the Transformation of Corset

During the Victorian era, the corset was closely connected with female fashion and social aesthetic. Society morbidly required women to have an extremely thin waist, so a tight corset was necessary for all females. Women’s bodies were facing serious health problems because their bodies were totally distorted by those corsets.

However, because of the rise of women’s social status and the voice against the sacrifice of health, the corset was constantly transformed into easier types. Especially, under the spread of the New Woman ideal, the painful traditional aesthetics towards women had gone together with the end of the Victorian Period. Female clothes went to a more rational style. For heath, the pressure on the waist was much reduced. Corset began to hide more on the hip and legs, and its function even began to show as a bra in later types. Until the modern bra appeared, the corset finally disappeared in female daily clothes.

Dress & Tailored suits

In earlier, due to the left influence of the Victorian Period, the dress was the absolutely custom for women. It was always designed so long that the back was always dragged to the ground. Nevertheless, the shorter dress was always one of the most main pursuits of rational costumes and an active lifestyle. The dress’s length was initially reduced to the level around the ankle. Until the First World War, the dress’s overall silhouette was constantly narrowed and straightened.

Since the more women’s participating in sport and other outdoor movements, more convenient costumes were required. Therefore, the tailored suits became an important cloth in women’s closets. Those suits were much less decorated than the dress, thus women were more masculine and blend into the male-dominated environment. Together with the streamlined dress, those types of cloth had become a new fashion in society at that time. Those all are also accompanied by the fighting of Women’s Suffrage.

References

https://medium.com/@aakankshaagnihotri/fashion-history-scanning-through-1900s-to1919-s-52130c693de3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900s_in_Western_fashion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Suffrage_and_Western_Women%27s_Fashion_through_the_early_1900s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_dress_reform https://www.thefashionfolks.com/blog/20th-century-fashion-history-1900-1910/

Eugène Grasset

Eugène Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) was a Franco-Swiss artist and also one of the Art Nouveau painters. In early, he was taught by François Bocion who had been teaching at the Lausanne École Industrielle for forty years. After graduation, his family took him on a trip to Egypt which had an important influence on his future style. He became interested in Egyptian art and Japanese prints.

In addition, Grasset’s father was a cabinetmaker and sculptor, that Eugène Grasset was influenced by him so much since he was young because he could have so much practice in these crafts.

Eugène Grasset‘s works were known for delicate elements, such as flowers, trees, and plants, and largely using curvy and circular motifs. The influence of Japanism is obvious, complex lines and float graphic build up a lot of his images.

Alfred Choubrac

Alfred Choubrac ( Paris, 30 December 1853 – Paris, 25 July 1902 ) was a French poster artist. His elder brother, Léon Choubrac (17 November 1847 – 5 April 1885), was also a poster designer, and they were both trained by Charles Doërr and Isidore Pils at the École des Beaux Arts. Afterward, they created the Ateliers Choubrac and work for themselves.

Alfred Choubrac’s works are mainly about the posters for the shows in the Parisian night-life scene of the Belle Époque such as the Théâtre des Variétés, Théâtre du Châtelet, Folies Bergère. Due to this topic, in April 1891, under the orders from the Minister of the Interior, several of Alfred’s posters were prohibited and he was brought to court along with the printers. However, Alfred said that “nudity is exposed everywhere and in much more provocative ways; and I frankly confess that I do not see where the evil was, I sought to make a work of art and nothing more.”

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Grasset https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/eugene-grasset/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Choubrac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Choubrac https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/explore/people/118578-alfred-choubrac.html

Back Ground Summary

Qianlong is a renowned Emperor in Chinese history, reigned from 1735 to 1796, who is famous for his legendary life. He sustained the previous high-speed development of society in his early and mid periods but lost the control to the internal corruption in later years. However, no matter how controversial he is in political, he absolutely influenced Chinese culture and arts a lot. He was not a very literate person but he really liked to collect literature, arts, crafts, machines, etc; he also travelled around the country many times. In folk stories, he at least six times travelled with a large group of accompanying people to the Jiangnan area. Someone even considers this large amount of expenditure as a reason for the treasury deficit.

Mechanical Clock

Because of the industrial revolution and the increasing communication between eastern and western in that period, more and more people began to tribute something highly scientific instead of traditional treasures to the Chinese emperor. One of the most representative is the mechanical clock which many Chinese emperors liked the most from western. Qianlong was also in love with this novel artificial stuff, especially when this clock is not only mechanical in the movement of the dial. Usually, the whole clocks are made up of complicated device combinations that run the decorations on the appearance, normally including animals, stars, and figures, etc. Qianlong liked the mechanical clock so much and that he even on-site command the production in the palace but not only bought from the western. Since the emperor’s love towards this machine, the craftsmen constantly transformed and reformed it fresh for Qianlong seeing each clock was new. Finally, the clock making technique developed so much that they could even make flowers blooming, pictures changing, text appearing and figures actions on the clock.

Obviously, the style of this clock is deeply influenced by western culture, especially Baroque. In the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese royal family liked this kind of complex appearance very much, and they developed it to more and more complicated patterns.

Revolving Vase

Chinese pottery was highly developed in the Qianlong era, traditional pottery differentiated to diverse forms. One of them is the revolving vase which cleverly combined with the machine. It usually made of the outer vase, inner vase, and a revolving device. For the outside appearance, the outer vase has the hollow patterns which allows people to see the inner vase. Then, the inner vase has pictures on its surface for viewing. During the rotation, the viewed inner vase’s appearance changes. In addition, the type of device determined the outer vase or the inner vase can move.

However, since the technical difficulty and resource wasting, the revolving vases is hard to see except the Qianlong era in Chinese history.

Wenwan(Artworks in the Study Room)

Chinese people named the brush, ink, paper, Inkstone as Four Treasures of the Study in the past. Furthermore, accompany with the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, more and more people began to truly make these everyday items into works of art. Wenwan is the general name for all of those, and in addition to the above, it also includes pen holder, pen washer, ink bed, paperweight, printing box, seal, etc, and even walnut.

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Above is one of Qianlong’s ink collections which decorated by golden patterns. The text means the essence of the sun and the moon.

References

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/%E6%B8%85_%E9%83%8E%E4%B8%96%E5%AE%81%E7%BB%98%E3%80%8A%E6%B8%85%E9%AB%98%E5%AE%97%E4%B9%BE%E9%9A%86%E5%B8%9D%E6%9C%9D%E6%9C%8D%E5%83%8F%E3%80%8B.jpg http://fashion.163.com/13/0805/14/95H72VIO00264MK3_mobile.html http://bbs.1shoucang.com/data/attachment/forum/201305/08/101719ohhgw6wwwhax4lql.jpg http://antiquities.npm.gov.tw/Utensils_Page.aspx?ItemId=6 https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/44012334 http://imgsrc.baidu.com/baike/pic/item/6a63f6246b600c33b196edeb174c510fd9f9a121.jpg

Isaac Newton, one of the most famous physicists, was born on 4 January 1643, at Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth. No need to more explain his life, he is too famous hard to introduce him differently for avoiding repeating of the same stories. Now, just directly reflecting on his achievement in finding gravity.

A widely known story is that after Newton was hit on the head by a fallen apple, he began to think of the reason why the apples fall but the stars do not. After serious reflection, smart Newton got the answer, gravity. However, truth is not only a straightforward fairy tale.

First off, Newton was considering why the apples always just straightly fall down but not gone up or change its direction of movement in the air. Then, he presumed the existence of something that attracts the apples to move towards the center of the Earth. This is the most initial gravity, and then he tried to calculate if this theory is workable for the moon which is much larger and far away. Afterward, by comparing his calculated result with the observed information, he got the answer that everything has this kind of ability to influence all the other stuff.

Nevertheless, except technically the unimaginable amounts of calculation and observation for the moon, one of the well-known problems is the conflict between Newton and Robert Hooke. Indeed in the earlier time, about the exploring of Opticsn, light, Hooke strongly opposed Newton’s hypothesis and thesis. They were endlessly struggling with each other in that period, and even when Newton was calculating the gravity, he was fighting with Hooke in the letter. Finally, when Newton proved the existe of gravity, Hooke was also clamming that find gravity is his achievement but not Newton. Ultimately, those increasing discord caused a serious problem after Hooke dead. Newton destroyed all the portrait of Hooke and was even trying to clean all Hook’s personal information.

References

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61zOAr3OsJL.SL1001.jpg https://www.newhistorian.com/2016/08/22/robert-hooke-wrath-isaac-newton/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton#Mechanics_and_gravitation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hooke

Amiens Cathedral

The biggest church in France, Amiens Cathedral, was built between 1220 and 1270. The surface area is 7,700 square meters and 126 pillars support its space. As one of the oldest French Gothic buildings, it locates in Amiens beside River Somme and about 120 kilometres north of Paris.

The Exterior

Amiens Cathedral’s doors of the central portal are divided by a trumeau with a statue of the Christ. They are flanked on both sides with images of the apostles. When people lookup in front of the portal, they will see numerous angles, martyrs, and virgins with the Tree of Jesse forming the outer ring. Above the portals, a gallery and a row of 22 oversized statues of kings are illustrated. Furthermore, the chevet of Amiens Cathedral displays standard Gothic characteristics including flying buttresses. By the way, the original facades were full of colours and we can see that again by modern technology.

The Interior

There are also numerous interior decorations in Amiens Cathedral. The great collection of statues at Amiens would later be known as “the Bible of Amiens”. For example, the baroque pulpit, made of marble and gilded wood. It is hold by the three allegorical female figures, apparently representing Faith, Hope and Charity, the three Theological Virtues. Furthermore, a large amount of survived stained glasses are also rare after frequent wars.

For architecture itself, the enormous size of the building will impress the visitor immediately. People normally walk into the church by side aisles, which are at a height of 20 m almost double that of Notre Dame in Paris. Nevertheless, the pillars still seem to rise more and more. Afterward, most of the glass in the nave is clear which allowing the church to be flooded by natural light.

References

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Amiens_Cathedral%2C_1903.jpg https://i1.wp.com/frenchmoments.eu/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Amiens-Cathedral-©-Thierry80-licence-CC-BY-SA-4.0-from-Wikimedia-Commons.jpg?fit=1500%2C997&ssl=1 https://www.european-traveler.com/france/visit-amiens-cathedral-largest-gothic-church-france/ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Amiens_cathedral_illuminated.JPG https://frenchmoments.eu/amiens-cathedral/ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/0_Amiens_-Cath%C3%A9drale_Notre-Dame%281%29.JPG

Historical Background

First of all, let’s start from a little bit of Chinese information for this period. Han dynasty is the golden age of China when Europe is in the middle of the Classical period. Han dynasty mainly includes Western Han (206 BC–9 AD) and Eastern Han (25AD–220 AD), they are named differently because of the position of the central government. It is interrupted for a few years by Wang Mang, the nephew of grand empress dowager in that time. Mainly, we will learn some knowledge about tools and technology from the Western Han dynasty.

钱范（QianFan）

The Coin mould of Western Han Dynasty

Qian Fan is the mould for the production of coins in Western Han dynasty. Its material mainly can be pottery, stone, copper, iron, or lead. When casting coins, usually covering a Qian Fan with the other one or a flat board, and then injecting molten bronze into the hole. The inside ditches will drainage bronze liquid into each cell. After cooling, the coins will be taken down and separated. Due to the different methods, the coins which made by two combined moulds will have the pattern on both sides but the coins made with one flat board will have one side smooth.

长信宫灯（Chang Xin Gong Deng）

The Oil Lamp of Chang Xin Palace

Before Western Han dynasty, most of the Chinese oil lamps is a bracket for only holding the oil. However, in Western Han dynasty, people begin to consider the smoke produced by the burned oil because it smells bad and seriously damages the indoor furniture that the partial colour will be darkened. Therefore, the ancient Chinese designed this type of lamp that can collect the smoke into its inside. Chang Xin Gong Deng is a palace lamp, its name is from the inscription on it which writes about its owner’s palace. Its appearance is a palace maid holding a lamp, but it is hollow inside. Fire burns in the lamp part and people can control the light’s direction and brightness by the handle on it. Smoke will follow its sleeve into the body and become dirt. Its head and right arm are detachable which make people can easily clean it.

耧车(Lou Che)

The Plough in Western Han dynasty

Han dynasty largely improved the agricultural efficiency; one part of it is resulted by the development of the farming method, the other reason is the investment of plough in Western Han dynasty. Lou Che is the oldest seeding machine in China, which also revolutionarily increased the farming speed by simultaneously performing ditching, sowing, fertilizing, covering, suppressing.

When farming, Lou Che is fixed at a cow or other animals and pulled forward. Seeds are put in the box, and they will be sowed into the ground through the inside of the wood strips. It sowing speed is controllable in order to ensure the seed can be averagely lined into the soil. By the later historic record in Eastern Han dynasty, one person and one cow, their finished farming area can achieve one Qing (about 6.66 km2) per day.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty https://new.qq.com/omn/20181128/20181128C04R0Z.html
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%92%B1%E8%8C%83
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%92%B1%E8%8C%83 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%95%B7%E4%BF%A1%E5%AE%AE%E7%87%88
https://baike.baidu.com/tashuo/topic?topicId=d6e5cbd731ac38efbb964ff0 https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2143112561389621508?bd_page_type=0&pu=&init=middle
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%80%AC
https://www.zhihu.com/question/291766752
http://www.i3done.com/course/4996.html http://zjbwg.cdstm.cn/index.phpm=sevenbooks&a=Showall&picid=793&i=2&placeid=144&typeid=75
http://www.meitianshe.cn/wenhua/baike-7.html

Self-grading：7/10

I used C to guide people to read this spread, the inspiration came from the realization that “Calgary” and “China” are both having C as their initial letters. I want to introduce myself to other people as a Chinese international student who has already had enough living experience in Canada. The other C words furthermore described me in detail about my interest and ability. The whole spread was made with a lot of Chinese elements. The central C is a broken Chinese ancient copper coin. The line patterns are the traditional Chinese decoration since the Bronze age. The beast face in the middle of the right page is my own creation referring to the beast face on the Chinese bronze. Those, especially the bronze, are something that people rarely mentioned when they think of Chinese style, thus I want to display this neglected Chinese art. I like to share with others the knowledge that I know can be helpful to gain more understanding about China and to have more different views about art and the world. On the sides, I used my Chinese and English names to make a symmetrical view building a balanced sense in my spread. I think this can help people easier to remember my name.

During making this Yearbook spread, I learned a lot about the overall coordination. In the beginning, I just had the idea of “C”, I thought this can be a good idea as the foundation to start designing this spread and add something else. However, after I had the sketch, I just realize that this spread is limited by its size that cannot contain so much information I want to say. Then the symmetric view came on the top as my main designing goal to help the whole spread having an obvious outline. This change helped me very much in the next step of making the context. I delated a lot of extra information but just kept the idea of “Five C words”. This experience can be helpful in the future when I truly having some creation related to this kind of stuff.

This spread is less in colour because I initially wanted to make the style that focuses more on holistic. It was also the reason for the repeated Chinese “S-like” pattern. However, the final vision looks too monotonous and lesses the power in creating a strong first impression.