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.