ANT 2410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Bowler Hat, Hypermasculinity, Hatshepsut
30 Jun 2018
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M15- Objects, Human and Non-Human (Art)
Art
Expression of human creative skill
Example: painting, sculpture, music, literature
Result of social interactions
Tell us about the world in which they were made (think art history)
What is accepted is based on cultural aesthetic criteria (the underlying principles that
make something appealing or beautiful)
Anthropological perspective on art
Other societies integrate more art into daily life, everyone participates
Art is an ethnocentric projection on the whole world
Many things found to be art, were anthropologists saying that they found these things
pleasing as opposed to looking at them from the culture’s perspective, who might not see
it as art or the items might not be works of art
Art in Context
Objects are not just art, we use objects were for much too many things to be just art
objects
All offer some perspective on the world
Before fieldwork, many objects were observed in isolation
Seven Dimensions of Objects (Stocking 1985)
First three: height, width, and depth are physical
Time (history): object’s history, origins, interpretations
Power: inequality reflected by objects, like having non-Western items in Western
museums that were taken during colonial times
Wealth: objects show wealth, social status, etc; some things are priceless because the
possessor is not of that producing culture
Aesthetics: different individuals and groups find different things pleasing
A Bike:
Physical dimensions – can be used by human
Reflects a technical history needed to create the bike in the first place
Owner has memories of the bike
A commodity, parts from around the word, there’s a journey
A mode of transportation
Symbolism, Religious Art
Different art traditions use unknown cosmologies, gods, ghosts, etc…
Many modern Christians have visuals for God, Moses, Jesus, etc because of historical
depictions
Artist’s Intent
Assumptions may be wrong
Aesthetics as Power
Powerful people can use aesthetics to demonstrate and legitimize their power
Example: Pharaoh Hatshepsut had all of her portraits portray her in the same way male
pharaohs, instead of the typical queenly fashion, were portrayed to legitimize her power
as a pharaoh.
Oba chief of the former kingdom of Benin who used leopard imagery to project his
power
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Tell us about the world in which they were made (think art history) What is accepted is based on cultural aesthetic criteria (the underlying principles that make something appealing or beautiful) Other societies integrate more art into daily life, everyone participates. Art is an ethnocentric projection on the whole world. Objects are not just art, we use objects were for much too many things to be just art objects. Before fieldwork, many objects were observed in isolation. First three: height, width, and depth are physical. Power: inequality reflected by objects, like having non-western items in western museums that were taken during colonial times. Wealth: objects show wealth, social status, etc; some things are priceless because the possessor is not of that producing culture. Aesthetics: different individuals and groups find different things pleasing. Physical dimensions can be used by human. Reflects a technical history needed to create the bike in the first place.
