Byebye now

So, to sum things up very briefly… this was definitely one of my favorite classes of the semester. Honestly when I first registered I had no idea what I was signing up for and it wasn’t until the first day of class that I realized it was an Anthropology of Art class and I was stoked!

We have covered so many interesting topics this semester and I truly enjoyed each day with presentations because I think we all picked really great things to share. These presentations also opened my eyes to multiple art forms I was either unaware of or had very little knowledge of.

My final project for this class was my favorite project of the semester because I think it’ll be something I will focus my studies on in the long term. I want to say thanks to everyone for being such a supportive and open-minded class with great insights. Also thank you Rebecca for making all the learning experiences in your class so fun and active, I’m really looking forward to having another class with you next semester. Yay!

I hope you all have awesome adventures during break!

Sierra J

Ayahuasca Art: Our Window into the Spirit World

Before beginning my project I knew that I wanted to do something that was related to psychotropic plants, and that’s how I ended up mainly focusing on ayahuasca art. Besides just looking at beautiful artwork I wanted to gain a better understand of what an ayahuasca experience is like and what these art pieces mean to the artist who created them. An ayahuasca experience is an extremely personal one so I think that the art that is developed from it reveals a lot about the artist at a very personal level. One of my favorite areas of research pertains to plants, and especially psychedelics. I love the mystery that the hold and the effects they have vary from person to person. I’m also very interested in shamanism and the role they play as spiritual guides for the individuals who want to under-go a spiritual quest.

In my research I first began to look into the main components of ayahuasca as well as where the plant come from and when it was first used. The Latin name for the ayahuasca vine is Banisteropsis caapi, meaning “vine of the soul”, and can be found in varies Amazonian regions. It’s mainly used in Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, and Brasil. The first Westerner to discover the plant was an English ethnobotanist named Richard Spruce. From then on people of than the indigenous cultures of the Amazonian region began to take interest in the vine and its effects. In preparation the ayahuasca vine must be boil with a type of plant that contains DMT (dimethlytriptamine), once ingested the ayahuasca (which is an MAOI inhibitor) allows the DMT to release in the brain which causes it’s psychedelic effects.  From there I began to examine different experiences people/artists had with ayahuasca. I found that during this experience you are no longer at a conscious level, but a sub-concious level and that the experience people have are extremely real and life-changing. Then I began to look into how these life-altering visions are displayed in art. I read many interviews with visionary artists and learned that many pieces are direct illustrations of what one of their visions were like. One well-known visionary artist that I researched is Alex Grey, his artwork is amazing and very anatomically detailed. He first began to use this style after a vision he had where he was standing in front of a mirror and all of the sudden his whole body filled with light and he turned transparent. I found that all these artists shared similar motives behind their artwork. Each one felt that growing and learning from past experience is extremely important and that you can’t run away from your fears, its best just to face them. Also the relationship humans have with the Earth is commonly depicted in ayahuasca art.

If I were to continue this project I would want to go more in-depth of the shaman’s role and figure out exactly what it takes to become a master of the spirit world. Shamans have an intense relationship with plants which I think is phenomenal. They’re basically living Bontanical Encylopedias and a lot of their knowledge that has been passed down for years are being lost. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to travel to South America and possibly find some sort of project on the lines of preserving their skill and knowledge.

Everything is Connected

Prior to my trip back home to Fresno for Thanksgiving my Dad told me about a project that he had been working on in the back yard of my family’s home where  he, my mom, brother, sister, and grandma live. My entire life I’ve lived in the country, which I think is an amazing place to grow up, and my family has always had a giant yard to do whatever in. My dad is an extremely creative man; before he became a teacher he was a carpenter for many years and still practices carpentry as well as landscaping all the time. The man honestly can’t stop coming up with new projects to build in and around the house.  During the months I was away from home (prior to Thanksgiving) he told me about his current project in the backyard. When he first explained to me that he was building a “giant doorway” in the backyard, I didn’t exactly know what he was talking about, but I thought that it sounded cool and I was excited to see it. Sure enough when I come home my Dad had literally built a giant doorway in a garden area that he had also landscaped in the backyard. This doorway is giant! It stands 12 ft tall, and 6 ft wide, the door itself is 4 inches thick. Standing in front of it I felt like I was at the entrance of a medieval castle. And that wasn’t it! When you opened the door you enter into a ring of twenty-one redwood trees that he had planted as the inner circle, and in the middle of the circle he had placed a fire pit. There are two more rings of trees that he planted outside the inner ring. Right now the redwood trees are only a couple years old so they’re not that big, but around 50 years from now there’s going to be an awesome mystical mini forest in that backyard.

There are other times when I consumed art that I could’ve blogged about, but this structure and beautiful garden/forest area that my dad built is art that definitely meant most to me. I have truly been blessed with amazing parents who strongly encourage creativity, and not only encourage it but they both lead very artistic lives. When my dad was showing me the doorway and fire pit circle he built he explained to me that he had planted 21 trees on the inner circle for a reason, he said, “They stand for a philosophy that you will follow your entire life.” At first I didn’t quite understand his riddle or what he was getting at, so he left me to ponder on it for a day without any hints. On my last day home he began pointed at different trees and telling me a letter that each one represented. I began to piece together some of the letters and finally it dawned on me that the 21 trees stood for the tattoo I have on my left shoulder, which I designed and reads “EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED” in a full-circle. Knowing that he built this beautiful forest area with me in mind made me feel extremely special and loved. He also gave my tattoo even more meaning because now it holds a strong symbolism to this little forest at home.

The Social Lives of Objects

When I think about the social lives of objects I think about what one particular object can mean to a certain group, and how it can change from culture to culture across the globe. I also think of all the little things that we use in our everyday lives that singled out could show a lot about an individual. For instance, clothing. Clothing is an object that we are able to have a lot of freedom with, and every morning when we get dressed we have a little time to “make special” when we piece together our attire for the day. Some people don’t find the event of getting dressed a special or exciting thing, but others put more effort. Some of the objects that we chose to wear are small representations of who we are.

There are also objects that are significant to an entire community. I’ll use the American flag as an example. The flyin’ stars and stripes is an image that can be recognized globally. It stands for a nation and its entire history.  It is displayed all across the world as a representation of the USA. To Americans this image may be comforting and hold a sense of nationalism; to others in the world it may mean something else.  The American flag is a common symbol that has be used in art to still represent the USA, but with a different twist. There is a lot of political art that has been created with the American flag from artists displaying how they feel about the USA.

This is a photo created by Dread Scott in 1989 was extremely controversial. This was on display in the School of Art Institute of Chicago. He placed the American flag on the floor leading up to a book where viewers were encouraged to write their answer to the question, “What is the proper way to display a US flag?”  On the wall just above they book there is a photo of South Korean students hold up anti-America signs and burning the flag. So here we have a symbol that is known across the world, but obviously doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Congress members were outraged by this display, while Scott is proposing a serious question.

Ethno-aesthetics and Dance

In the beginning of the article the author, Joann Kealiinohomoku, explains how anthropologists see dance as something that can directly represent a culture. Western scholars disagree with this, they do not believe that dance should be seen as something that represents a specific culture. She explains that as she researched the history of dance and how it came about she found many contradictions and no real answers.

By explaining the term primitive, the author notes that this term should not be confused with primeval; we can see that there is no real evidence of a primitive dance, but only dances that can be performed by primitive people. As for primeval, it is hard to say anything about primeval dance because we know close to nothing about it. According to Sorell primitive dances have no technique or artistry. He says that they are “disorganized and frenzied, but they are able to transform feeling and emotions into movement”. He also states that primitives do not know the difference between symbolic dancing and concrete because they dance for any occasion. This statement can relate to ethno-aestheticism because by researching the meaning of a certain dance to a specific culture you can learn how that culture may have viewed the world and what things in the world they hold most important to them. At the same time, Sorell said that primitive people may dance for any occasion so this makes ethno-aesthetic analysis difficult because they might not be any reasons for doing a certain type of dance, it might be performed just for the sake of dancing.

Focusing on the ethnologic branch of dance we can see that each dancer has their own reasons for dancing and that we must take the dancers biased into consideration when analyzing a dance. Different people play different roles within the dance and it is important to recognize that.

According to Sorell a “folk dance” is one that has not been mastered or “refined”. It is a raw dance that has not been perfected. Others argue that folk dance may be the kind of dance that was performed during the time primitive man was evolving into civilized man.

With all the arguments brought up in the article, they go to show how important ethno-aesthetics are. To better our understanding of a dance, whether it be primitive, folk, or ethnic, we must attempt to share the same cognitive map as the dancer. Ethno-aesthetics can be used to our advantage in these studies and reveal a better and complete understanding of dance.

Ethno-aesthetics

Definition: Ethno-aesthetic analysis is used when trying to understand art done by indigenous people, by looking at the art within its context. To do this successful using cultural relativism is key; we must look at art under its own terms rather than placing it under western values.

We discussed multiple areas in class that should be kept in mind when conducting an ethno-aesthetic analysis. We must look at art as the indigenous people who created it do. Here are a few examples of how indigenous people see art:

-          Art is sacred

-          Art is community based

-          Art/artists are not “above” society

-          Art is useful and beautiful

-          Art must be understood within its cultural context

-          There is little/no pressure for creation

When we look at art we can possibly be assuming the stability of an object. Ethno-aestheticism can help us to have a general understanding of art, but we must take into consideration the flaws that may happen when analyzing art. The meaning behind pieces can be lost and not accounted for once the art is displayed in a gallery or in a museum because it takes away the social aspect. Also a lot of art that is created strictly for tourism is derived from these original pieces that hold great significance, but once recreated for tourists it is not the same. Indigenous art is usually strongly tied with a specific place where the meaning, or stories, behind the art were created. In western art we do not go through this same process, our art usually are byproducts of a manufacturing process.

By studying the ethno-aesthetics of a piece of art we can grow closer and have a better understanding of a culture. The Calavera Revolucionaria is a great example by Jose Posada that we looked at in class. After reading the ethno-aesthetic analysis of this piece I have gained a better understanding of the artist and exactly what he stands for. There is a lot of information to focus on in this kind of analysis. We’re not only looking at an image, but diving deep into it and also its cultural representation. Calavera Revolucionaria is an image of a female calavera riding a horse and swinging a lasso over her head. That is the main gist of the image, but after reading the article it is obvious that a lot of detail, that may normally go unnoticed, was put into this image. Posada is known for his artwork and it relation with the revolution in Mexico. This image was a very strong one for its time and represented the things that Posada saw in the world around him. He was living in a time of great political unrest and in a social revolution. He depicts these things within his artwork, and from understanding that and the representation of the images he creates we can learn a lot not only about him, but the time the pieces were created, and his culture.

Religion and Art

In Chapter 3 Layton begins to explore Australian Aboriginal art and its link to religion. Through studies of Australian Aboriginal peoples Durkheim coined the term totemism (which links and organizes the animals and natural world). He noticed that two things that were similar, but at the same time very different, was also noticed by these groups of people, and they found importance in them. Having dual oppositions (such as day and night or sun and moon) gave a division to a society. Each totem has significance to a specific group of people, when looking at this on a larger scale Durkheim and Levi-Strauss were able to see that each group had a specific identity within the wider society. Tribes would create figurative representations on ceremonial objects which would represent their beliefs. Different objects have different meanings, and depending what art is created on them that may also alter the meaning/power of a piece. Durkheim believed that the symbols created in Australian Aboriginal art was created with a ‘sense of power’. Since the art is heavy with geometric forms such as arcs, triangles, dots, circles, and straight lines this would be a depiction of a totemic relationship, not necessarily a recreation of a plant or animal.

Each clan within the Yolngu people, from South America, uses a particular design that is unique to each clan. With each clan using a different design (including semi-circles, and diamonds), these designs may also be used during ceremonial practices when members paint their bodies, this is a depiction of a totemic ancestor. The Yolngu people display different experiences that are particular to their culture within their art. During funerals certain imagery is expressed in painting. This is similar to what we saw in the Waiting for Harry film. The art that is done during rituals such as a funeral are not just depictions, that hold significant ritual power that is very important to the culture.

Through these examples we can see that art is vital in spiritual experiences. It incorporates animals and other symbols within a culture. Art can provide us with visual evidence of a culture and how they interpret the world around them.

Waiting for Harry

The chapter we were assigned to read this week in The Anthropology of Art is titled “Art and social life”, I think that ties perfectly into this film. During the duration of this film we were able to witness a burial ceremony of the Anbara people that lasted over weeks. In the beginning of the chapter Layton writes that art is not just something that is pretty to look at, but in “primitive” societies, art was made to be nice to look at and functional. And art may not always be a physical object, it can also be things such as a dance or a song.

Layton uses an example about a group of people who live on the Tikopea island in the Pacific, he say that during funerals certain songs are such by relatives of the deceased member.  This is the same thing that we saw in the movie. Throughout the entire ceremony various songs were sung, and lead by different people. The songs that are sung are probably unique to that ceremony as well as the person who died. Another obvious form of art that the Anbara people used during their ceremony was the painting of the tree trunk that would be used as a coffin. The art that was done on the tree trunk was extremely important to the entire ceremony. When men from nearby areas came for the ceremony they first had to inspect the coffin to see if it was good enough to use in the funeral. In this case a few changes needed to be made in order for the coffin to be good enough.

A question proposed by Robert Firth within the chapter asks, “What does art do in small-scale societies?” To answer this question in relation to the movie on of the first thing I think of is that it brings people together. Not only were people coming together because a friend/relative had passed away, but in order for men from other tribes to join the ceremony the coffin that would represent the deceased has to appeal to everyone. Art forms such as dancing and singing are used regularly in these societies for multiple occasions. There were specific dances that we saw in the film that were specific for this funeral. This film is useful because people are able to see a ceremony that is meaningful and symbolic to a community of people. We’re lucky now that we can record rituals such as this, but it makes it difficult to study in depth about primitive people because we do not know if they used dance/songs as an art form in their lives.  

Making Sense

Making sense of things is something that is hard for humans to avoid. Last week the class was made a great example of this when we watched Dali’s film and then we were asked to respond to it, Rebecca said all of us tried to make some sense from it. Two weeks ago in our blogs we discussed Annette Laming-Emperaire’s two methods of archaeological study. The first is categorizing and organizing all the information in order to make sense out of it, and the second method relies on our imagination and educated guesses to answer questions about the past.

In class on Wednesday we discussed the different ways we currently, and in the past, use symbols to communicate. We do this through metaphor by linking two unconnected things and the viewer has a prior knowledge of what these things represent and the information is filled in in-between. The example we had in class was the bear and the bull which represent different meanings towards Wall Street. When using a metaphor such as this the meanings between the bear and the bull are understood socially. Because the public understands what the animals represent through metaphors, satire, or irony we can indirectly communicate messages

We have no idea if the people from our past were aware of such things as metaphors or not, and if they chose to use them. If this were the case the animals in the cave paintings may mean something very different than what is shown. We will never know what they plainly mean because no one knows what their culture was like or what kind of importance the animals in the paintings had to the people.

There is no clear way to make sense of the meanings behind cave paintings. Since we are not from the time when they were created, and known little about the people living during the time, we cannot decipher the significance behind each piece. Even the outline of the pictures in the caves, and the placement of the art, it is very hard to draw conclusions to why what pictures are placed where. One thing we can be certain of is that art reflects culture and the world around that culture. In that case we know that the forms in the cave paints hold some sort of meaning to the people who created them. There are countless other life forms that the cave painters could’ve placed on the cave walls, that is why we feel the ones that were chosen can serve as a window for us to our past.  

Entering Les Trois-Freres

In chapter 8 (pg. 165), Curtis begins his adventure into Les Trios-Freres with Robert Begouen. He goes into great detail about the preparation of getting dressed before entering and the difficulties he had as he made his way into the cave. As he ventures deeper into the cave he begins to notice that the people that made art within these caves must have known these caves very well, and prepared for creating art on the cave walls. Without a light it would be close to impossible to find your way out of one of these caves. He finds that there are “painted signs” that are possible indicators to cave visitors of what is where. A lot of these markers are found deep within the cave, Curtis writes that is there was anything else used as a marker it must’ve been picked up by someone on the way out. Curtis describes the cave and how even though he knows that there is no such thing as monsters that could possibly be lurking in the cave’s shadows, there are still noises and echoes that the cave produces. Robert leads Curtis throughout the cave and points out where ancient people have painted. Curtis has the opportunity to view things such as hand prints that have been stenciled on the wall by the artist blowing red paint around their hand. They continue on through the cave, viewing a variety of animals, shapes and scribbles along the cave walls. Curtis has a very, sort of spiritual experience when he sees a shell that was placed in a little cubby in the cave wall. He begins to wonder who put that shell there and when? How long has it been there sense or does it have any significance besides being incredibly old?

Towards the final part of the chapter Curtis encounters my favorite piece that I have read about so far called The Sorcerer. Located on the cave walls near the ceiling this figure looks like a horse, buck, and man all combined into one. I find this figure extremely intriguing because I think that it must’ve had some great significance to whoever created it. I really wish I could see the Sorcerer for myself. Just reading about Curtis’s experience made me really curious about what this figure looks like in person. The illustration in the book is an interpretation, I imagine that this image looks much different in real life. At the end of the chapter, once all the cave exploration was over with, Curtis has a really hard time trying to figure out what he was feeling. I could completely understand that. It takes a little time to sort out thoughts and feelings, especially towards something as amazing to see as this. Seeing something like the art in these caves would be a magical experience that not many people have the chance to do.

Discovering the Reasons Behind Cave Art

Annette Laming-Emperaire divides the archaeological was of studying primitive art into two ways: the first is by laying out artifacts in chronological order, dividing them by size, or age. The second way to look at the art is by taking at the artifacts in the order that they are found, and creating a story behind each artifact found, how it was made, what it was for, and how it was used.

The first school seems much more logical to use. I think that the approach of finding facts about the artifacts is most reliable, but I would find it close to impossible to find a handful of artifacts and not make up images in my head of how they were being used. I think that both types for research are important and will prove to be beneficial. With the first school finding facts about the artifact (or at least somewhat close estimates about age and how long it has been in the cave), the second form of studying focuses more on the culture that the tool came from and whoever was making paintings in the cave. By trying to predict what these early people were doing, we may eventually stumble on a hypothesis that is likely.

Laming-Emperaire explains different theories have about why people created these cave paintings. She gives examples about how there may be important to what species and sex of an animal is in each cave. No one is sure if the sex and species of each cave painted animal was thoroughly thought out of if it was just a coincidence that we are looking too far into.

I agree with Laming-Emperaire when she writes about cave art possibly having religious reasons behind them, and that they were created by people trying to understand the world in which they were living. Laming-Emperaire writes, “They could be mythic and recount for example the origins and history of a certain human group in its rapport with the animal species; they could solidify a very ancient metaphysics and express a system of existence where each species, animal or human, has it role, and where the sexual division among beings plays a primordial role; they could be religious and bring supernatural beings onto the scene.”

Experiencing the Other World

In Chapter 6 Ellen D. writes about the importance of feelings, how feelings affect our daily lives, and how we live with these feelings. As you continue through the chapter there is a section called, “Art and the Experience of the Extraordinary” (pg. 134).  This section of the chapter definitely peaked my interest.

Ellen D. writes about how there are “two worlds”.  The ordinary world that all humans know and share, and then there is the extraordinary world which fulfills humans needs for intensity. As Ellen says, these “intense” emotions that we strive to feel is what makes us feel that we are living.

As the section continues Ellen beings to write about the other world and how different cultures have different ways of reaching it. One way is through dance, the example she gave is about the Kalahari !Kung people who perform healing dances. During one of these dances, the energy of the dance will bring community health. The dancers will fall into a trance in which they might see God, animals, or spirits. While in a trance a person may reach a mental state of ecstasy. Other cultures will reach this euphoric state through alcohol, rapid over-breathing, drugs, or hypnosis. Eskimos would slip in and out of trances during periods of starvation/exhaustion.

Drugs are used when a person is attempting to visit the other world for a long period of time. Some cultures go on pilgrimages that may last for a few days, during this time they may be led by a shaman who will guide their way through the spirit world.  These rituals use very strong hallucinogenic plants that may be either eaten or drink. In the New World there are many primitive societies that follow shamanistic religions and use these drugs to grow spiritually or reach different forms of enlightenment.

I love learning about shamanism and the different uses of drugs because the territory to the “other world” is explored by these people that spend a lot of their lives trying to master and understand the other world. People have different accounts of what they see/experience during these trances based on their own life. I really like that because no one will see the exact same thing as someone else, so each experience is unique to that individual. In the Western world people will use these drugs as a way to try to escape from their lives rather than learn something from it.



What I find aesthetically pleasing...

For as long as I can remember I have always LOOVED storms. They are something that I find extremely aesthetically pleasing. Ellen D. even mentioned them in our reading for the week and that people search out intensity and love it.  I think that storms definitely provide people with intense emotions. Sometimes they can be scary, but I find them mostly exciting and awesome to watch.

I mentioned in my first blog about how I spent my summer with my boyfriend backpacking though Nicaragua. We were in Nicaragua during part of the raining season, this meant that there were lightning storms every night!! Even if it wasn’t raining, you could always see lightning strikes happening in every direction. This was one of my favorite things about our entire trip. I saw some of the best lightning I’ve ever seen. We actually got caught in the middle of the most intense storm I’ve ever been in on a boat in the middle of Lago Nicaragua. Before the storm actually hit us I was watching the lightning in the distance out on the deck, a couple hours later we ended up right in the middle of it! Everyone that was outside had to cram into this little room on the top story of the boat we were on. From then on it was an intense storm the entire boat ride until we reached our destination the next morning.

Another thing I find aesthetically pleasing is rainbows. I am such a sucker for rainbows, I think they’re awesome. Anytime I see one I have to take a little time to stare at it and admire how beautiful they are. It's honestly a hazard if there's a rainbow while I'm driving because I just can't stop looking at them! I actually just had a dream during my nap earlier today that I saw a rainbow and was thrilled about it while everyone else in my dream was unimpressed.

I find a lot of things in nature to be very aesthetically pleasing. I can’t help to get excited about seeing awesome trees, mushrooms, flowers, rainbows, water falls, and whatever else nature has to surprise me with.

My Special Bookshelf

One of my favorite things that I have made special is my bookshelf.

I’ve had this bookshelf in my room for about 5 years now and I hope to keep it many more years. My dad is the person who built the bookshelf, so that’s already one thing special about it. The top shelf usually consists of my journals, sketchbooks, and some books. Also an old clock that I found in the basement of the house I grew up in. The second shelf has a mirror covering most of it, but there are a couple jars on the shelf filled with cool rocks that I’ve found I varies places, along with some little bottles that my dad collected when he was a kid.

The third shelf down has row of books, an old camera that belonged to my dad, and a skull that my boyfriend found while we were in Costa Rica (we think it’s possibly a dog skull).

The bottom three shelves contain more books, notebooks, National Geographic magazines, letters, a container full of spools, and an unsuccessful piece I made in my glass blowing class last year.

I usually have the same basic layout to my bookshelf, with random stuff on the top shelves, and all my books/magazines on the bottom, but the things on the shelves definitely change. During my move to Humboldt I got rid of a lot of things off my shelf, and the things that remain mean a lot to me. The side of my bookshelf usually has different photos of me and friends or cool places I’ve been/want to go.

In my old room my bookshelf use to be across from the bed so it would be one of the first things I saw when I woke up, now it’s next to my bed so it’s one of the first things I see when I walk in my room. I really enjoy just having it there to look at. There are so many memories within the items on the shelves, in the pages of my journals/sketchbooks, and not to mention the wonderful stories within my favorite books on the lower shelves. I really can’t imagine my room without this bookshelf I’ve spent a lot of time making it extra extra special.

Anthropologists Analyzing Creative Expression

In What is Art Ellen Dissanayake writes about when the earliest forms of art were discovered and how they were hardly seen as art at all. She writes that Homo erectus was the first hominid that made specialed tools that were used to express themselves. It was discovered that Homo erectus chose to use a stone called “puddingstone” to work with because it is appealing. This is evidence that appearance may have mattered to the Homo erectus because pudding stone was not something that was easy to come by. Things like this help anthropologists figure out how important creative expression may have been to this earlier beings. During the Lower and Middle Paleolithic times there are fossils of coral that have been found. These pieces of coral are unusual and may have been thought as important because of their uniqueness. Because of this I think that art began with things that were unusual, but also attractive to the eye. Homo sapien sapiens would use fossils to decorate with, what they made with these fossils would probably be called art. Anthropologists could look at these pieces of art, or decorations, created by Homo sapien sapiens and be able to analyze it.

Shanidar Cave, Iraq- a famous prehistoric burial site

By 70,000 B.P anthropologists were able to identify differences between artifacts and which ones were made by which group. Burial sites were an awesome place to find artistic expression because it was when the use of flowers as decoration was introduced. Flowers are pleasing because they give a variety of colors and scent. If an anthropologist discovers a burial with flowers on a grave they could analyze how the flowers are places, what kinds of flowers, and whether or not there are patterns. Through this anthropologists may discover a meaning behind the flowers on the grave that shows the decorations as a creative expression, but also something that has more meaning.

Another example of an art that anthropologists can analyze is body modification. Different cultures may have a certain kind of art that is specific to that culture, especially when it comes to body modification. In Chapter 1 of What is Art there is a section where Ellen focuses on body modification and the reasons for doing it. She lists many reasons, and with these reasons and anthropologists could learn a lot about a culture just by looking at its members. Tattoos, piercings, body paint, beads, and feathers may all hold significance to a culture, but the meanings to each piercing, tattoo, etc. may vary by culture.

Neck Rings- an example of body modification

Who am I and What is art?

My name is Sierra Hoffman and I am a new transfer student to HSU from Fresno, CA. I am an anthro major and I’m really excited about it. I’m not sure what my main focus will be yet, but something in cultural anthropology. 

Being outside is my favorite place to be, I probably spend more time than I should exploring around anywhere I can.  I spent the summer with my boyfriend, Steve, backpacking throughout Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It. Was. AMAZING. I think that everyone needs to spend time backpacking/traveling because it's lifechanging and you never know what'll happen. I like to paint, draw, write, scribble, all that stuff and Steve does too. While we were in Nicaragua we had the chance to paint whatever we wanted on a wall of a hostel that we were staying at. We didn’t really plan out what it was going to be, Steve wanted to do something with space and I wanted to paint jellyfish.  After a few days here’s what we ended up with:

 

When I think of art I think of self-expression. In class when we were discussing the topic I think we figured out that if art had a two-word definition it would be: creative expression. Anyone can create art, and whether it sucks or not it is still creative expression. I think the greatest thing about art is that there are no limits. I believe that there is a line between good art and bad art, but there is no way to decide where that line is therefore everyone has to decide for themselves. There are also things that one person may see as art, but other people wouldn’t even consider it as art. For example, I watched a documentary about modern artists (I forget the name of the documentary), there was one man who paints all the rides and signs for an amusement park. People don’t ordinarily recognize a sign for a ride as a “piece of art”, or think the cart their sitting in at a Ferris wheel is beautiful, but this man did. He took a lot of pride in his work and saw it as creating art. One of the rides he worked on had little cars to sit in and he had painted them all individually with their own designs. For most people an amusement park ride is just something that is fun and entertaining, it’s easy to forget about all the work that goes into something like that.

I think that this class will be eye-opening. Anthropologists want to look at things in a holistic view, and looking at art in a holistic view will be very interesting. Humans all over the world create art, and we have been for quite a while. I want to learn why certain cultures make a particular kind of art and how that art has progressed/changed over time. I’m looking forward to this class and all the awesome future discussions I know we’ll have.

P.S. Everyone in Nicaragua wants to tell you about "la revolution" because war just recently came to an end there. Here is one of the paintings I saw about the war.