Cravens World When you first walk into Cravens World Exhibit the walls and floor are painted white, very simplistic in order to avoid overwhelming the observer. The observers eye is automatically drawn to a circular shelving system, which holds many of the aesthetic artifacts. The center piece is transparent to provide the observer the opportunity to examine objects from every side and perspective. There are no distractions in the exhibit, other than the other marvelous artifacts mounted on the wall and in clear cases. Surrounding the main circle are artifacts in display windows from all around the world. There is close to no description as to what each artifact is on the main display, only an inventory number which the viewer then has to search in a detailed book to find more information on each item. Tucked away in a corner is a touch screen computer that allows you to explore all the tagged items to find out where they came from. Cravens World exhibit is “designed and constructed for visual encounters— you enter a transformative space. Hundreds of objects surround you, human achievements from other places and time”(Cravens World, p.27). The center piece was specifically designed to mimic a globe in real life, and the artifacts are placed strategically placed in relation to their origin on the globe, hence Cravens World. The artist wanted the observer to experience the world of the human aesthetic through artifacts which were created over many generations. Within the central globe the viewer is able to witness the continuation of traditions among the same culture just generations apart. To the viewers surprise the continuity of the human aesthetic from region to region does not change much, maybe the artists talents get better and the detail in the pieces get more intricate. The objects were strategically set next to one another in order to compare and contrast the artifacts. Since I have been reading about the origin and history of these artifacts and seeing pictures of these timeless pieces, I was especially intrigued to view the objects one by one to see their imperfections yet perfectly preserved exterior. There was works from the Near East and Greece, and I just couldn’t believe my eyes as I was seeing timeless pieces from centuries ago. The artifacts that stuck out most to me were the pots and vessels that I have read so much of in the first chapters of our course book. These vessels were a significant part of daily lives, and some form of the pot or vessel were created in every civilization we have looked at. No matter what region of the world the pot or vessel was made, it was made for the purpose of holding and transporting liquid. The images in the book make the pots look perfectly symmetrical with the smoothest surfaces. Yet in real life the vessels were flawed and misshaped, which only gave them more character and beauty. These vessels were made by hand before the amazing technology we have today, and they are still in nearly perfect condition. This goes to show the craftsmanship and artistry that the citizens obtained and perfected before the common era. The displays that were set outside Cravens World, around the perimeter of the exhibit, were set in groups depending on where the artifacts were found geographically. The artifacts that Annette Cravens has collected come from all around the world from all different time periods, ranging from Africa, the Near East, Greece, North America, Europe, and found before the common era to present day artworks. The most shocking thing to me as an observer was trying to decipher which artworks were from present day artists and which were hundreds of years old. This goes to show that cultures aesthetics have not changed, and the tradition of beauty holds within each region around the world. When looking at the jewelry from Africa the designs between generations were almost the same and the necklaces are still considered beautiful worldwide. Since the artist insisted that the walls and floor be white and absolutely no distraction to onlookers, it required the observer “to look closely at the objects; their form, color, and other aesthetic details”(Cravens World,pg.27) This also meant that there wasn’t much written detail describing each item. For me that was troubling, because I was curious as to what exactly I was looking at and where it was coming from or how old it was. There was an inventory number for each item, but I had to then go over to the index book and look each item up and compare them from the books view. Looking the items up one by one wasn’t exactly challenging or difficult, it just distracted me from comparing the artifacts to each other the way the artist wanted me to. But maybe that is what the artist wanted? Annette Cravens may have wanted the observer to guess or decide which generation each item came from and compare it to others before learning the true details of each piece. “In Cravens Worlds, we sought to prove the “stand” but simultaneously to push the stand away, to provide the link of information, classification and history, and simultaneously permit an opening for new trajectories and flows”Cravens World, pg.36). Annette Cravens was trying to tell us that these artifacts speak for themselves and tell a story without the artist telling you for them. Each artifact is uniquely special and projects great imagination and stories to the observer. All together I was extremely pleased with the display of the exhibit as a whole, from the chosen artifacts to the creative way of showing them off. In the end I was able to see and experience artifacts from ancient times, yet the same aesthetically beautiful art is being made today. This goes to show that the human aesthetic has not changed over time from one region to the next, yet with a globalizing world the human aesthetic is beginning to melt together to create on ideal human aesthetic.

Works Cited
Biehl, Peter F. Cravens World: The Human Aesthetic. Buffalo, NY: U at Buffalo Art Galleries, U at Buffalo, The State U of New York, 2015. Print.