As we prepared for our tour of Teotihuacan (pronounced tay-oh-tee-wah-KAHN) we looked over some of the notes we had taken from our classroom research and our visit to the Museum of Anthropology.
Teotihuacan’s name—the place where men become gods expresses the reverence the Aztecs attributed to this abandoned, partially ruined ancient city centuries after its habitation.
Some brief facts:
The first settlement at Teotihuacan can be dated ca. A.D. 30-150 B.C. based on the carbon 14 date of charcoal found in the interior of an early mound. The city was formed in an expanse of about nine square miles located in the eastern pocket of the Valley of Mexico. It suddenly met its end around 700 AD. How such a large city, the largest of ancient Mesoamerica, emerged and why it was burned down by unknown invaders bringing the end to an incredibly rich and flourishing period in Mesoamerican history, are questions which have fueled many studies and yielded very few definitive answers. Through the efforts of many we have a substantial amount of information which forms a rich beginning of the study of the culture of these early urbanites. It is estimated that at the time of its height Teotihuacan housed 125,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city in the world at AD 600.
We decided to begin our trip to Teotihuacan early in the day as the class decided they wanted to climb some of the pyramids. We prepared ourselves with sunhats and sun cream as well as water canteens. The water canteens was an idea brought up by an astute observer who saw no pictures of trees among all the photographs we had viewed of the site! Also the guide book mentioned that at the top of the pyramids waited vendors with exorbitantly priced drinks for their thirsty visitors who made it to the top!
We proceeded to take the Metro and then a bus to reach Teotihuacan, located 48 km north of the city center. As we approached Teotihuacan on the highway we were awed by the incredible scale of this ancient city (Slide # 13 ). The mile-and-a-half stretch of the “Street of the Dead” is one of the most arresting concentrations of monumental architecture in the world (Slide #14 ). This “avenue” is dominated by its major pyramids, the pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. Even though what we were seeing was in its skeletal form without the white and red plaster that once covered its scores of platforms, without the ornate temples that once topped them, we felt in awe of this mysterious city we had begun to learn about.
Investigating the layout of the city and examining the architectural remains and artifacts discovered creates a rich source for introducing many art projects with students where they can gain an understanding of the past still influencing the culture of Mexico today.
Activity No. 4
Objective:
To introduce relief carving and its use in the sculptured surfaces of Teotihuacan a visit to the Temple of the Feathered Serpent cannot be overlooked.
Materials:
Plaster
Modeling tools—plastic or wooden
Dull bladed dinner knives
Acrylic paint
Acrylic polymer Motivation:
View the slides from the Temple of the Feathered Serpent (Slide # 15-18 ). Here we are separated from the palaces and major temples, not by overwhelming height and mass, as in the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, but by architecturally expressed distance that is horizontal rather than vertical. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent formed the religious center of this huge compound called the Ciudadela (Slide # 19 ). It is thought to have been developed by a powerful ruler (ca. A.D. 150-225) who sought to use the prestige of its religion to make it significant as a place where ritual had to be performed to ensure the world’s continued existence.
In its sculptural decoration the Feathered Serpent illustrates the moment of creation as it was described in the highland Maya
Popol Vuh
. The
Popol Vuh
relates that in the still darkness before the creation only the creator plumed serpent lived in the ocean. The earth and human beings were not so much made but “thought”. For further interest there is a video which is the animation of this creation story available for borrowing through the Yale Teachers Institute in New Haven.
Examining the slides of the facade of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent we can see incredible examples of both low and high relief sculpture.
Procedure:
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1. Relief sculpture can be made through simple carving techniques. I would suggest that Plaster of Paris be used because of its easy carving properties.
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2. Mix the plaster(see specificdirections for the mixing of plaster in Activity No. 5 of this unit) and pour into a shoe box lid or any box which you can fill to a height of 1 inch.
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3. After the plaster sets up—at least overnight—remove the cardboard and let the plaster slab thoroughly dry (no moisture or coolness to touch should remain).
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4. Sketch the image you would like to carve with a pencil. You may suggest to your students that they may copy images they enjoyed during their excursion to Teotihuacan.
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5. Procede to carve into the plaster with modeling tools or dull bladed dinner knives. Plastic knives with serrated edges work well too. Encourage the students to attempt the more high relief work (carving to a half inch depth ) but they need not rush the carving or the piece may snap in half.
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6. The final image can be sanded smooth in places if desired or embellished with texture—let students experiment.
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7. The finished pieces can be painted with acrylics if desired and then given a final coating of acrylic polymer matte, if available, to protect the exterior surface from chipping. Poster, watercolor, or tempera paint can be substituted for acrylic, however the surface will not be as durable. 8. The resulting carved reliefs could then be displayed as a unit by lying them together on a tabletop or mounting them on a sturdy corrugated board with elmers glue. It might be interesting for the students to assemble such a facade as their “temple”!
Activity No. 5
Objective:
To introduce the mold making process and its origins in Teotihuacan culture.
This project can also be used to examine the nature of positive and negative space in sculpture.
Materials:
Oil base clay / plasticine or modeling clay
Water base clay Release agent—vaseline or baby oil
Plaster of Paris
Bucket
Small cardboard milk carton
Motivation:
Have the students visit the Peabody Museum and examine the Teotihuacan small ceramic figures in the glass case. Look at the third row on the bottom first, then compare to the figures on the top row how are they different? Ask the students how they would make replicas of these ceramic figures. Introduce the Teotihuacan life of many compounds (Slide # 20-24 ) producing different objects needed in this culture.
It is believed that these compounds could have been occupied by corporate groups with common occupations, for it has been archaeologically observed that craftsman dedicated to different manufactures lived in separate compounds. Although most of the people of Teotihuacan were farmers approximately 20 % were craftsman working in compounds devoted to specific occupations e.g. pottery, obsidian (natural glass material found in veins of volcanic rock forming the mercantile basis on which the urban center survived), basketry, clothing, and stone work.
Introduce the idea of a craft guild. It might be a good idea if the students bring a small sketchbook to note different ideas they see in the pieces in the case. What might be the reason to create these pieces in such great quantity? Think about the more complex symbols on the mold made ones and how mass production supported the dissemination of these symbols and their meanings.
Back in the classroom have a demo ready of a mold making activity for the students to observe the steps necessary for the pieces they will make.
Procedure:
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1. Using the plasticene or oil base clay have the students create a face adding as many details as they choose. The face should be built in relief style on a flat board so they can easily make a one piece mold from it.
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2. Build a wall by evenly cutting out the bottom of a milk carton and place it around the face when the face is completed. Make sure the bottom of the wall is secure to the base so there is no chance for the liquid plaster to leak out. Use the remaining oil base clay to insure this.
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3. Add the release agent to the original and the inside walls. This will allow the mold to break away from the original piece upon separation.
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4. Mix the plaster of paris. If you have never mixed plaster of paris before follow the directions on the box for the correct proportions or use my method:
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a. Fill a bucket approx. 1/2 to 3/4 full of hot (not scalding) water.
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b. Gradually sprinkle the plaster into the water until islands start forming and sinking into the water. Keep adding the plaster until the island stops sinking ( in other words the water has absorbed all the plaster it can).
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c. Stir the plaster/water gently with your hands until it is of a thick cream consistency. Do not stir briskly as this will create too many air bubbles which may disturb the surface of the finished mold.
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5. Immediately fill all the milk cartons making sure to cover the original completely to approx. 1/2 in. above the highest point of the original. Tap the outside edges of the walls to release any air bubbles trapped inside the plaster piece. The bubbles will then rise to the surface of what will become the back of the mold.
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6. Allow the plaster to thoroughly dry, usually overnight, before separating the mold from the original.
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7. Allow the mold to thoroughly dry ( it will not feel cool to the touch and will become lighter due to the evaporation process). When dry use a stiff brush to take away any particles of oil base clay remaining on the mold from the original.
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8. Now that the mold is ready you can make several copies by pressing oil base clay into the mold and pulling it away carefully showing the original form once again. If you would like to make ceramic pieces and have a kiln to fire them use water based clay to press into the mold. This would be ideal as the pieces could then be painted in the brightly colored tradition of the Teotihuacan.
Activity No. 6
Objective:
To introduce the process of using templates to create pattern in mural construction based upon the murals discovered at Teotihuacan.
Materials:
Large white or brown mural paper 18” x 24” drawing paper\
Scissors
Pencils
Tempera or acrylic paint
Motivation:
View the slides from Teotihuacan murals (Slides # 25-34).
Mural painting was the principal art form in Teotihuacan. Virtually all the excavated wall surfaces of Teotihuacan were once painted, adorned with complex figural designs and patterns. So far about forty structures have been partially or completely uncovered. This is only a fraction of the buildings of this ancient city, which was, at its maximum extent (A.D. 650) greater in size than Rome inside the Aurelian walls. Among the forty buildings there are about three hundred different mural designs. This is small in comparison to what most probably numbered in the tens of thousands.
The astute observer in the beginning of this unit that observed the lack of trees near Teotihuacan unknowingly tapped the source for the great amount of fresco painting on the walls of the city. The pine trees which at one time were in great abundance were chopped down to extinction in the preparation of the limestone which had to be burned to produce the lime for the painting of the stuccoed walls. To the environmentally sensitive this may have seemed to be unsound but it points to the great importance these images were to all the people of Teotihuacan. The murals were found not only in temples and public buildings but also in the apartment compounds and smaller habitations.
The number of repetitive designs suggests that patterns may have been used. These patterns or templates are not the same as the stenciling the students today may be familiar with. The templates, sometimes called cartoons, are simple. A drawing is made on paper or some other perishable material and placed on the plastered area to be painted. The lines of the drawing are marked with a hard instrument to press lines or punctuations into the still-wet plaster leaving the outlines of the image. This was a technique common to the fresco painting of the Old World.
In the following procedure the wet plaster will be replaced with the butcher paper as the wall surface.
Procedures:
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1. Have the students design a template they would like to repeat in a creation of their own mural. The butcher paper can represent the wall as the students experiment with this process. Encourage the students to think about symbols in their environment which they might use representing the city of New Haven, e.g. the elm tree, symbol representing the nine square pattern of New Haven, or perhaps images of the people.
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The patterns of the Teotihuacan are not involved with perspective or the illusion of three dimensional space so the students could mimic this flat patterning in their conceptions.
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Students could work as artisans mimicking a compound of Teotihuacan.
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2. All the border design patterns could be cut a similar size, so perhaps some of the students could organize the border patterns while others work on the more central images. Carbon paper can be used behind the paper templates to transfer their designs onto the butcher paper.