Days of Our (Objects) Lives

Its not just people who have social lives,  but objects too. Objects gossip about their

Can't Leave Ourselves Out...

In An Anthropologists Look at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance, Joann Kealiinohomoku delves into the issue of ethnocentrism in the study of western practices, in particular Dance. In Cultural writings, you receive a feeling that pre-colonial societies exist statically in the third dimension; that time does not affect the bubble in which these societies operate. We excuse this as saying we are writing in of the ethnographic present, which removes the need to look at the evolution to and from that point. Reports continue in that tone into the defining point in comes the west; now writings stress the rapid changes occurring as if this is the first time any non-western society has ever had to evolve.

Kealiinohomoku highlights mental paradoxes in dance theory, starting with the comparison of primitive to primeval and the importance of clear definitions (one of the first things we struggled to do at the beginning of the semester with the idea of Art). Primeval is what used to be, something that we cannot directly study. Primitive is the idea that something is not highly evolved, and as such is a substitute for primeval. However, nothing is actually primitive because everything does evolve, just not in the same way. Primitive dance is an over generalization, treated as a monolithic wholes where multiple cultural traditions are lumped together despite more differences then similarities. These over generalizations result from outside experts discuss forms in which they are not. In dance, books are written in an “us” western dance- ballet in particular- and a “them” which is everything else grouped into ethnic or primitive dance. These writings express that the same rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to you or that your ideas; that ballet can not be ethic, nothing so homely as that, as it has risen above its cultural roots to express “universal” ideal.  It is this idea that the article calls the “experts” out on. Ballet themes are directly related to European environment, language, beauty and life ideas.

         Ethno-aesthetics is as relevant when looking at our own culture so that we do not idealize one cultural tradition over another.  ”Nacirema” culture is presented as parody to highlight the importance of ethno-aesthetics, the biggest danger often being that without a cultural awareness as you can add meaning where there is none and miss what meaning there is. Researching the Nacirema forces us to view the “us” through the frame of the other.  Below is a description of an activity in which I participated in for four years.

Aqueous Subcultures of the Nacirema

This section documents one of the various subcultures that can be observed within the Nacirema’ populous.  This particular subgroup is referred to as Remmiws and Revids. Although the majority of the Nacirema embrace their land-based heritage, these particular people will spend the majority of their waking hours engaged in aquatic based activities. It is not uncommon for them to spend 2-6 hours daily in this saturated environment, often beginning and ending their days in the same aqueous activity.

            The location in which theses feats are performed takes the form of an enclosed lake or sea inlet.  The length is very perspicuously 25 or 50 yards, though the width and the depth are variable. If the lakes depth is adequate, a climbable tower or cliff will be constructed at the water’s edge, with platforms at five, seven and a half, and ten meters. Boards will then be added at 1and 3m, protruding over the water. These structures are used primarily by the Revids (whose specific activities we will address later). Remmiws use a smaller version of these towers, called Skcolbs, which are about 1m high and about 2m apart, located at the end of the 25 or 50 yards. The tops of these skcolbs are angled towards the liquid surface.

            When Remmiws get together, they begin their daily ceremony by standing on the skcolbs and bowing to the tranquil water. Gripping the front edge firmly they push off, launching themselves headlong into the lake in unison. Once submerged, they engage in one of the four specialized motions that have been passes on through the generations.  Newly ordained Remmiws are first taught a stylized “crawl” that propels them forward, performed both on the back and the stomach. Once sufficient mastery of these motions is possessed the Remmiws is taught the two more advanced motions. These are beautiful to behold when mastered, reminiscent of a frog or dolphin in their apparent mastery of this foreign environment.

            At times they are aided by the use of specialized tools, which appear to have the goal end of expediting their mastery. These include a tomb of a light substance reminiscent of some basalt which are held, two thin boards which are then strapped to the hands, and longer boards that are made to tightly sheath the feet.

            Some Remmiws will then specialize further and train to become a Revid, though it is not necessary for the Revid to be a master Remmiws. Revids climb the tall cliff-tower mentioned earlier, again salute the water, and then hurl themselves down from the height. While airborne the Revid sculpts their body into a number of fluid poses, stunning to the sight but with tragic consequences if executed erroneously.  Because of the height from which they hurl themselves, the lake surface can cause perennial damage to the body if not met properly according to Revid traditions.

            Other subgroups within the main group of Remmiws and Revids include the Olopretaw teams, the ice bear clan and the rogue depth dwelling Revids.

Having being a spectator to these acts of extremity, one might come to question what drives these people to perform such endeavors.  The answer seems to be religious. As we are well aware, life arose from the thalassic realm and only birds have yet to master the Aeolian. Performing these ceremonies it seems they are attempting to get in touch with these realms. Remmiws reach back into the aqueous past for forgotten knowledge, while Revids push into the future for answers carried on the wind, which we do not yet grasp. Perhaps they carry the end goal of pushing their evolution into these environments. Regardless of the questions they leave in our minds, their acts hold a serine grace in their own right. 

Exhibition of Wonder and Place

The Concept of ethno-aesthetics incorporates the source of art into its analysis. Art or Artifacts do not exist in a vacuum but are intrinsically tied to the mindsets of the people who create the art and their environment; “The local or indigenous categories through which the formal qualities of objects, activities and practices are engaged”. Ethno-aesthetics calls on the viewer to understand the source culture’s ideas of beauty, shared metaphor and ties to the world (spirituality); what makes things special to them.

Discussing ethno-aesthetic analysis takes an “awareness of and willingness to participate in indigenous aesthetic expression increasingly signifies belonging and accountability within native communities (Steven Leuthold).” To create ethno-aesthetic art, one must become part of a culture, adopt the common themes of that culture then use those motifs to communicate their personal message. By forwarding ethno-aesthetics you make people adopt a new cultures mindset and this helps preserve them. 

Without the proper background knowledge it can be difficult to understand ethno-aesthetic art. Watching the movie, The Fast Runner, in class left me wondering what was going on more often than not. I had no idea what was normal or not, so I didn't know how to pick out what was special or different about a scene, the part that gave it its meaning, because everything was different to me. However it also gave me a chance to see how they view their world. Their realities; the endless fields of snow, the stark blue-and-white of daytime, the flickering shadows and dark but being inside at night. Western films placed in Alaska always how one scene that just shows off the lights in the sky and openness and cold, but The Fast Runner did not, as for the filmmakers seeing that is an everyday occurrence one that loses its meaning into repetition, it's home and doesn't carry this wild for foreign sense of tundra but it does for us. By studying this film in trying to make sense of their sense of making special, even see what's important in the life you will never lead. It immerses you in a degree of cultural relativism, that hard to achieve otherwise.

When the idea of globalization is applied to the analyzation of art, people think of Western ideas pushing out indigenous ideas. Terms like “whitewashing” get thrown about, and the ideal Western versus indigenous are set against each other; it's one or the other. The actuality is that most cultures will go to hybridization period in which they are exposed to another culture and incorporate some of their ideas. This has likely already happened in their history. Take the lithographs of Jose Guadalupe Posasa for example. He’s work was influenced by symbols from multiple mezzo-American societies, colonial religious iconology, the style of Mexican graphic artists of the time, photographs of Casasola, foreign weeklies, and local murals. And we give all this history the title Mexican. He is truly expressing what Tomás Ybarra-Frausto calls “visual bilingualism”. I would call it “visual poly-lingualism”.

Posasa knew that art represents ideas and is not just an object, which was why he produced art to communicate his ideas to the common illiterate population. The practices of museums need to do this same thing (except that we are expected to be literate now).

Amalia Mesa-Bains champions that practices of museums goes beyond objects, it has to with ideas; cultural museums energizes themselves by being aware of what contributes to the culture and highlighting that background, telling a story with an exhibit. Being aware that there are not just two sides, that hybridization is a constant part of cultural evolution and presenting the back-stories; the ethno-aesthetic approach to art brings inanimate objects to life. 

Extra Sources:

Leuthold, Steven. Indigenous Aesthetics: Native Art, Media, and Identity. http://art.nmu.edu/stevenleuthold/personal/indigenous_aesthetics.html

The Evolution of Arts ad Cultural Arena over the Last Three Decades: A Dialogue between Amallia Mesa-Bains and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto

Ethno-aesthetic Analysis: Calavera Revolucionaria: Jose Guadalupe Posada.