Art as a Language

   In chapter 3 of Anthropology of Art by Robert Layton, art and visual communication are discussed. Layton speaks of Durkheim, Lévi-Strauss, and Saussure's ideas about language and symbolism. According to Lévi-Strauss 'art can be understood as a system of signs, like language in some respects but not in others.' And Durkheim says that 'without symbols, social sentiments could have only a precarious existence... social life, in all aspects and at every period of history, is made possible only by a vast symbolism.' Layton reminds us that Durkheim was mainly speaking of ritual in this view, but because art and ritual are so closely related, they can be viewed similarly. Saussure mentions that, paintings or carvings (art) are the signifiers and 'the sense of the social group's internal unity within the wider society is the real signified concept.'

  These three men seem to complicate what I feel art and visual communication is. I think that art truly is the universal language. Every piece of art, or performance of art, is communicating something to the audience. Even if interpretations vary, there is still communication occurring. It begins with the artist, and their intention; whether that intention is understood, or comprehended, its there. Isn't that why we can feel so emotionally overwhelmed by one piece of art compared to another. As human, we have the desire to connect with each other, and art seems to be a universal way of achieving that connection.

-Holly

Sources:

Layton,Robert. Anthropology of Art. 1981.

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Waiting for Harry

In  the film Waiting for Harry, we are taken through the Anbara people's process of a ceremonial funeral for a dead man. The process of this funeral is very ritualistic, similar to some of the rituals we've discussed in our class this semester. This ceremony takes place over many weeks, and includes painting the bones of the dead man and his two deceased children, painting the coffin (which is a hollow log for the bones), making a sand sculpture, and performing many dances and singing many songs. They discussed the painting of two wind spirits who are trading partners, like the peoples themselves and their neighbors, these both were painted on the log coffin. At one point a neighboring tribe visited to inspect the coffin, and decided to add a bit of their own flair to it. At the end of the ceremony, the log coffin is erected and the souls of the deceased join the community of the dead under the sea. The narrator and anthropologist, Les Hiatt, is referred to by the people as a brother. This situation is similar to another documentary made about the making of the film, Ten Canoes, where the director is referred to as 'father' and is involved in the process of making the ten canoes. Back to the Anbara, I found it interesting that even though some people in the tribe live in the cities, some still live in the bush, and this funeral ceremony is a ritualistic tradition that has continued for hundreds of years.

-Holly

Making Sense

"D'où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous" - Paul Gauguin (What is art For?, pg. 193)

  In English, this phrase translates to, "Where did we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" To me these three questions are the foundation that forms our humanistic need to know who we are. Studying prehistoric art, like the cave paintings, leads us to interpret them; however, these interpretations are always going to be uncertain. We can never truly know what prehistoric artist are trying to convey through their artwork, were they simply painting a horse or some kind of deep metaphor? We can never come to any accurate conclusions.

  In the final chapter of The Cave Painters, Curtis discusses the reason we connect so much to the cave paintings. "The Greek and Renaissance masters have unwilling taught us to appreciate [cave art]." (238) He claims that the qualities that define classicism are the qualities that the Greeks and prehistoric artists shared. These qualities include, dignity, strength, ease, confidence, and clarity. Always a perfect creature, be it Hercules or a bison, is portrayed with no sight of a sick or old creatures. Both share idealistic physical characteristics, such as a curved horn compared to a bent arm. Both the Greeks and the cave painters showed a great deal of classicism, which makes us feel drawn and intrigued by both cultures.

  Our need and desire to understand where we began to be truly human, with art really differentiating us from our animal cousins. We probably will never be able to ever understand the true meaning behind the cave paintings, but for now we are left to our own interpretations and will have to be content with that.

-Holly


Sources:

The Cave Painters by Gregory Curtis

What is Art For? Ellen Dissanyake

http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/S26.1.html

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Exit Through the Gift Shop

  Exit Through the Gift Shop was a highly entertaining and interesting film. The whole film focuses around a Frenchman, Thierry Guetta living in LA, who most definitely has obsessive compulsive tendencies. After filming his life continuously for years (and packing away the tapes, never to be watched again), he becomes crazed and fascinated with street art upon a visit to France and meeting his cousin, the street artist, Invader. Now filming street art every night and traveling the world to see and meet some of the most known street artists, he finally meets Bansky, the most famous (and anonymous) street artist of all. Bansky realizes the potential in having a documentary made about street art, so he allows Guetta to follow him around, camera in tow, and film, what Bansky hope to be, a documentary about street art. In the end, Guetta begins to create his own street art, yet another form of obsession, and has a gigantic show to introduce (and sell) his art.

   What I found particularly interesting about Guetta's art, was that he really didn't make any of it. He had the basic ideas, but ultimately it was his employees who really made the art. I also don't think he was really getting the message of street art, an art born out of rebellion.


  What we discussed briefly in class, was the question of this being an actual documentary or a mockumentary? Or rather another one of Bansky's art pieces, exposing someone who "creates" street art, but doesn't embrace it's ultimate meaning. It was really amusing, Bansky's remarks at the end of the film, how snarky he was towards Guetta. This all somewhat implied the mockery vibe the film sends.

The infamously anonymous Bansky

Thierry Guetta

 (and his ridiculous facial hair)

Image Sources: 

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Similarities Between 2 Cultures

"To the Greek artists, perfecting the forms found in nature expressed the highest philosophical ideals. The same is true for the cave painters." (Curtis, 238)

   In The Cave Painters, Gregory Curtis compares prehistoric cave paintings to Greek Art. Cave Art lasted for about 20,000 years, which is an amazingly long time, when thinking in terms of how long modern society has been around. Ancient Greece was another long (although no where near 20,000 years) period that lasted about 1,300 years. Like I said compared to modern society, that is a long time staying relatively stagnant. As Curtis states in the final chapter, "To last so long that culture must have been deeply satisfying-- emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and practically" (230).  Both societies were content with their lifestyles and the environment around them. When the cave paintings do start disappearing, about 18,000 years ago, the world around these prehistoric peoples was changing with warmer weather and the extinction of those species they had known for so many thousands of years. The end of Ancient Greece was brought upon by the period of Christianization, which can be seen as a changing in the world, too.

 "In a way the cave paintings [and engravings] are like the bas-relief sculptures of the Parthenon, which portray a rich unifying mythology and were executed, like the cave paintings, by the hands of anonymous artists." (237)

 Curtis goes on to say that the comparison of the Parthenon with cave art is valid because each was working in their own classical tradition, lead by the qualities of dignity, strength, grace, ease, confidence, and clarity. Overall, the goal of this classical tradition is to "imitate nature by creating images of nature's ideal forms" (237). Even the shapes of the animals and people correlate to one another, the bend in a horn compared to the bend in a leg... these show that both societies had an understanding of the basic anatomy of living creatures. One advantage, I found was the fact that the Greeks preserved their cultural legacy, more solidly, with writings and other artifacts that can be studied and picked apart more thoroughly, thus eliminating all the guess work that goes into examining and studying prehistoric art and cultures.

  I was really intrigued by this comparison, between Cave Art and Greek Art, Curtis made. Also, the idea of releasing the art from the medium is an interesting thought. Rather that creating a bison out of a rock, but having the bison emerge (as if it was always there) from the rock.

-Holly

Sources:

Curtis, Gregory. The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists. 2006. Print.

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http://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Paleolithic%20Art/cave_painting_l.jpg

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