ART MUSEUM CRITIQUE

Name: Eric Miramontes Class period/section: 8:00 AM MW

1) Which museum did you visit? (check one) _X_ Univ. of Utah ___ BYU
2) Describe at least one of the permanent collection exhibits on a theme, period, geographic
region, or topic) within the museum. {150 words}

The museum had several arts and artifacts from ancient times. One of the rooms
contained artifacts from Ancient Egypt. For example, they showed an Egyptian pharaohs
coffin from around 2,700 years ago. There was an exhibit that showed the process that went
into embalming the mummy to preserve it for the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that the
pharaohs needed to be buried with food and other items for them to use in the afterlife. The
coffin was covered with hieroglyphic art. The coffin was painted with depictions of gods to
protect the pharaoh. Isis and the four sons of Horus were painted on the coffin. According to
the exhibit, the body itself was covered in palm wine, the internal organs removed and placed
into jars, the body stuffed with salt, sawdust, and spices to preserve the body. The body was
then washed in cedar to keep the skin supple and then wrapped in linens and amulets to
protect it. It was interesting to see how the religion of the Ancient Egyptians affected their
burial practices.
3) Give a brief, one paragraph description of a special, temporary exhibit (for help, ask museum
staff what these are; they are usually in one of the first rooms). {100 words}

One of the temporary exhibitions was about the Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper Mine in
Bingham Canyon. The mine is the largest man made excavation on earth. The exhibit
contained a vast array of paintings, drawings and photographs. They show a variety of
different perspectives of the mine. It also shows the effect it had on the local economy,
culture, environment, and people. The paintings and photographs from the exhibition span
from 1873 to the present. There are also several photographs of the copper mine after the
landslide that took place in early 2013. ("Current Exhibitions", 2014) The exhibition also
contains technical, scientific information on the process that goes into mining the different
elements and their uses.
4) What do you think the museum administration and/or exhibit curators want you to learn or
gain from the exhibits you viewed? {100 word minimum}

I think the administration and curators want to expose people to a wide variety of
different cultures and viewpoints that are depicted in art, as well as inform them about the
history, societies, and conditions that brought them about. The curators probably also want
to get people to think critically about their own values, beliefs, and perspectives and how that
affects the way they view the art from different cultures and their own. Art can also be used
to show how it was affected by different developments in human history and the religions of
their societies.
5) What kind of information is provided about the works? Where might you look for further
information if you were interested? (Name three possibilities)

Generally the works have a brief description of the artist of the work, a few sentences on
his/her background, and maybe an explanation of the piece itself. Further information may
be found by either researching the particular artist, the art movement he/she is or was a part
of, or the subject he/she is depicting, critiquing, or symbolizing.
6) Choose several works that particularly appealed to you. Explain why you were drawn to
these works. Comment on the subject, style, medium, time period, etc. Who were the artists?
What message do you think the artists were trying to convey in the works you chose to
discuss? This question must be answered in its entirety. {This should be at least 500 words}

The works that depicted figures from the religions of ancient peoples were very appealing
to me. I simply find it interesting to see how many different mythologies and religions
people have created in order to explain the natural world. The Native American artifacts
came in several different forms. Some of the artifacts depicted a raven, which is considered
the Creator in many different tribes, however, a wide variety of other animals were used.
There were several masks at the exhibit but there were also other artifacts such as totem poles
used by Northwestern peoples, figurines found in Pueblo Indian dwellings in the Southwest.
As I described earlier, the Ancient Egyptian exhibit contained one of the coffins that once
had a Pharaoh inside. The coffin had several Egyptian gods painted on the sides to protect
the king. The exhibit explained the process behind the burial and the religious beliefs that
shaped and determined it.
There were also numerous statues or artwork depicting Vishnu, Krishna, or Shiva made
of bronze, stone or gold in the room with the Ancient Hindu exhibit. One statue of Shiva had
a ring around it which according to the exhibit represented the cycle of death and rebirth.
There were also several metal statues of Buddha from Southeast Asia.
Some of the artifacts were everyday items that people used, for example there was a hand
mirror and a necklace from Ancient Egypt in one of the display boxes, and a Greek vase with
artwork depicting a warrior adorning the sides. Some of the artifacts were simply a reflection
of the culture of the time and place and not necessarily religion, such as nude sculptures from
Greece and the Native American masks mentioned earlier.
The exhibits on the mine and Exploring Sustainability particularly appealed to me. I was
drawn to them because they combined science with art. Similar like how Leonardo da Vinci
blurred the line separating art and science, these exhibits did the same thing, but in their own
unique way.
The copper mine exhibit went into detail about how different minerals are extracted from
the Earth and how they are processed into pure metal and give several examples of how they
are used in industry, technology, and other aspects of our daily lives. They also talk about
the history of the mine and showed antique mining equipment from a century ago. This is
another example of how what were considered everyday objects decades to millennia ago are
now displayed as art.
The Exploring Sustainability contained several works of art including one that was a
cloud made of white pollution masks, the same kind that is now required in Shanghai and
other Chinese cities because of the rampant pollution. Hanging from the cloud was over a
dozen slips of paper each with a concise fact about air pollution in both the world and Utah,
how it can affect our health, and what we can do to help curb this problem. The artist wants
the viewer to understand that air pollution can affect everyone, even in Utah, and to start
becoming civically engaged in solving the problem of pollution.
Some of the art in the Sustainability exhibit was also interactive. For example one piece
entitled Thread Your Strings by Michelle Hogan consists of boards with differently labeled
pegs embedded each having to do with some form of reducing, reusing, or recycling. The
viewer wraps a string around each peg that applies to them to identify how they try to live
sustainably.
7) How did the artworks you looked at relate to material we have discussed in class? (They do
relate in many ways, you just need to look for those relationships). {Minimum of 150
words}

Much of the ancient artifacts and art relate to spirituality and religion. The Egyptian
coffin depicted several Ancient Egyptian gods. There were several ancient Hindu sculptures
made of bronze, stone or gold, based on their different deities, such as Shiva and Vishnu, as
well as several sculptures of Buddha from Southeast Asia. The Native American art
represented much of their spirituality, for example there were several referenced to the raven,
which is the creator in many of their cultures. The Roman sculptures and some European art
depicted figures from Greek and Roman mythology. Much of the European art depicts
figures from Christianity, a prevalent one being Mary Magdalene.
The Exploring Sustainability and Bingham Canyon Mine exhibits were very closely tied
to perspectives on nature. The Exploring Sustainability exhibit explored the various ways
that we pollute our planet in the present. The exhibit on the mine showed through painting
and photograph how it affects people, the economy, and nature and how they were impacted
by the land slide.
8) What was your personal reaction to this experience? Would you enjoy attending this type of
event again? Why or why not? {Minimum 100 words}

I mostly enjoyed the experience. I found the historical artifacts that came from a variety
of cultures around the world to be very interesting and rewarding. I also found the exhibit on
pollution to be not only interesting, but the most relevant to current events.
I did not enjoy much of the postmodern abstract art as much, however. Although I can
appreciate surrealist and cubist art, I do have a bias towards more realistic or classical art,
especially from ancient times, that depict concrete subjects based on real life. I dont fully
understand the significance of simply painting shapes.
I would definitely enjoy this type of event again, particularly since I wasnt able to see all
of the pieces the first time.

Citations:

Current Exhibitions. (n.d.). UMFA: Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Retrieved July 28, 2014,
from http://umfa.utah.edu/exhibitions_current