consider:

1 . Will your time line move from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, circular, or? How big you make it depends in part on how you plan to present it.

2 . Prepare to explain why you've placed works where you have.

3 . Add pictures of the artists when they are available, major concepts, photos of the city or country, and whatever other information might increase interest.
(You may need to read a definition of "concept".)

4 . Add images of musical instruments, composers, and notes of other developments in music, along with developments in literature, science, technology, politics, and religion. Pictures of important people, things and events will increase understanding of each art work's place in history.

5 . Present your time line along with a world map. Seen together, they make good reference resources.

6 . Studying art history only as chronology is deceptive, because it implies continuous progress with the contemporary period as the highest point (Stinespring & Steele, 1993). Chronology is most effective when it's used to explain a causal relationship; e. g., how the study of photography changed how artists composed their paintings. Another example is the political importance of the Hagia Sophia in Constantine's time and its relation today to the Blue Mosque.

Examples of Time Lines

While each of the following is excellent in some ways, few of them incorporate imagery to very great advantage. See what you think!

A time line of art at the Sanford Corporation's site (-- they manufacture various art materials). There are several nice images here and brief articles on a few major artists, media, and styles.
Classical Myth is a site that has a time line of Greek history, along with images and texts for each Olympian god.

Return to the lesson on Relief Sculpture or go on to the first relief sculpture assignment: Relief Sculpture Art Production and Criticism.