Medusa is an ongoing traditional subject within art. However, she is often depicted as an objectified version of her decapitated head or as a demonised version of a woman. In this research, I...Show moreMedusa is an ongoing traditional subject within art. However, she is often depicted as an objectified version of her decapitated head or as a demonised version of a woman. In this research, I analysed if contemporary artworks were depicting Medusa as feminine and monstrous by researching and discussing her physical features, as well as determining what these aspects can tell us about contemporary society. This was achieved through the use of three case studies; Luciano Garbati’s Medusa with the Head of Perseus, Damien Hirst’s The Severed Head of Medusa, and PichiAvo’s Medusa. Through visual analysis and comparison, combined with literary and visual contextualisation from both contemporary and historic times, it was determined that contemporary artworks tend to stray from the stereotypical media portrayal of Medusa as a beast. Each artwork had feminine and monstrous aspects, each with different intentions and reasons. What they ended up showing within society is that Medusa’s story is being retold and the arts are helping convey this message. While some still focus on the monetary gains of art, others use their artworks of Medusa to support female empowerment.Show less
The Aztec are frequently defined by their ruthless battles, blood sacrifices, magical shamans and ancient culture. This narrative has been maintained in museums of ethnography, where emphasis is...Show moreThe Aztec are frequently defined by their ruthless battles, blood sacrifices, magical shamans and ancient culture. This narrative has been maintained in museums of ethnography, where emphasis is put on religion and ritual, at the expense of technological innovation. This paper examines the Aztec uses of highly advanced technology (i.e., civil engineering, architecture, agriculture, metallurgy, information technology) and whether these aspects are represented in the collections of the British Museum (London), the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) and the Volkenkunde Museum (Leiden). Furthermore, this paper offers a rhetorical analysis on how these collections are being displayed in the museums’ permanent exhibitions and what narrative the museums are persuading their visitors of. It concludes that the collections within the museums in question are not indicative of innovative advancements, resulting in the primitivizing of the Aztec Empire and condemning them further back in the alleged evolutionary timeline.Show less
