Mesoamerican Cave Art

The topic that I chose for my research for anthropology of art is about cave art in the Maya region. This interests me because the past few years I have traveled to Belize for an archaeology field school that focuses on the Maya. This type of archaeology is what I plan to do for the rest of my life. caves in this region that have been used or modified by the Maya also interest me because not a whole lot is known about the cave usage. In some of these caves there are petroglyphs, hieroglyphs, and paintings. the basis of my research involved figuring out how cave art in this region affect the usage of caves and the Maya culture in general. This relates to the course because first of all it involves pieces of art, and also I provide analysis on how these piece of art played a specific role in the Mayan culture.

My research mostly consisted of peer reviewed sources that I mostly found either online and online databases. To find most of the sources I searched the journal database JSTOR and searching for articles on Google and Google scholar. Some of the major problems I encountered when researching for my thesis was that there isn't a whole lot of literature on caves in the Maya region because its a fairly recent sub-discipline of archaeology. the other main problem is that there isnt that many caves that contain art in them throughout the Maya region leading to even fewer amount of literature on caves and their art.

If I had to chose a follow up research project I would start with something with more literature about it to make it easier to find information. Maybe delve into classical Greek statues and their significance to the Greeks. First there is a plethora of information on this subject and also because since taking an AP art history class in high school I have had a fascination with Greek statues.

Flint-Knapping

Over the past month I have personally gone to two flint knapping workshops and have to a few others in the past year.Flint knapping is the process of taking a core of stone and chipping away at it to make a piece of stone that resembles a blade, arrowhead, spear point, scrappers, jewelry and pieces of art. This process is not as simple as just striking rocks together to make an arrow head, it takes a lot of knowledge of the materials that is being used and and idea of how to use them. In this particular case the workshop was being held in a small teaching room that had been cleared of its desks and chairs, and now was filled with large chunks of obsidian, and blankets underneath them. The room was jam packed with mostly students and amateur archaeologists alike, and none knew what they had gotten themselves into. Much of the first hour was a lecture on the tools being used in the lecture, and the terminology, of the art making process. All of this I have already heard multiple times throughout the last year, and was eagerly waiting to create my next piece, and I could see the rest of the room anticipating the same. As people began to gather their materials, we all had to wear safety glasses and gloves, and we all looked ridiculous which in my point of view added a little fun to the experience. Once people got started hammering away at their stones in hope of creating something incredible, everybody begins to loosen up and start conversing with each other, but at the heart there is still a bit of competitiveness that is there, to see who can make the best pieces. The Instructor is also floating around the room helping people that need it or if he sees something wrong. At the end of the workshop most people are left empty handed with just a few flakes that sorta resemble arrowheads, and the feeling of accomplishment stays with them as they leave. This Workshop is not about making arrowheads its about learning how paleolithic peoples in Europe and the indigenous people in the Americas made their tools. Its also even more than that, its about "making special" and creating something that is special to you from materials like a rock.

Social Lives of Objects

Objects within cultures can hold a lot of meaning although many are almost subconscious abstracts that many are unaware of on the surface. according to Arjuna Appadurai "Since then, I have continued to be engaged with the idea that persons and things are not radically distinct categories, and that the transactions that surround things are invested with the properties of social relations. Thus, today’s gift is tomorrow’s commodity. Yesterday’s commodity is tomorrow’s found art object. Today’s art object is tomorrow’s junk. And yesterday’s junk is tomorrow’s heirloom" (Appadurai, 15). The social life of an object revolves around its use within a particular culture, and its importance in a culture as well This changes between cultures and even the time period of each culture. One example of this is the aboriginal art of west desert as Myers describes "It began with the deployment of iconographic images used in ritual, body decoration, cave painting, and so on -- an iconography related indexically to the sacred traditions of the ancestral Dreaming, which gave the Aboriginal cultural world its meaning and shape -- into acrylic paintings on 2-dimensional particle board or canvas" (Myers, 5). Which according to Myers was drastically different than how she had learned how to see, and understand the art of this particular culture. One explanation for this drastic change in art style and the social aspect of art within that particular culture could have been due to hybridization and globalization, where the distiction between the concepts of "primitive" and "western" art begin to blur together. 

As mentioned above the social life of an object whether a piece of art or a rock depends on the importance and relevance in  particular culture at that specific time. Because as the culture changes so could the importance of an object or the replacement of that object because it no longer fulfills the social needs for the culture. Like how we talked about in class about the changes recently to the aboriginal South African basket weaving where they are now using telephone and copper wire and selling them to tourists. These objects only serve as potential profit from cheaper resources and a wider western audience.

Appadurai, A. "The Thing Itself." Public Culture 18.1 (2006): 15-22. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.

 Myers, Fred  "ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE FUTURE, ETHNOGRAPHIES OF THE PRESENT"

Ballet a form of ethnic dance

For this week’s discussion our class was assigned to read An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet

as a Form of Ethnic Dance by JOANN KEALIINOHOMOKU. The main point of discussion within this article is the notion of primitive dance and breaking down the paradigm associated with this phrase. Then after going through her research she concludes that many of the experts do not provide sufficient definitions of many of the terms they use, and proceeds to give her own definition to some of these terms. According to the author ballet is an ethnic form of dance and her evidence is that everything about the dance itself and the sets, and even the dancers reflect cultural resources, ideals, and aesthetics.

                For her definitions the first one that she mentions and discusses is dance and this includes “Dance is a transient mode of expression, performed in a given form and style by the human body moving in space. Dance occurs through purposefully selected and controlled rhythmic movements; the resulting phenomenon is recognized as dance both by the performer and the observing members of a given group” (KEALIINOHOMOKU, 38). She also throws this term tension as part of the definition for dance but it has to do with the verbalizing the sounds of dance. The next two terms she writes about are primitive dance and folk dance and the differences between the two. Folk dance according to the reading is defined as being unrefined or untamed and used by the lower classes. out there as well because of its The next term is ethnic dance, “ethnic means a group which holds in common genetic, linguistic, and cultural ties, with special emphasis on cultural tradition”(KEALIINOHOMOKU, 39).

                Ballet as KEALIINOHOMOKU describes fits in very well in a discussion about ethno-aesthetics, because its choreography, body types, sets, and clothes match the westernized perception of beauty and grace and incorporates many of the nuances, ideals, and resources of a specific culture. Some arguments against ballet as ethnic and as an example of ethno aesthetic, is because ballet is now an international dance form, it’s no longer specific to one culture. As ballet becomes more popular throughout the world it is getting hybridized with other cultural dances, or nuances and losing foothold on being defined as ethnic.

Dils, Ann, and Ann Cooper. Albright. "An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance." Moving History / Dancing Cultures: a Dance History Reader. Middletown, CT: Wesleyn UP, 2001. 33-43.

Ethno-aesthetics

Ethno-aesthetics is the appreciation of art within its own culture, as discussed by the dialogue of Bains and Ybarra-Frausto. The analysis of ethno-aesthetics is using art to answer multiple questions about the culture of interest, the artist, the climate the piece was made, composition, history of the artist and culture. In the Ethno-Aesthetic Analysis: Jose Guadalupe Posada, discusses many of the questions mentioned above specifically about Posada and his piece, Calavera Revolucionaria. This article covers in this case Posada who grew up during revolutions of Mexico in the late 19th century and made prints for broadsides which are very inexpensive to make and to buy. His works usually were targeted towards his readers who were on the lower spectrum of economic distribution in Mexico. Many of his 20,000 pieces are political or social satire of that period of time, and many of his works also contain the images of the skeletons that modern Mexicans use today in their day of the dead celebration. His influences are contemporary prints of the time in other newspapers, as well as early 19th century Spanish prints, and his iconography is influenced by the native cultures.  Within all of this wealth of information which is what an art historian would most likely use in the interpretation of art, and if needed reconstruction/recreation, and to further understand how and why these pieces of art are so provocative and important. But being so scholarly and objective to the subject it makes it hard to really relate to the artist and the context in which the art was made and viewed, thus skewing some analyses. But this can also takes way from the enjoyment of just admiring and interpretig a piece of art on your own without the analized bias, though a little information known about the artistor piece would be of service.

Both of these papers though discuss sometimes briefly globalization and hybridization ofethno-aesthetics. The hybridization of ethno-aestheics in art is most likely due to the hybridizatons of cultures especially in the modern globalized world where cultural practices and ideas can be spread around the world in hours. This is because art is usually a refelction of culture, and when culture changes so does the art of theat specific culture. Though this hybridization may lose the intimacy of the original culture, it is also a chance for new cultural art to emerge. An example can be seen in with the modern maya religion and art which has taken pieces from catholism and plaved thier religion right on top of it creating mayan gods but christian themes. But also in this curret day of globilization the diversity of religions and languages and cultures are begiining to dwindle and are slowely merging into one culture with regional differences.
 

Visual Communication

In the Anthropology of Art by Layton, there is a section about proto-dynastic art in Egypt. This is about the art found around 3000 BC just as the kingdom became unified and became into an empire. Layton bring up two specific pieces of art that are important in multiple ways, the first is that these are some of the earliest pieces of art found in the area of Egypt. The second is that these pieces not only are they pieces of art but are also serving as utilitarian tools. The last and most interesting as these pieces of art are also references to important historical events that happened around the same time. These two pieces that Layton discuses in this book are the palate of Narmer and the ceremonial mace head of the Scorpion King. Both of these pieces date to around 3000 BC at the end of the war between North and South Egypt, and its first ruler from the North. These are both utilitarian pieces that one is used as a weapon and the other for eye liner for the glare from the sand and sun. This is fairly unique among art, but what is truly unique is that they are essentially historical documents from the winning side unifying the Egyptian.

This plays very well into this chapter about visual communication because these pieces do not have contained any words at all, it is all images and symbols that covey actions and meanings. These by examining these artifacts and works of art archaeologist can create an interpretation of these, to better understand what they are depicting and what the artists are trying to convey. Through interpretations these pieces can be seen almost like an historical document describing an important event around the times these were created. Layton’s describes some of symbols and interpretations of the palate of Narmer, “in historical Egypt the bull was frequently used as symbol of the kings power , and so the bull breaking open a town wall can be seen as allegorical vision of an attack directed by the king” (Layton, 135).

These pieces bring up an important aspect of art that really hasn’t been discussed in class that much and that is the use of images to communicate information. Like using allegories or metaphors to tell convey a meaning that if put into certain compositions can be used to convey information or a story. This is used in many cultures before writing systems, or used to give an artistic representation such as Trajan’s column from Rome. Many cultures even use their writing systems in a similar way like the Mayan, and Egyptian hieroglyphics in which they use images to represent their language.  So just as art can convey meaning and emotions or has ritual context some use imagery to tell stories or give information about an event or person in history.

Palate of Narmer

Layton, Robert. The Anthropology of Art. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.