FSN 232 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Machu Picchu, Lady Xoc, African Art
13 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
African art, 17th to 19th c, week 6. Recap: art in the americas, 17th - 19th c. Meritocratic societies: social standing depended on individual character and achievements. Empirical tendencies: acquisition of knowledge through practical observation. Symbolist: emphases on conventional forms or motives not representation likeness. Shamanism-animism: cosmologies centred on a universe animated by spiritual forces. Dualistic tendencies: emphasis on the relation between the environment"s structure and it material nature parings-day/night, lights/shadows, life/death, etc. Abundance of totemic imagery: animals were role models, because being created before people, they are closer to the spirits and teach humans how to live honestly. Artifacts as spiritual proxies: spirits did not reside in images but interact with humans through representations, artworks have the purpose to serve communities through the shamans. Aesthetic dualism: simultaneous use of opposite design and formal elements; light/shadow, plain/ornate, abstract/figurative. Architecture: city planning, pyramids, and palaces in mesoamerica and south america, portable architecture--tepees- in north america.
