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.