Posted at Oct 24/2008 03:31PM:
Nolan: There is something about human interaction that can’t be duplicated. It is one thing to read something by someone. It is another to actually meet the person and be able to ask questions and direct discussions based on what is of interest to you. That is the experience I had going to the Assyrian exhibit with Irene Winter. Between Omur and Prof. Winter, there was some much knowledge and experience to learn from. It is also another experience to see objects in real life as opposed to seeing photo copies of pictures of the objects. Prof. Winter’s theme for the afternoon seemed to be how people, in this case Assyrian kings and museum curators, can alter the viewers experience though small changes in what is represented and how the representation is displayed. In terms of Assyrian art, this can be seen in the bodily personification of the king. One statue we looked at showed the king completely clothed in a robe other than one of his arms. This arm had the same shape as the arm a supernatural being on a nearby relief. The being’s body and muscle structure was the image of ideal. It follows, therefore, that the body of the king beneath the robes is similar to that ideal. The physical might of the king and his connection to the supernatural are both reinforced in the statue even though you can’t see his body and no reference to the spiritual world is mentioned. Similarly, the museum uses techniques to guide the viewer without having the viewer be aware of what the museum is doing. It was interesting to hear Prof. Winter talk about where the museum did a good job or did a poor job. I always took it for granted that museums were only displaying in an accurate way. I never thought of all the effort and thought that can go into an exhibit or how an exhibit can mislead. I found it particularly interesting that one relief from the front was originally seen with one from the back. As a casual observer, I would have never made the connection between the two reliefs, as they were so separated. I found the whole day to be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot.