Friday, February 18, 2011
Accompanying Keepsake Box
Just as Ghana coffins have tell a story i want every student to have a deeper meaning accompanying this project. This explanation of why you made the artist choses you did needs to company your piece when you post or hand it in. For example a pilot may have a plane keepsake box like this Ghana coffin.
My personal inspiration for my keepsake model was a love for books and nature. I made the main form of my box a book then hand the tree which it was made from busting out of the top and piles of rocks formed its feet. The description can be very simple or detailed.
Vehicles to the Afterlife:: Studio Project
Vehicles to the Afterlife_ Part3: Terracotta Warriors
Terracotta Warriors and the Burial of China’s First Emperor
The people of ancient China believed after death one lives on in a different world. Due to this, they believed the treatment of the dead should be the same as the living. Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China, ordered his people to create a massive underground replica of his imperial necropolis so he could continue his rule even in death. Located in four pits to the east of the underground city, outside its walls was the original resting place of the terracotta army. This placement was to protect his city from the cities Qin conquered during his lifetime. For more than 2,000 years, his city remained hidden. In 1974, while digging a well, villagers stumbled upon the resting place of a group of life-size terracotta warriors. It has been determined that approximately 8,000 Terracotta Warriors were created as guardians for Qin’s city (Portal 2008).
These warriors were larger than life at the time of their creation; however, people were shorter back then. The terracotta figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers as well as local artisan workshops. Artisans utilized models, coils and slabs within the mass production of warriors. Their original production is thought to have occurred in a factory line manufacturing the head, arms, legs and torsos separately, firing the individual pieces and finally joining them in a multitude of combinations. Joining styles included pins or pegs, using local loess and yellow earth. Once assembled, artisans would add individuality to each statue with intricate features (Portal 2008).
Some of these endless features would include costumes, hairstyles, posture and facial features. Uniform, hairstyle and height were determined by the rank assigned to individual statures. After close examination of terracotta figures it has been determined that eight molds were used to create their faces. Then artisans would provide individual facial features by adding clay. Once all clay work was complete, pieces were fired and assembled and the figures were painted. The combination of a colored lacquer finish upon the statues, individual facial features and actual weapons and armor from battle gave the army a realistic appearance. Unfortunately, the coloring has intensely faded and robbers stole the original weapons and armor (Portal 2008).
Accompanying the warriors within their final resting place are approximately 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. Other figures constructed for the city include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians (Portal 2008).
To ensure quality control, each work was stamped with the name and unit of its originator. The same varieties of inscriptions were also found on floor tiles and drainpipes found near the burial sight. These stamping help archeologist identify ceramic works as mostly responsible for the creation of the terracotta army (Portal 2008).
It has been determined that over a thousand people may have been involved in the creation of this massive terracotta army. However, there is no record of the exact number of individuals involved in this mass production. The absence of records is suggested to be a result of the project of laborers dying of overwork or perhaps being buried with their works (Portal 2008).
Vehicles to the Afterlife_Part 2: Ghana Coffins
Many cultures believe when a loved one dies their body ceases to function but their life force, spirit or soul lives on, crossing into the afterlife. The Ga tribe of Ghana believes death is just the beginning of a new adventure leading to reincarnation. This African tribe doesn’t just mourn a loved one’s passing rather they honor their memory by celebrating the legacy left behind. The dead are honored and sent in style to the afterlife with an exotic brightly colored hand carved wooden coffin illustrating an aspect of the deceased life (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010).
The idea of these exotic coffins evolved when a neighboring chief, inspired by the previous commissioned of a palanquin[1] in the shape of an eagle by the chief of Teshie, ordered one for himself in the shape of a cocoa pod. Regrettably, he died before he could see the work completed. Due to this turn of events the people decided to bury their chief in his cocoa pod. Later that year when Kane’s grandmother died with an unfulfilled dream of flying he fashioned a coffin in the shape of a plane to send her into the afterlife. Kane then decided to take on an apprentice in his carpenter’s workshop to concentrate on the construction of intrinsic coffins (Fall & Pivin, 2002). Unfortunately, despite how talented he was the man who started this innovative coffin making, Kane Kwei from Teshie died before he could really enjoy the success of his product. Instead their apprentices are making huge sums of money with each exotic coffin retailing between $500 and $700 (Wiafe, 2000).
To the people of Ghana these coffins are not just seen as a way to bury the dead, but they are also seen as a place to house them in the start of their new life. The creation process of a Ghana coffin can take up to a month to complete. Due to fear of bad luck coffins are kept at the carpenter’s house and away from the family home until the funeral. Ablade Glover, one of the artistic creators of Ghana coffins, explains the belief of the coffin acting as a home in the afterlife to its resident. This idea adds to its importance of the beauty. He further expresses the shame of such an artwork that took so much time and energy being hidden away and buried to never be seen by the living again (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010).
Some save their whole lives to afford a Ghana coffin. There are people that see a funeral as just as important as a wedding, sometimes being just as expensive too. Ghana Coffins take on several forms displaying a person’s lifestyle or profession. A sewing machine may be carved for a tailor or a fish for a seaman. A man of wealth often has a coffin carved in the shape of a Mercedes Benz (Wiafe, 2000). It can also depict a vice such as a cigarette-shaped coffin expressing a deceased’s love for smoking. There are also coffins highlighting people’s favoritism of everyday random objects such as a Coca Cola bottle or an Air Jordan shoe. Dispositions can also be suggested with some creativity such as a pineapple perhaps depicting sweetness. (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010) Next Lesson: Vehicles to the Afterlife-- History Part 1
Egyptian mummification and tombs
In ancient Egypt, the concept of a world existing after death was of great importance. They not only believed that your soul or “ka[1]and ba[2]” continued to exist after death but also pleasures once obtained in life were necessary in death such as food and liquid. Therefore, many possessions from life accompanied the deceased in burial (Carrol, 2007).
However, in order to continue life after death the ka and the ba must have a well-preserved body to re-enter. This necessity led to the development of the mummification process (Carrol, 2007). The preservation of the mummy was extremely important. If the body deteriorated or was damaged after burial the ba and ka would be no more, life after death would not be possible. This was unacceptable to the Egyptians (Perl, 1987). According to Dunn, the Egyptians theorized the best way to preserve the mummy was to remove all organs except for the heart. This was due to the belief the organs would cause the body to deteriorate. Following the extraction of the organs[3] they were placed into four vessels called “canopic jars.” The stoppers[4] of these vessels were typically sculpted human heads. However, during the New Kingdom era, Perl stated the stoppers being fashioned as the four sons of Horus. Another difference at this time was some of the hearts taken out and mummified separate from the body. In this case a scarab[5] shaped carved stone was put in the original resting place of the heart (Perl, 1987). After the body was fully prepped it was wrapped and bandaged. The wrapping also covered any jewelry or amulets that had been placed upon the mummy for protection and to ensure the afterlife (Perl, 1987). A mask was then placed upon the face so the ba and ka could recognize its body (Dunn, 2010).
After the mummification process was complete the wrapped corpse would be place within a coffin. Throughout Egyptian history there were several types of coffins. The anthropoid coffin shaped as the deceased and thought to provide an alternate body in case something unexpected happened to the mummy. The rishi or feathered coffin mimicked the textured representation of the ba’s bird form and was often used in combination with the anthropoid shape. The stone sarcophagi took on a box shape resembling a shrine with hieroglyphic carved upon its surfaces. As Egyptians progressed they began using these coffins in combination placing an anthropoid coffin within a larger sarcophagus (Dunn, 2010).
At times varieties of ritualistic objects accompanied the mummy and its coffin within its final resting place, a tomb. These objects would range from statues of gods, guardians and deceased. Statues of the deceased, just as the anthropoid coffin, were designed for an alternate body if something happened to the mummy. Other ritualistic objects included shabti figures, which were “magical” fieldworkers, Osiris beds which contained grain seeds[6], amulet vessels or modeled armies with knives and swords. Believing they could continue their status in the afterlife Egyptians thought it necessary to be well prepared with the essentials of life. Due to this, ordinary items based on the deceased’s interests were also found within their tombs to assure deceased’s afterlife would be at the same level of comfort as he once lived. Common items found within this category were clothing, shoes, jewelry, perfumes, cosmetics, games, musical instruments, writing materials, heirlooms, fine tableware, precious metals, pottery, glass and food. Some of the food included varied from preserved meats, grain, fruit, wine and beer. Furniture was also included such as chairs, beds, boxes, chests, baskets and lamps (Dunn, 2010).
[1] The Ka was a twin soul that lived in the body until death. Once death took its body, the Ka would be restricted to its tomb where it would require food in order to live on (Perl, 1987).
[2] The Ba was second form of the soul. After passing it could leave its tomb and take on many different forms, the most common being a bird with the head of the deceased (Perl, 1987).
[3] The organs that would be extracted and placed in jars were the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines. (Dunn, 2010)
[4] Stoppers refer to the lid of the canopic jars.
[5] A scarab was the Egyptian symbol for immortality. This was due to their eggs laid in a heap of dung and birth of rising out of this pile seen as a miracle by Egyptians (Perl, 1987).
[6] Osiris beds are wooden trays in the form of Osiris, the god of the dead. They were planted with grain seeds expected to flourish after the tomb was sealed (Dunn, 2010).
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