Pre-Columbian Art and Context

First Century Izapan Altar

According to Kit White, "Context determines meaning.  The social or cultural space in which an event occurs or an object resides imbues it with particular meaning."  Art is not made in isolation, it is affected by one's own culture and biases.  The Pre-Columbian artwork pictured here, had a different meaning for those that created it in the first-century and differs on how it is viewed today.  To understand the original meaning of an artwork, one would need to take into account the artist's culture at the time it was created.  Since the original culture that an artwork was created in changes throughout the life of an artwork, one can never truly feel the same impact that the artwork was initially intended to express.  The artwork that is created today, will have a different impact in a culture one hundred years from now.  That is the great thing about art, it's impact on the viewer changes throughout the artwork's lifetime.  Enjoy!