Transcript art.ppt
ART MICHELANGELO: The Creation of Adam Fresco: Detail from The Sistine Chapel ceiling
What is art?
`Those things are considered art which are made by human beings in any material medium where production requires a relatively high level of skill on the part of their maker, skill being measured where possible according to the standards traditionally used in the maker's society', (Anderson 1979:
Art in Primitive Societies
)
Is this Art?
ANGER by Michael Michael is a gorilla
“Those things are considered art which are made by human beings”
Fractals made by computer
Is this Art?
“production requires a relatively high level of skill on the part of their maker, skill being measured where possible according to the standards traditionally used in the maker's society'
The word art comes from the Old French - meaning skill
Anderson’s definition also includes pottery, fish traps, boats, computers and so on, i.e. things that are not generally considered art.
meaning is not required
no sense of aesthetics
context is required only in sense of skilfulness Vladimir Madonna 12 th century
The Definition of Art as Non-functional
Human made things are usually categorized according to function.
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chairs are things that function as a seat,
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boats are things that float
Classifying according to function allows us to exclude other things
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sieves are neither seats nor boats because we can't sit on
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them or sail in them they have a different function
There is no functional criterion however, that allows us to exclude objects from the category of art
art is an accepting category
it can be extended to include sieves and boats.
In some sense you can consider boats and sieves as works of art
some things fit more easily into the category than others
paintings are easy, boats less so and sieves least of all.
Pottery Sieve from Headington, Oxford: 3rd/4th century. It would have been used for draining boiled vegetables or shellfish;
the conditions under which objects gain acceptance into the category are always changing.
Art of the 20 th /21 st century would not have been considered art in 18th century Nigerian Moyo Okediji 1956 - The Dutchman, 1995 acrylic on canvas Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 – 1797 The Experiment with the
Air Pump
1. Institutional definition
what is art is where it is displayed
works of art are what are exhibited in art galleries (not museums)
fine art sold at art auctions (not craft fairs, folk art, or ethnographic artefact)
a cross-section of a cow is art if it is displayed in an Art gallery
but not if it is seen in an abattoir .
Damien Hirst: Mother and Child Divided Hirst won the Turner prize in 1995
where displayed is linked to the market process
primary function that links the items displayed --- $$$$
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a repository of value on the
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international art market supply and demand.
definition often relevant to the production of objects by indigenous peoples who may intend to produce work that will be accepted by Western art market.
Much of what indigenous peoples produce is now considered art by the West
provides a means for integration within a wider world economic system sale of art to outsiders
This has consequences for the use of art in indigenous cultures i.e. it is produced for a different meaning, for money, not so much for religious or symbolic (e.g. kinship) purpose, but to be sold to tourists, collectors, dealers.
Western art buyers are not interested in works on canvas directly comparable to those produced in the West.
This is one reason why African art contains very little that is pictorial, and is mostly cultural artefacts.
2. Intentional definition
art objects are objects intended to be works of art by their makers
most other objects intention is subordinate to their function.
eg. intention to build a boat is insufficient if it sinks
but if it is intended as a work of art it doesn’t really matter if it floats
designation as an artist, his or her creations are art
i.e. art is what artists make
a cross-section of a calf is art if artist so intends Hommage à Damien Hirst par Adrian Darmon, 2000 The Prodigal Son (1994) A Damien Hirst sculpture of a dead calf cut in half and suspended in formaldehyde Death, 2003. By Jake & Dinos Chapman Shortlisted for Turner Prize 2003
But then there are objects whose primary intention is not to be a work of art but which are generally considered to be art objects..
Thunderbird and Orca totem pole Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria
First and second definitions are of little utility for anthropology Senufo buffalo mask
3. Defined in terms of attributes
usually associated with properties rather than function visual
or interpretative function may be relevant to their interpretation but is not reason they are considered art
eg. much early European art was produced for religious reasons, had a religious function
religious context is secondary to their definition as art.
Chalice 12 th century
when originally produced their function in religious performance was central to the kind of objects they were. i.e. religious objects not art objects Virgin and child 12 th century
What are the attributes of art objects?
skill in manufacture
Emotional features
aesthetic features
semantic or interpretative features
interrelation Woven basket Kenya
for example, early period artworks, skill, function and religious meaning integral to work of art, now expression of aesthetic factors.
Fine Art
rare
expensive
college course subject
made for the market
artist is named
Has a date
product’s uniqueness valued
produced by artists in Western classical tradition
not utilitarian - art for art’s sake John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, Essex 1816 Oil on canvas
Is this Fine art?
Baga (Guinea) Maternity figure Baga (Guinea) fertility goddess Mali mask
“Primitive” Art
Artist has no formal training
not produced for the market but primarily for some religious or functional purpose
connected with ritual and myth - not art for arts sake i.e. they are not seen to have any aesthetic sense
artist is anonymous
Art within a cultural tradition – no date Ashanti Shrine object
creativity of natural man
psychologically deep, instinctive, emotional
in harmony with nature
childlike
allied with basic drives - sex and fertility Akua-ba Fertility Doll Ghana Name comes from the legend of a woman named Akua who was distraught about being barren, for Akan women desire above all to have children. A priest instructed her to carry a small wooden child on her back and care for it as if it were real. The other villagers teased her, and the wooden figure came to be known as Akua-ba (Akua's Child). Eventually she gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and her detractors began adopting the same measures to cure barrenness.
Leonardo Da vinci : Mona Lisa C. 1503-06
word ‘primitive’ tells us something about the Western concept of art and the role it plays in the positioning of other cultures.
Art is something that made its appearance on the higher rungs of the evolutionary ladder especially fine art.
fine art is regarded as quintessentially civilized.
fine art serves standard of comparison as a
Or is this a Western classification of art.
The masks, chairs, figurines etc. may not be considered art by the people who made them.
they were made for a purpose
Who actually decides what is art: them or us?
Baulé (Côte d'Ivoire) comb Yemeni Ceremonial Dagger
Tami Mask Papua New Guinea
“Primitive” or “African” or “New Guinea” art is used to categorize, to distance non-Western peoples. I.e. primitive art is made by primitive people
“Primitive” art is anonymous.
the name of the ethnic group substitutes for the maker
'When I first went to the old Trocadero, it was disgusting…. The masks weren't just like any other pieces of sculpture. Not at all. They were magic things…. I too believe that everything is unknown…. I understood what the Negroes use their sculptures for…. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon must have come to me that very day” Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Picasso
Anthropology of art
studies the role art objects play in people’s lives; for instance in their beliefs and rituals.
The things studied include sculpture, masks, paintings, textiles, baskets, pots, weapons, and the human body itself.
the symbolic meanings encoded in such objects, as well as in the materials and techniques used to produce them.
The decorative scars are used to confer beauty, status, protection, and identity to the bearers.
Photograph copyright Bojan Brecelj/CORBIS
Anthropology of art
the social processes involved in making objects.
the role and status of the artist in the wider community rather than the individual biography
the form and function of objects and their relation to aspects of the wider society.
the aesthetic value in different societies.
the ways in which material objects made by indigenous people have come to have value in the tourist and art markets as well as of the role of museums
Australian Aboriginal Art
The ancestral beings gave the rights to occupy the land
the paintings help to establish the right to occupy the land and maintain connections with the ancestral forces in the landscape.
For this reason knowledge of paintings and the right to produce paintings is closely regulated.
paintings can only be produced by those acknowledged to have the right to do so.
the way in which art is produced is related to group identity and gender
land and paintings are the property of clans
In addition to satisfying aesthetic needs, body decoration may be used as a visual means to show social position, rank, sex, occupation, local or ethnic identity or religion within a society.
Maori tattoos or moko told about the bearer's rank, lineage, special skills and marriage status.
A revival in moko is linked to Maori identity
The Navajo create intricate sand paintings as part of a ritual act,
destroyed once ritual over.
the `doing' of the art is often of greater importance than the final product itself.
sand paintings created on plywood or particleboard intended for sale are incomplete.
Many languages have no word for art or artist.
E.g
Tewa, Balinese
Balinese have no word for art, the beauty that they produce is considered part of everyday special.
life, nothing
does art exist in their society?
How do we talk about someone else’s artefacts that we see as "art?” Kertha Gosa (temple) batik
Objects from Tutankhamen's tomb were intended to guarantee the eternal life of the king and to protect him from evil forces that might enter his body and gain control over it.
They were not meant to be seen by anyone.
Is it Art?
when objects that have particular religious/ protective/ ethnic/ meaning for one group can we consider them as "art“ from our perspective?
Tutankhamen's death mask
Anthropological Analysis of Art The anthropology of art is not the study of objects of other cultures that Westerners have accepted as art. We look through sets of cultural filters that prepare us for an "aesthetic" experience.
An anthropology of art is not limited by the objects that are included in the Western category of art
The concept ‘art’ needs to be open to allow the analysis of objects from other cultures on their own terms
How do they define what is art - who defines art?
values of objects in many different contexts are relevant to their meaning and to how they are understood.
Asmat shield
Art communicates significant meanings and feelings at different times, in different spaces, for different people.
In every society art provides much more than an expression of beauty; it also creates and maintains social values Until recently in Western culture, only sailors, criminals and prostitutes got tattoos. The Romans considered decorative tattooing barbaric, and used tattoos to mark slaves and criminals. The negative connotations are still evident in the Latin word for tattoo: stigma. Today, the tattoo is undergoing a renaissance reflecting a change in attitudes towards the body: seen as a canvas.
Art objects can be analysed from 3 perspectives
1. Form and function
use of the object in ritual and religion etc.
in the making of value.
2. iconographic
objects that encode meaning or represent something or that create a particular meaning 3. aesthetic
from their aesthetic affect or expressive quality
Any aesthetic or interpretative considerations must be those relevant to producers
1. Form and Function
One approach to understanding art is by looking at the form and function of objects.
The function will to some extent determine the form and dictate the type of object it is
The art aspect (semantic or aesthetic dimension) (e.g. decoration) can be separated from other aspects of the object
eg. Hopi potters typically spend a great deal of time and energy decorating their pottery
designs are aesthetically pleasing
But there is no need to decorate them
function well without the decoration
1. The function can be separated from the form.
The art aspect may either compliment or exist independently of other functional attributes and embellish the objects aesthetically and semantically.
eg. a club has many attributes of art
fine craftsmanship, aesthetic appeal, signs of status and religious symbolism
but it is also used as a weapon.
Its functional attributes as a weapon have no necessary connection with its attributes as art.
the design on a club or its aesthetic power may interact with its destructive capacity to make it more effective as a weapon.
its design or form may supply it with power and ritual significance
A mask may function to obscure a person's face
that is its function
a paper bag would function in the same way
but a mask also serves to create a new identity, or even transformed -spirit possession
in this case the design is integral to the function of the mask Tlingit mask
2. Representational or iconic Systems
representational assumes that it can be interpreted to mean something that is, or becomes, external to itself
For example a picture of a raven may simply be a picture of a raven to us
to a Kwakiutl it may be a totem representing a social group.
focus is on art as a system of meaning and communication
how does art encode meaning.
The pole is carved with crest figures that relate to family lineages, status and rights,
2. Visual and aesthetic means of declaring status
symbolic halo, (or crown) on the king's head.
scarlet hunting jacket of English gentlemen
eagle feathers of the Indian chief’s bonnet
golden embroidered jacket of the Indian rajah.
jewellery in the shape of the star of David, or the cross is used to indicate religious preferences.
3. Aesthetics
objects appeal to the senses
important properties include an object's form, texture, feel, smell and impact the nervous system irrespective of one's cultural background.
many of the properties are recognized cross culturally, eg, weight, colour, shininess, symmetry and so on
may also include non-material attributes associated with it e.g. age, or distant place, or magical substance
In the Yolngu the effect of shimmering brilliance is produced by covering the surface of a painting with fine cross hatched lines.
shimmering effect is interpreted as the power of the ancestral beings shining out from the painting.
The image is reinforced by song and by an emphasis in myth on similar images of transformation between light and dark.
the creation of a particular aesthetic effect is integral to the art
aesthetics is part of the semantics of the art
also of the way art is integrated within the cultural system as a whole.