El Día de los Muertos

  Ethno-aesthetics is the study of art within cultural context. When studying art, one must take into great account the culture in which it was produced. Whether the art has been produced for ritual purposes or just for pleasure, the cultural context must be looked upon to begin understanding the art. In the case of José Posada, he was greatly influenced by politics of his time. He was an artist of and for the people, producing pieces easily assessable to citizens and pieces that reflected how many people felt about the government situation of the early 20th century. 
  An ethno-aesthetic analysis is a study of a piece of art through it's cultural context. In the José Posada analysis, everything from his history to the functional, cultural, and art world contexts are discussed. A strength of ethno-aesthetic analysis is depth on a single piece of art that is presented. Learning about the artist and the time the art was created, greatly helps understand the art itself. I think it would be interesting to have another art piece compared and contrasted to it, form the same time and culture to be able to evaluate the differences and similarities.

  As we discussed in class, The Day of the Dead is an example of hybridization and globalization for ethno-aesthetics. The fusion of Catholic practices and indigenous Mexican culture has resulted in one of the biggest holidays in Mexico. And now, The Day of the Dead is not limited to Mexico, but is being celebrating in other countries, such as the USA, as well. 

-Holly

Picture Sources:
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/images-1/141_19_2.jpg
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/041/5/e/day_of_the_dead_russian_dolls_by_paulorocker-d3985wo.jpg