Stephen D. Houston on Vital Signs: The Visual Cultures of Maya Writing, Part 1

What is alive or not, socially interactive or inert, may seem clear. It is not. The ancient Maya created images bursting with social energy and a kind of writing crackling with life. Maya writing is among the few known hieroglyphic systems, a type of script where vitality looms large. In ways both solemn and fun, glyphs touch on wider debates about the nature of matter, representation, and figuration, and how, in past belief, things made by humans possessed a miraculous capacity for action.
This is the first talk of the six-part series “Vital Signs: The Visual Cultures of Maya Writing,” presented by Stephen D. Houston of Brown University for the 72nd A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts.
Part 1: ruclips.net/user/liveFn7i3DanIeE
Part 2: ruclips.net/user/liveV-HX6lnJJ5Y
Part 3: ruclips.net/user/liveugbzybYT2ck
Part 4: • Stephen D. Houston on ...
Part 5: ruclips.net/user/live2zixZZ2ehz0
Part 6: ruclips.net/user/liveXOO8m_g31pE
Learn more about the Mellon Lectures: www.nga.gov/research/casva/me...
00:11 Introduction
04:27 Lecture begins
Still haven’t subscribed to our RUclips channels?   
National Gallery of Art ►► / nationalgalleryofartus  
National Gallery of Art Talks ►► / nationalgalleryofartta...
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART    
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.    
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Facebook: / nationalgalleryofart
Twitter: / ngadc
Instagram: / ngadc
Pinterest: / _created
E-News: nga.us4.list-manage.com/subsc...
#Art
#NationalGalleryOfArt
#Museum
#TheCenter
#CASVA
#MellonLectures
#StephenHouston
#Maya
#AncientArt
#Anthropology
#Archaeology
#AncientMesoamerica

[@evelynramos445]

Mellon, my sibling would love this!

[@TedPope]

National Gallery a priceless resource. Thank you to all who made this and other lecture series possible. That said. Turned CC on to get details of spellings of terms. Approximately 49:31 CC reads "[INAUDIBLE]". Yet Stephen D. Houston's words are not "Inaudible"... Houston's words are completely audible. The words are in ancient Mayan but they are audible. I would be overjoyed to transcribe these lectures as a labor of love and perform the proper research and ask questions so the audience especially those using CC because of a hearing impairment are able to read every crucial word spoken by Houston during this National Gallery Talks series. - Warmest Regards, Ted Pope, Morganton NC

[@NationalGalleryofArtTalks]

Thank you for your comment. We've updated these captions to include the missing word.

[@rachellerivera1304]

Perhaps another facet to consider with regards to images depicting writing taking place, especially where actual text accompanies an image... is that the entire purpose of the image is the image itself. As an artist myself, I have depicted figures participating in activities involving books or even smaller artworks and innately I put forth less effort on the words or images with which the figure is interacting. And I do this, not to mystify what the figure is up to, but to make sure my audiance doesn't get lost. It is the bigger image I am trying to present, and omitting smaller details is a way to signal to the viewer that those items are not the story I am trying to tell and therefore they should feel free to skip them over.

[@MrsLarisa800]

Thank you Dr Knorozov

[@NationalGalleryofArtTalks]

Make sure to watch them all.
Part 1: ruclips.net/user/liveFn7i3DanIeE
Part 2: ruclips.net/user/liveV-HX6lnJJ5Y
Part 3: ruclips.net/user/liveugbzybYT2ck
Part 4: ruclips.net/video/DS29gFnxdww/видео.html
Part 5: ruclips.net/user/live2zixZZ2ehz0
Part 6: ruclips.net/user/liveXOO8m_g31pE

[@JoProcter]

I have not been able to get this to run.

[@michele.s]

there was about a min and a half in the beginning where the screen was just black. try scrolling ahead to a bit after 2 minutes

[@evelynramos445]

Similarities Inca

[@evelynramos445]

Calligraphic, flowing autono..

[@evelynramos445]

Amazing

[@evelynramos445]

Thank you, great tutorial packed, charged research!