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“Art is something that human beings do in a great many ways, for a great many reasons… ” What could be a more universal aspect of humanity than experiencing the arts? Anthropologists tend to agree that there are no known cultures that have not produced some form of art. Such a concept becomes even more intriguing when we know that many cultures have no separate word for “art.” Rather, it is commonly an integral part of religious, social and political life. These same cultures have created aesthetically pleasing, highly decorated objects which serve multiple functions. Besides creating beauty, art can express ritual or reinforce beliefs and values. It can record history, memorialize, express power, mark identity, teach or communicate, serve as propaganda, protest injustice and raise social consciousness. The earliest evidence of human artistic expression is a form of ritual behavior found in the European cave paintings dating at least 15,000 years BC. Deep within cave recesses, inaccessible to light, are hundreds of animal images related to hunting and probably to fertility magic. Perpetuation of the species was of primary concern and hunting animals for food was one way to assure that. So the creation of the paintings likely served as a symbolic means of capturing the animals. Communal Purpose Unlike the familiar art we know, the art of most non-western cultures is supported by the society rather than being a purely personal concern. Art functions as a way to hold the society together often by acknowledging the ancestors. What is produced connects with cultural values and beliefs. For the Navajo, sand painting rituals which include prayer and song are valued for their creation but not for their preservation. They are used as a means of communing with the spirit world. Once created, the painting has served its purpose; it no longer has a significant value and is destroyed. In traditional African societies, masks have important ritual functions. They possess extraordinary powers that transform the wearers and give new identities; the wearers become the natural or supernatural beings embodied in the masks. Such transformations allow communication with the spirit world. As part of elaborate fiber or cloth costumes—almost always connected with music and dance—masks are seen in motion, as part of culturally significant rituals. A mask displayed today on the wall of a museum is devoid of its intended meaning but is considered a work of art.
Religious Significance Humans have shaped space for ritual purposes for thousands of years. From the building of Stonehenge to the Mayan temples to the great cathedrals of Europe, culturally specific rituals have patterned architectural constructions. The circles at Stonehenge likely relate to solstices of the sun and moon. Whatever its religious significance may have been, its role as a seasonal guide for planting and harvesting cannot be refuted. During the Middle Ages in Europe, most art was in the service of the church. The great religious mosaic and fresco cycles articulated the meaning of Christian beliefs and so were used to instruct a basically illiterate population. These images plus the carvings on the facades and stone capitals of the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals served as the “Bibles of the Poor.” Cities vied with each other to build the greatest architectural structures to house the relics of martyrs in order to attract the thousands of pilgrims who made their way across the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostella or Rome. Art was for the masses as never before. Until the Renaissance, artists were patronized almost exclusively by the ruling elite. However, in the fifteenth century, the new merchant class (Medici) and the guilds became major patrons of learning and the arts. The popes used art to reestablish Rome as the center of the Western world. While the church continued to use art, it was not simply to teach doctrine but rather to inspire religious devotion and personal piety. Signs of Power Secular and religious rulers in both western and non-western cultures have used the imagery and symbolism of art to authenticate and promote their power and authority. For centuries art served the needs of rulers and kings. Note the bronze castings of the Benin, the gold ornaments of the Asante rulers, the beadwork of the Yoruba kings, or the papal commissions of Julius II and Urban VIII. In some instances portraits memorialized them; in other cases art commemorated their deeds or was used as propaganda. Under Louis XIV the arts became an instrument of the state giving visual expression to his absolute supremacy. Not since the Roman emperors had art been so completely manipulated for political reasons. Art for Art's Sake By the seventeenth century, the status of artists had risen and their works were viewed as objects created for their own sake. The art market emerged and art began to be produced on a smaller scale for a more diversified and urban population. Still life, portraiture, genre and landscape paintings became popular themes of art to hang on the walls of private homes. Eventually this movement from primarily religious or political to secular imagery also “gave birth to the identity of the artist and the concept of the art museum as a modern temple of the arts, at whose shrine a new, secularized form of inspiration would be found” (Walford: 374). Artists painted the events and social concerns of their times, often a world of violence and suffering (Goya, Millet) or of pleasure and recreation (Degas, Renoir). Not only did the newly powerful middle class become the patrons of the arts but also its subjects. Time of Rapid Change The last one hundred years has witnessed some of the world's most experimental and innovative technological, social, economic and medical advances. Rapid change is also found in all forms of artistic expression. Besides the unprecedented growth in art museums, private galleries sprang up in large cities all over the world. In the early years of the twentieth century, art dealers and collectors such as Gertrude Stein, Peggy Guggenheim and Nelson Rockefeller were anxious to own, display and advance the creations of the avant-garde artists. The influences of the social and political upheavals, wars of the twentieth century, current world conflicts, and controversies surrounding government funding and censorship are evident in the styles and subject matter of the visual arts. In fact, “It could be said that the art world has been in a state of perpetual turmoil for the last hundred years” (Fichner-Rathus:469). The craze to own art and the growth of auction houses, such as Christie's and Sotheby's, have driven the prices of masterpieces beyond the realm of possibility for all but the wealthy or large corporations. Fortunately, many cities have passed rules that mandate a certain percentage of the cost of public and corporate buildings be allocated for the purchase of art. Unfortunately, without generous private bequests museums are unable to make many substantial purchases. At the same time, the ownership of art by individuals from all social and economic levels of society has also increased. Today it is possible for almost anyone to purchase some form of art, and in many cases, commission it. Never in history has art been so accessible to so many people. The combination of visual and audio, the use of computers and video, actual human and animal subjects, has created art forms never before imagined. What will last or can be collected is only a fraction of what can or will be created. Bibliography Ember, Carol R., Melvin Ember & Peter N. Peregrine. Anthropology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2005. Fichner-Rathus, Lois. Understanding Art. California: Thompson Wadsworth. 2007. Hatcher, Evelyn Payne. Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art. Lantham, Maryland: University Press of America. 1985. Nanda, Serena & Richard L. Warms. Cultural Anthropology. California: Thompson Wadsworth. 2007. Walford, John. Great Themes in Art. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2002. About the author: Joan Lingen, BVM (Ramone Mary) is academic dean and provost at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa. She holds her PhD in art history, and chaired Clarke's art department for many years. Return to Table of Contents. |
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Experiencing the Arts Vital 