Fragmentary Excess: Body, Text, Receptacle

Two-Dimensional Bodies

The Greek ceramic sherds grouped here represent only a fragment of the types and styles of decoration of Archaic and Classical Greek Red- and Black-Figure pottery. Fragments of the bodies or handles of kraters (mixing bowls), amphorae (storage vessels), and kylixes (drinking cups) themselves, each of these sherds also includes partial depictions of bodies. 







These two-dimensional bodies, in addition to their art historical value, are intimately connected with the actions of real, human bodies. The vessels themselves were created by the hands of men, the human and mythical figures were then painted flat on the three-dimensional objects; only when the vessels were in use were these painted bodies activated and in motion themselves. Further, the dismemberment of the two-dimensional bodies was likely the fault of real human bodies and their actions. In their current fragmentary nature, it is only through imagination that the full bodies and environments of these figures can be envisioned. 



 

This page has paths:

This page references: