Art & Culture - Josh Macias

1. Part I: Western Perspectives

1.1. Ch. 1 - The Origins of Art

1.1.1. "Art originated in Europe, but not, as Europeans tend to assume" (Burt, 7)

1.1.2. How ideas of art developed in Europe and applied to other cultures was often times ethnocentric

1.1.3. Riches were discovered and brought back to Europe into he 1500s as Europeans traded and discovered new lands.

1.1.4. The British Museum becomes the authority of curation opening in 1753

1.2. Ch. 2 - Classical Art

1.2.1. The Europeans noted Greek and Roman art to create "Classical" expression.

1.2.2. Both the French and British raced to collect as much artifacts as possible from places such as Babylon. (Burt, 26)

1.2.3. German Philospher, Georg W.F. Hegel suggests that history was determined by "spirit of the age" (zeitgeist) (Burt, 28)

1.2.4. Greece is known to have had the most successful and impactful forward movement of art. (Burt, 31)

1.3. Ch. 3 - Oriental Art

1.3.1. Impact of Orientalism: Depiction of Middle East and Asia as monsterous and exotic. This had lasting effects, to this day on these communities.

1.3.2. Europeans often times ignored the artistic value of works found in the "Orient." (Burt, 38)

1.3.3. Example of Orientalism as seen in the live-action Disney film, Aladdin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGLSPyGszjo

1.4. Ch. 4 - Primitive Art

1.4.1. The idea created by Europeans of "primitive man and art" which was obtained by small societies.

1.4.2. Primitiive people were know to be of "less developed culture" (Burt, 55). This stemmed from Anthropologists of the time.

1.4.3. Diffusion is seen as the culprit as to how culture was spreading.

1.5. Ch. 5 - Prehistoric Art

1.5.1. Using artefactts as a way to interpret human history.

1.5.2. Interpretation of archaeological remains to determine the origins of the artefact. Was it pre or post biblical flood?

1.5.3. On omnious artefacts "...the analogies drawn to understand them become more speculative, reflecting the cultural prejudices and fashions of the time." (Burt, 70)

1.5.4. Upper Paleolithic 35,000 to 10,000 BP were making cave paitings, and other works known as art today.

2. Part II: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

2.1. Ch. 6 - Form

2.1.1. Formalism: identify principles of composition, such as organic unity among elements, balanced sense of symmetry, and recurring shapes.

2.1.2. William Fagg believed that art could communicate African values.

2.1.3. Franz Boas authors Primitive Art which shares his opinion that artistic work

2.2. Ch. 7 - Meaning

2.2.1. The Benin tribe of Nigeria placed art onto altar pieces to mud shrines (Ben-Amos, 1976)

2.2.2. The purpose of heraldry in England provided a way to showcase the history and prerogatives of individuals, families, and corporate bodies (Burt, 98)

2.2.3. Animals have helped to define worldview as reflected in the works from the Benin, Nigeria region (Plascencia, 2021)

2.3. Ch. 8 - Performance

2.3.1. "Transformations of the body, combined with the music and dance, maximize tthe symbolic power of artistic artifacts" - (Burt, 111)

2.3.2. Showing Off is used to communicate who and what someone/a society is. Costume being a way to differentiate rank and status. (Burt, 112)

2.3.3. Group Performance (Parade) can be noticed in British military parades.

2.4. Ch. 9 - Archaeology

2.4.1. Theories explaining the significance of exotic artifact traditions in their social contexts allow plausible interpretations to be made of archaeological findings. (Burt, 127)

2.4.2. Coming from creeks, the Niger Delta Elkine use masks to invoke spirits.

2.4.3. Sacred Geography is the animated landscape of mountains and water deities that utilize themes of agriculture and warfare using animals and figures in ceremonial performances.

2.5. Ch. 10 - The Work of Art

2.5.1. Western art provides an intersection of politics, religion and economies which can make for difficult conversattions and interpretations.

2.5.2. Pattern is the regularity that people perceive that enable them to predict and understand world of experience. - Raymond Firth

2.5.3. Artifacts can act as social agents which impact how we understand things.

2.5.4. Australian Aboriginals - Walbiri used various designs which created various meanings and interpretations.

3. Part III: Artistic Globalization

3.1. Ch. 11 - The Art World

3.1.1. Fine Art creates category that bases value on developing objects of contemplation. Take for example Banksy's political messages that provoke discussions.

3.1.2. “Taste classifies...and classifies the classifier” - Pierre Bourdieu

3.1.3. While Western institutions have been the most responsible of the homogenization of the global creative expression they are also charged to preserve the diversity of the worlds cultures.

3.1.4. Embroidery art changed between the 13th to the 16th century.

3.2. Ch. 12 - The Exotic Primitive

3.2.1. Primitivism developed during Atlantic slave trade. This led to the collection of "exotic" artifacts during colonialism.

3.2.2. European perspective of the Benin, Nigeria people was that they were uncivilized, savage, and brutal.

3.2.3. "The first decades of the twentieth century saw both a change in meaning and shrinkagein the scope of what was considered Primitive Art with the discovery of African and Oceanic masks." - William Rubin

3.3. Ch. 13 - Marketing Exotic Art

3.3.1. Molly Lee proposes that art collectors can be categorized in three areas: tourist art, basket collection, and Special Access collectors (1999)

3.3.2. The colonial period begun the art trading in Europen based on the elite's taste in art.

3.3.3. Colonizing people recognized opportunities in commercial exchange. The artifacts became commodities based off the elite's willingness to pay and trade for art. (Burt, 189)

3.4. Ch.14 - Artistic Colonialism

3.4.1. Artifacts helped persuade the public of the virtue of conquest.

3.4.2. In colonial images, Native North Americans became the epitome of the "noble savage." (Burt, 206)

3.4.3. Curios- Term used by Europeans which classified primitive (non-European) art from tribal nations and small scale societies.

3.5. Ch. 15 - The Global and the Local

3.5.1. There can be no doubt that globalization is reducing the artistic diversity of the world, even as it offers new creative diversity. (Burt, 223)

3.5.2. Control of art and artifacts can be a way to assert power.

3.5.3. Kasto: Local traditional cultural ideas focus on knowledge and practice, including performance. Mainly seen in the regions of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

3.5.4. Magnus Fiskesjo challenged the values of the “Universal Museums" stating they discuss art and artifacts in terms of property and ownership. (Burt, 225)