Event #3: Revealing Creation: The Science and Art of Ancient Maya Ceramics

(Wall description of the exhibition.)

When I was looking at the LACMA website to find current exhibitions to attend for my last event assignment, it was this exhibition that really caught my attention. The title itself not only fits perfectly with title of our course (DESMA 9: Science, Art & Technology), but also with all the topics we have discussed thus far. 

(Wall description of LACMA's scientific analysis of ceramic pieces.)

The exhibition embodied three of the core elements of our course: Science, Art, and Technology. The science element of the exhibition included two videos and various wall descriptions (see image above) describing LACMA's scientific analysis of the Ancient ceramic pieces. The videos and wall descriptions went in depth into how the Mayan's created these ceramics and the procedures they used to do so. The technology element of the exhibition was seen when the videos and wall descriptions demonstrated the various technologies they used to analyze the ceramics, such as x-rays supporting the fact that these vessels were created by stacking rings of rolled clay on top of one another. 

(Unknown Maker. Mold-Made Rattle with Royal Woman
and Bicephalic Serpent. 600-900)

(Left to Right: Unknown Maker. Figurine Whistle
of a Young Woman and Baby. 600-900., Unknown Maker.
Figurine Whistle of an Old Woman and Baby. 600-900.,
Unknown Maker. Figurine Whistle of a Monkey and Baby. 600-900.)

The last element of the exhibition was the beautiful ceramic art itself. Unfortunately, the pictures I took do not do these pieces justice! Every single piece was absolutely gorgeous, and incredibly intricate and detailed. You could truly see the science behind every piece as well, the various techniques they used on the clay, and the techniques used to fire and set the clay after molding and painting. 

(Unknown Maker. Lidded Vessel with Modeled Macaw. 250-400)

Before this exhibition, when I thought about ceramic art, rarely did the concepts of science and technology come to mind. I just thought of ceramic art, as art. After attending this exhibition, I can see how wrong I was. Ceramics, and quite frankly all art, has science behind it. LACMA went above and beyond by providing us with videos that investigated the science behind all of the pieces, of which I found to be extremely interesting. This exhibition truly represented the intersection of science, art, and technology. I would definitely recommend this event to every single person, and encourage them all to attend! If you are interested in ceramics and want to know more about the science and technology behind it, attend this event! I can say with all honestly that this event was truly interesting and taught me so much about the rich history behind ceramic art. 

(Selfie with Lidded Wessel with Modeled Macaw.)

Nejat, Ashley. "LACMA Selfie." 2016. JPG file.

Nejat, Ashley. "Wall description of the exhibition." 2016. JPG file.

Nejat, Ashley. "Wall description of LACMA's scientific analysis of ceramic pieces." 2016. JPG file. 

Unknown Maker. Figurine Whistle of a Monkey and Baby. 600-900. Ceramic with post-fire pigment. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Unknown Maker. Figurine Whistle of an Old Woman and Baby. 600-900. Ceramic with post-fire pigment. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Unknown Maker. Figurine Whistle of a Young Woman and Baby. 600-900. Ceramic with post-fire pigment. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Unknown Maker. Lidded Vessel with Modeled Macaw. 250-400. Slip painted ceramic. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Unknown Maker. Mold-Made Rattle with Royal Woman and Bicephalic Serpent. 600-900. Ceramic. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.