Week 8: Art of the Americas & Africa and the Pacific Islands

Question 1

Coiling

Answer 1

basket-weaving technique using a central foundation that is spiraled or coiled, and wrapped with another fiber that is stitched back into the previous row (See Chapter 3.4, page 443)

Question 2

Contour rivalry

Answer 2

a design in which the lines can be read in more than one way at the same time, depending on the angle from which it is viewed (See Chapter 3.4, page 430)

Question 3

Embroidery

Answer 3

decorative stitching generally made with colored thread applied to the surface of a fabric (See Chapter 3.4, page 431)

Question 4

Hieroglyph

Answer 4

written language involving sacred characters that may be pictures as well as letters or signifiers of sounds (See Chapter 3.4, page 435)

Question 5

Monumental

Answer 5

having massive or impressive scale (See Chapter 3.4, page 435)

Question 6

Motif

Answer 6

a distinctive visual element, the recurrence of which is often characteristic of an artist’s work (See Chapter 3.4, page 442)

Question 7

Pictograph

Answer 7

picture used as a symbol in writing (See Chapter 3.4, page 435)

Question 8

Repatriation

Answer 8

return of cultural artifacts, often sacred remains, to their country of origin (See Chapter 3.4, page 444)

Question 9

Stela

Answer 9

upright stone slab decorated with inscriptions or pictorial relief carvings (See Chapter 3.4, page 430)

Question 10

Stepped pyramid

Answer 10

a pyramid consisting of several rectangular structures placed one on top of another (See Chapter 3.4, page 435)

Question 11

Stylized

Answer 11

art that represents objects in an exaggerated way to emphasize certain aspects of the object (See Chapter 3.4, page 430)

Question 12

Triptych

Answer 12

an artwork comprising three panels, normally joined together and sharing a common theme (See Chapter 3.4, page 440)

Question 13

Twining

Answer 13

basket-weaving technique consisting of twisting two strands of material around a foundation of parallel sticks (See Chapter 3.4, page 443)

Question 14

Abstract

Answer 14

an artwork the form of which is simplified, distorted, or exaggerated in appearance (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 15

Coiling

Answer 15

the use of long coils of clay—rather than a wheel—to build the walls of a pottery vessel (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 16

Contour

Answer 16

the outline that defines a form (See Chapter 3.5, page 455)

Question 17

Figurative

Answer 17

art that portrays items perceived in the visible world, especially human or animal forms (See Chapter 3.5, page 447)

Question 18

Firing

Answer 18

heating ceramic, glass, or enamel objects in a kiln, to harden them, fuse the components, or fuse a glaze to the surface (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 19

Geometric

Answer 19

predictable and mathematical (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 20

Kente cloth

Answer 20

well-known African textile made from silk and cotton fabric, consisting of interwoven strips of cloth; native to the Akan group in Ghana (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 21

Medium (plural media)

Answer 21

the material on or from which an artist chooses to make a work of art (See Chapter 3.5, page 453)

Question 22

Minaret

Answer 22

a tall slender tower, particularly on a mosque, from which the faithful are called to prayer (See Chapter 3.5, page 450)

Question 23

Modernist, Modernism

Answer 23

a radically new twentieth-century art and architectural movement that embraced modern industrial materials and a machine aesthetic (See Chapter 3.5, page 446)

Question 24

Monolith

Answer 24

a monument or sculpture made from a single piece of stone (See Chapter 3.5, page 452)

Question 25

Nkisi nkondi (plural minkisi minkondi)

Answer 25

combines the words for “sacred medicine” and “to hunt”; figurative sculpture(s) used in rituals by the Yombe of the west coast of Central Africa (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 26

Representational

Answer 26

art that depicts figures and objects so that we recognize what is represented (See Chapter 3.5, page 449)

Question 27

Tattoos

Answer 27

designs marked on the body by injecting dye under the skin (See Chapter 3.5, page 454)

Question 28

Terra-cotta

Answer 28

iron-rich clay, fired at a low temperature, which is traditionally brownish-orange in color (See Chapter 3.5, page 447)