Client and Program: Crafting an Artifact

Mayan Royals, or ahaws, spent many years planning and preparing their own extravagant burials. A temple worshipping the deceased Royal was traditionally constructed directly atop the burial chamber. Submerged into the earth, burial chambers housed artifacts including ceramic pottery and ceremonial instruments. Perhaps the most carefully crafted of these artifacts is the jade mask adorning and overlaying the Royal face.
Intricate details on Mayan jade burial masks were created over hundreds of laborious hours. A talented craftsman carefully constructed this artificial skin imported from Mayan lowlands. Oftentimes, Mayan highlanders negotiated trades using jaguar pelts, tropical bird feathers, oils, drugs, spices, and cacao.

Thus, the client is conceivably the most crucial participant of this process: the craftsman. Across vast spatial expanses and through careful negotiation, the craftsman obtains jade. This jade is brought into a moderately-sized workspace; secluded, the individual craftsman constructs the mask. Following a Royal's death, the craftsman sees his creation to it's final destination: the claustrophobic burial chamber space.

Initially, the craftsman must interact with innumerous other Mexican inhabitants--travelers, neighboring villagers and merchants. He travels, talks, interacts, barters, travels... He returns to solitude, creating. Eventually his talent so highly valued by the ordinary Mayan manifests itself fully in a creation: the mask. He joins priests and Royal family members in a cramped space plunged into the earth. All are beholding objects of their affection for the last time before the space is sealed: the king and the mask.

Artifact: Jade Burial Mask: Inspirations and Relations

A jade encrusted skull found in Oaxaca, Mexico conjures stratification-themed thoughts. The Oaxaca inhabitants existed prior to Uxmal settlement; perhaps Jade Mayan masks at Uxmal were inspired by jade encrusted skulls at Oaxaca. Jade was, after all, imported. Theoretically, contact may have occurred via trade routes.

The skull itself is a layer of information; it further informs human skin stretched across its surface. In this sense, actual skin aforementioned in "Artifact: Jade Burial Mask" is merely a mask overlaying the skull. Mayan jade masks at Uxmal, therefore, are essentially a third layer of information; the skull is the original structure. With each layer--skull bone, flesh, jade mask--additional information and details are added and subtracted.

Oaxaca inhabitants inlaid small jade pieces as a mosaic directly into skulls of the deceased. Dissimilarly, Mayans at Uxmal placed masks loosely atop facial flesh of the deceased. The mask therefore shifts as the flesh disintegrates and a layer of information is slowly removed over time.

This method of decay corresponds to the Uxmal burial space in which the mask exists. More specifically, the burial chamber's construction includes elements designed to mask space for a set amount of time before decomposing. Once the main structure of the chamber is constructed, an opaque cloth is stretched across the opening of the chamber. This cloth--which will eventually decompose--blocks workers' view of the deceased as they construct the chamber's closure. Closure takes the form of a thrice layered ceiling. Thus, the chamber's structure mimics the relationship between the human skull, flesh, and mask; disintegrating, "masking" cloth is analogous to disintegrating human facial flesh.

http://anthropology.net/2007/06/01/damien-hirsts-diamond-encrusted-skull-jeweled-skulls-in-archaeology/

Artifact: Jade Burial Mask

A mask is an overlay of inspired information; all masks are essentially informed skin. Standing alone, ornamentation on this undulating surface suggests it might lock into another configuration (namely, the human face). Specifically, these cues take the form of apertures. Personal space is created when the mask is activated, or worn. By overlaying the mask on the face, a small space is created: the space between. Here, in this limited space, daily functions take on greater meaning. Warm breathing patterns are recognized; line of vision restricted by the mask-boundary becomes realized. Ultimately, fleshy functions gain appreciation. Registration of facial features between the two layers--real skin and constructed skin--creates strong spatial projections from facial orifices. Eyes, mouth, and occasionally nose project through mask apertures, not in form but rather in function (i.e. line of vision, forced air movement to the nose and mouth).

Masks protect, entertain, and are used ceremonially. To Uxmal inhabitants, facial features of the deceased inform mask designs. Masks often made of jade--the precious Mayan equivalent of gold--with shell inserts may be found in royal burial chambers. The intimacy between human skin and mask manifested as small-scale spaces is proportionally relative to the entire human body and the burial space; it is the intimacy of the space between.

Governor's Palace Edge and Relation to the Great Platform Part 2

Governor's Palace Edge and Relation to the Great Platform

Thesis Diagram

Uxmal is defined by an interplay of natural topography and layered social modifications cradling six main organizational groups of structures, one of which contains a notable Mayan design: the Governor's Palace.

Theory: Uxmal Ground Elevations

Cradled by the hilly Puuc region, Uxmal is "one of the sites in the Puuc region which presents a high degree of social modification of the environment" (7, Architectural Restoration at Uxmal 1986-1987, Rubio and Herrera). The Great Platform is the strongest indicator of this theory. The ground, which has been raised and layered, sits in stark contrast to flatter pieces of ground adapted to different buildings on Uxmal's site.

Theory: Uxmal Topography

Although Uxmal covers less area than important Mayan sites such as Chichen Itza, "the architectural effect of [Uxmal] is more imposing because its six largest groups are concentrated in a relatively small area and their effect is more immediate" (294, The Ancient Maya, Morley).

Theory: Layers

Uxmal, meaning "thrice built," contains rich layers of information in constructions spanning the length of the site. Two strong examples of these layers include the Great Platform, on top of which the House of the Governor stands, and the Pyramid of the Magician. The Great Platform is actually three superimposed platforms created over time. The Pyramid of the Magician is a convergence of five pyramids, constructed and deconstructed throughout Uxmal's history. These stand as two instances documenting the development of Uxmal architecture and the layers of rich history contained in the ancient Mayan site.

Theory: House of the Governor

The House of the Governor on the site of Uxmal is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in ancient America. Perhaps key principles such as proportion and unity lend themselves to a comparably more successful design. Three buildings connected through corbel vaults comprise the design of the building. All but one of the doors allowing entrance to the building are rectangular, "flattening out" the building. Contrastingly, the slight outward lean of the upper facade adds verticality. Movement is thus balanced. The result: "one of the most accomplished examples of Mayan architecture" (3, Architectural Restoration at Uxmal: 1986-1987, Rubio and Herrera).

Artifact

Jade burial mask found in royal tomb