The brilliant movement of the 12th centuty: Gothic art

“¿Quién no queda fascinado al contemplar las maravillosas catedrales góticas españolas como la de Toledo, Burgos, León, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca o las extranjeras como Notre Dame (Francia), la de Colonia (Alemania), o la de Salesbury (Inglaterra)?” This quiestion is made by the historian professor Ricardo Murillo in the magazine “Entre colegas”. But, appart from been captivated by the  Gothic Art, do we really know what is it about? By what type of art is influenced? Or, what are its features?

The Gothic Art is related to the Early Middle Ages, after the Romantic art. It is an European artistic style with a chronology that fluctuates approximately between 1140 and the last decades of the XVI century, depending on the place. It is considerated one of the most important moments from the artistic point of view. This art was used in architecture, paintings and sculptures. But, do you know the characteristics of this movement?

The term “gothic” was put on use by rich people from the Renaissance in a pejorative sense, to refer the Middle Ages art, what they considered inferior and barbarian.

Despite it is a continuation of the Romantic, in the Gothic there are many different and opposite attitudes. While the Romantic style is kown thanks to its darkness and meditation, the Gothic involves the opposite: light, colour, expressiveness and naturalism. But it has differences depending on the place where it is made. For example, there are many differences between the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris (from the French school) and the Cathedral of León, Spain (from the Spanish school). Appart from these schools (French and Spanish) there are others very important such as Portuguese or Italian school. Those schools created Gothic style in three main types of art: sculpture, painting and architecture.

The Gothic sculpture is characterized by the interest in nature. It still has the monumental and hug character of the romantic art but figures have more expressivity and they are more “humans”. These sculptures express more feelings such as happiness, sadness, pain… In the sculptures of this style portraits make a comeback. The exterior of the temples is progressively filled with decoration that, as has been said, is foccused on plants, humans and feellings.

What more radically changes in the Gothic style is the painting. It lose its “natural” place and it starts to be in stained glass windows. That explains the limited development of Gothic painting. There are three different phases in the gothic painting. The first one is the Lineal Gothic. This is the first phase and appears in the 1200 when the painting has an special attraction to the lines that defines the outlines. This type of gothig painting persist during all the 13^th century and the early moments og the 14^th century. The second one is the Italian Gothic. This is the next style and it is developed mostly in Sienna and Florence. In this style, the black line disappears. They want to inprove their technique, the study of space, the lineal perspective, the light and the degradation of colours. And the third is the International Gothic. This is the last phase and takes place in the 11^th century. In that period the Italian influences were mixed with the French influences, giving rise to excellent results.

As has been said in ArteLista, “if there is anything that characterices the gothic spirit is the architecture“. Gothic architectures typical expression is the cathedral, where we find all the elements of this style. This type of architecture has three distinct characteristics which set it apart from Romanesque architecture:

• Pointed arches: The use of them was an important innovation. During the Gothic era, builders discovered that pointed arches would give structures amazing strength and stability. Before it, during the Romanesque, they were used but builders didn’t capitalize on the shape.
• Ribbed vault: Gothic builders introduced the echnique of ribbed vaulting. Firstly it was used the barrel vaulting (it carried weight on continuous solid walls) but in the Gothic era the ribbed started to be used (they used columns to support the weight)
• Flying buttresses. In order to prevent the outward collapse of the arches, Gothic architects began using this revolutionary system. Freestanding brick or stone supports were attached to the exterior walls by an arch or a half-arch.

References

• Isabel in “Geografía e historia”, Caracteres generales de la escultura Gótica. Published 2011.02.12. Retrieved 2011.11.26 http://geografiahistoriamontesorientales.blogspot.com/2011/02/caracteres-generales-de-la-escultura.html
• Jesús A. Manzaneque Casero in “Historia del arte”, La escultura gótica. Retreived 2011.11.27 http://almez.pntic.mec.es/~jmac0005/Bach_Arte/gotico/escultura_gotica1.htm
• Jesús A. Manzaneque Casero in “Historia del arte”, La pintura gótica. Retrieved 2011.11.27 http://almez.pntic.mec.es/~jmac0005/Bach_Arte/gotico/pintura_gotica1.htm
• La pintura gótica, características generales y la escuela de los primitivos flamencos. Retrieved 2011.11.27 http://www.alu.ua.es/l/lrr9/pintura_gotica.htm
• In “History Link 101″, Gothic Architecture Retrieved 2011.11.27 http://www.historylink101.com/lessons/art_history_lessons/ma/gothic_architecture.htm

Arctic Monkeys sarean

Ez genekien zer zen Myspace. Britainia Handiko diska salmenten rankingeko lehenengo postuan geunden. Telebistan eta irratian egunero agertzen ginen. Prentsak MySpace kontua ateratzen zuen egunero, eta guk ez genekien zer zen MySpace.

Hauek ziren Arctic Monkeys taldekideen hitzak lortu zuten behin-behineko ospeaz hitz egiterakoan. Nork esango zien Sheffield hiriko kanpoaldeko auzo industrialeko 20 bat urte zuten lau gazteei Interneti esker euren musika mundu osora zabalduko zutela.

Twitter and Facebook as an instant customer help line

Brian Lind (2011), the social media coordinator at the Association of College Unions International, thinks of Twitter and Facebook

as an instant customer help line, it‘s a great megaphone for customers to display satisfaction and dissatisfaction …

Anne Frank: her diary’s impact

 Anne Frank is one of the most famous Jewish victims of the Holocaust because of the diary she kept during her time in hiding before being captured by the Nazis. She died when she was very young due to the fact that she was captured after being two years hidden with her family in Amsterdam. During her this period she wrote the famous diary with all her sensations, thinkings and the events that were happening at the moment. Many experts have analyzed the diary to get more information about the Holocaust and how did Jewish people felt. Some of them have reached the conclusion diary is a fraud.

There have been many publications about the diary because of its relevance in our society and because the impact it had the fact that people could really know what happened and not only which the most important forces said. Millions of people have read it and many experts have talked and write about it for years. But it is really a fraud?

This is what the Instiute for Historical Review tell us:

Is The Diary of Anne Frank genuine? For two years that question was included in the official syllabus “Text and Document Criticism,” a seminar reserved for degreed students in their fourth year. The conclusion of my studies and research is that The Diary of Anne Frank is a fraud.

From rejection to a wide social network trap: Noel Gallagher’s case

The British musician Noel Gallagher is not fond of virtual worlds. This statement could already be done while he was still in Oasis, after hearing him say that he had never used a computer. But as every businessman he is aware that nowadays, the net is the way to keep going his projects, in this case his two recent albums. Some months ago, due to the presentation of his first solo album “High Flying Birds”, he developed a complete web communication plan, maintained by his employees at this record company Sour Smash Records.

In his own marketing promotion we find that he has not only have an own webpage, but he also has a Facebook account, a Twitter account, some Youtube accounts, some blogs and a Myspace account. Taking into account a interview with Britain’s Daily Mirror, where Noel gives his opinion of the use of social networks by celebrities, it can be stated that the development of his plan supposed is not his cup of tea:

“I think in this age of information, there is just too much out there. People talk too much, you know, people ‘Tweeting’, ‘On the way to our first recording session, wearing a green jacket and red shoes, it’s going to be great, album due out’, and it’s like, ‘Don’t tell me that.This is the world in which we live unfortunately. But, to me, magic is always better than anything. The not knowing and the anticipation of what you don’t know is just incredible. It must be better than knowing everything about everybody.

As the blogger Adriaan Pienaar sugest on his “Growing My Audience” post, Mr Gallagher uploads almost every day his different sites, just to be more close to his fans, inform them about his new CD’s novelties and further gigs. Pictures of his shows and public engagements or videos are also uploaded every days in his Facebook accounts. Characterized for his sharp tongue, the guitarist of the worldwide-know music rock band Oasis, this time he  has decided to treat this new ways of communication courteously.

Together with the anouncement of this web communication plan, Noel Gallagher announced that he had recorded two studio albums , one released the 17th of October and called High Flying Birds, and the other one will be released next year, counting on with the colaboration of  Anonymous Androgynous. We’ll have to wait for this second plan, meanwhile we can enjoy of his live performances around Europe or take a look into any of the social networks mentioned before.

Noel Gallagher’s sites:

• Noel Gallagher’s Official Website
• Noel Gallagher’s Official Twitter
• Noel Gallagher’s Official Myspace
• Noel Gallagher’s Official facebook: High Flying Birds
• Noel Gallagher’s Official Facebook
• Sour Smash Records: High Flying Birds
• Noel Gallagher TV
• Noel Gallager VEVO

References:

• Adriaan Pienaar (2011.09.21). Growing My Audience. In Adii.me retrieved 2011.12.05 from
  http://adii.me/2011/09/growing-my-audience/
  
• 10 ways to use social networking tools to promote your bussiness, Debra Littlejohn Shinder (2010, August 19th). Retrieved on Nomvember 13th, 2011 from Techrepublic. 
  http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-ways-to-use-social-networking-tools-to-promote-your-business/1760
  
• Noel Gallagher anuncia nuevo disco solista y gira mundial. Terra (2011, July 6th)- Retrieved on November 13th, 2011. 
  http://entretenimiento.terra.com.pe/musica/noel-gallagher-anuncia-primer-disco-solista-y-gira-mundial,2806f69d3dff0310VgnVCM10000098f154d0RCRD.html
  
• 5 Free ways to promote your website, Gary Reichel(2009, May 21st) Retrieved on November 13th, 2011 from Makeuseof Webpage. 
  http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-ways-to-promote-your-website/
  

Twitter: a good educational tool?

Twitter has been suggested to be an optimus manner for children to learn communication and interaction skills, which any other methods or platforms could never provide us with. Therefore, we would be witnesses of a revolutionary new way of teaching. Now, the question is, is Twitter a really good tool for education?

First of all, let’s analyse what positive aspects have working on Twitter with the youngest students:

What experts appeared to underline the most is children’s literacy development. According to Mike Laurie, a worker of the agency Made by Many in London, taking part in social media helps children to avoid literacy and does increase their ability to express their ideas with grater clarity:

“It stands to reason that children who read and write more are better at reading and writing. And writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, instant messages, and the like all motivate children to read and write. Last month, The National Literacy Trust released the results of a survey of over 3000 children. They observed a correlation between children’s engagement with social media and their literacy. Simply put, social media has helped children become more literate. Indeed, Eurostat recently published a report drawing a correlation between education and online activity, which found that online activity increased with the level of formal activity (socio-economic factors are, of course, potentially at play here as well).”

GAZTEAUKERAren interneten erabilera

 

Gazteaukera EAE-ko gazteei bideratutako ataria dugu. Helburutzat gazteoi informazio erabilgarria helaraztea du; hala nola gazteontzako abantailak, zozketak, laguntzak, aisialdirako proposamenak eta beste hainbat aukera. Izatez, Euskadi.net Euskadiko Administrazioen atariak sortutakoa da, gazteoi zehazki bideratuta.

“Gazteek ordu gehiago ematen dituzte interneten nabigatzen telebista ikusten baino” (El Pais, 2007).