Blog 6

According to Annette Laming-Emperaire I would currently place myself in the first method of study. While the second method seems to be more fun, something I would be more interested in, and what most people would consider to be what anthropology is I don't have the background to understand what other cultures did or how to analyse what artifacts mean. My outlook on anthropology is very categorical, dividing things into neat little piles letting someone else interpret what they mean. This class is teaching me how to transition into the other category. Hopefully I will be able to learn how to cross the boundary between the categorical and analysis methods of study and be confident doing both. I feel that is what a true anthropologist is. One who does not simply fit into a defined category but understands how to whatever is needed to further understand about a society.

Aesthetic Experience

This week’s blog kinda had me stumped. I have had experiences that I feel were extraordinary, but I don’t know if they fall into the category of art. After thinking a while I finally conceded with trying to figure out how “art” worked in this blog and went with what I have experienced that was amazing. I have pictures which help express but does not do anything justice.
Two summers ago I spent a month in Europe. My trip started out in Spain, specifically Barcelona. At the end of spending a week roaming around the city I went to Parc de Gaudi. There was an area there that overlooked the entire city. The view was amazing, but more than just being pleasing it was such a conflict. Being in the city for a week I experienced the rich culture, beautiful artwork, and interesting people. The city was rich with tradition and history, as well as being modern and a bustling tourist area. To me it was, while not necessarily typical to my standards, a typical big city. It had old and new buildings, where ancient met modern. However, overlooking the city you saw none of that (besides La Sangra Familia, the large church being built). The amazingness of the city was lost. But in its own way amazing in itself. It showed the city in a different light. The view to me after having experiencing Barcelona was extraordinary.

Making Ordinary Pictures Special

completely unpacked or personalized my space. Looking around my room I noticed I had a lot of pictures. I love having pictures around me of friends and family. Being with loved ones is super important and it is hard being 8 hours (or more) away from my family and many of my friends. Even up here I feel removed from my friends. Living in the dorms last year it has been an adjustment not being 5 feet from everyone I want to see. So instead of having those people with me in person I have pictures of good times I’ve had with many people. However, most of the pictures were uninspiring, sitting on my desk and dresser in plain wood frames. My room was quite static. So this week I am taking the opportunity to make my pictures special.

This took two tries. I gathered up all my pictures…decided I needed more, went through the pictures on my computer, and printed out more, about 40 in total. I wanted to make a collage of the pictures, adding an element of fun to display the fun times. I bought photo corner stickers (essentially double sided tape for the back of pictures) and started arranging them on my wall. After about 10 pictures the whole thing came crashing down. Trial 2: still using the photo stickers, but putting them on a poster board, then putting that up. This time I took more time arranging the pictures on the poster board, laying everything out and then moving pictures over. After had all the pictures where I wanted them I cut the excess board away and hung the photo collage above my dresser. It is now the first thing I see whenever I walk into my room.

Seeing all my friends and family displayed in a way that I feel gives the pictures life makes me smile now every time I walk into my room. The fact that I took the time to arrange the photos and took the time to make them special really makes the collage mean more to me then the pictures by themselves ever did. By rearranging something small I have made not only the pictures special, but have added to the “making special” of my whole room. It is full of happy memories and warmth, something I can’t wait to add to.

P.S. My camera died so no pictures as of right now, but I will update with a picture of my collage this coming week or weekend :)

Primitive Art

In Ellen Dissanayake's book What Is Art For she discusses some reasons why primitive art is hard to define because in primitive cultures “art” is indistinguishable from things used in daily life or for a practical purpose. Many artifacts found are given lots of artistic merit by people today, but when these artifacts were created they were made for a specific purpose. This does not mean that there was no art in primitive cultures. Ellen goes on to explain how animals and children have an aesthetic taste and are able to create art. While their art is very simple and not complex it is made from expression. Even in the tools of early man art can be found. While an arrow or spear head may not be considered art itself, the symmetry and preside choice of material lead one to believe that there may have been some sort of early art thought while creating tools.
In Robert Layton’s The Anthropology of Art explains that it is hard to discuss primitive art because Western societies try to explain what art is through their own experiences. Primitive art belongs to its culture and society. It is removed from the Western world and was created for some function of that society in that specific time. Also the term primitive implies a society uncultured. This makes the term “primitive art” an oxymoron statement. If a society has art then it also must have some sort of culture. Lastly it is almost impossible to really know why someone created a piece of art. Anthropologists are still learning about ancient cultures and the significance of many of their art forms is still vexing.
I agree with both authors. Western society often places artistic value on artifacts that were taken out of context. We use our own knowledge and impart a piece of ourselves on something old, making it art. But that does not mean that the item was created with art in mind. Only by taking an artifact at face value and keeping it in context can one determine whether or not it is actually a piece of art. And even this is often very hard to do. Like in The Anthropology of Art we are still learning about ancient cultures. Keeping an artifact in context with its time and society is a challenge in of itself.

Picture 1: Painting done by Congo the Chimpanzee en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_(chimpanzee)

Picture 2: Petroglyphs in Utah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph

The first of many blogs

My name is Megan Anderson and my major is Wildlife. Originally I am from the area Fresno, California (technically from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s) and transferred to HSU last fall. I am a senior if you look at my credits and a junior in my major. I have no sort of anthropology background but met a lot of really cool anth majors last year and wanted to see what the fun was all about.

By taking this class I hope to learn anything. I took art classes in high school where I learned what to do but not much on the ideas behind works of art, and when it comes to anthropology I am a blank canvas. I hope to widen my views on culture and society as well as get a basic understanding of how art has and will continue to play a significant role in many societies. The idea of art is not going anywhere anytime soon. Through this class I look forward to changing my perception of what art is and broadening my view of how it affects cultures and even ourselves.

This brings me to the question “What is Art?” According to Dictionary.com art is “the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria.” In truth that says nothing as to what art is besides something judged on the way it looks. To me art is so much more; something that does not fall easily into a specific classification or definition. In its most raw definition, to me art is something man made designed to invoke or reflect upon some sort of emotion. Art must be made, or at least altered in order to be considered. While a tree may be beautiful and invoke a feeling it is not art. Also, making something simply for a practical purpose or for no reason at all is not art. Useful items can be art, but only if the purpose of the item was not the only thing considered in its making.

In class we listed many things art can do. It can tell a story, show power, communicate tradition, present a perspective, etc. The function of art does not effectively explain what it is. A history book does all those things but I would not consider that art. It lacks the emotional draw that only art can do. Things like music, paintings, sculpture, theatre, and photography all draw out some sort of feeling, whether that is good or bad. That is what art is. It is a man made manifestation of emotion.