Examining Art as Spiritual Expression - Essay Example

Examining Art as Spiritual Expression For thousands of years, many different cultures have used art as spiritual expression. It is not uncommon for tribes or cultures to give faces to their deities with masks or statues made from materials specific to that culture or tribe. Masks in particular have often served as important parts to tribal rituals and dances. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of these pieces of cultural and spiritual art work, and to somehow bridge the art of a culture to its spirituality and belief systems. A tribe of West Papua (Irian Jaya), known as the Asmat, have been infamous for their cannibalistic and violent ways. Much of their art includes actual human skulls. It is customary for the Asmat to keep the skulls of their enemies once they have killed them. The Asmat even named their children after enemies which they have killed. The Asmat are also known for using human skulls to rest their heads on at night, instead of pillows. The Asmat do, however, consider wood to be very sacred. The reason for this is that they believe that they actually arose or came from wood. They are known in addition to being cannibals as being magnificent word carvers. Much of their art is derived from wood or carved into wood thus honoring their belief system of the sanctity of wood. One piece in particular known as Korvar, is a wood carving depicting what looks like a small human-like deity with a large head. This could be considered to be a deity of wood or an embodiment of the sacred wood that the Asmat held as sacred. The face of the carving is less human-like than the body. It has almost a bill-like mouth and undefined eyes. Carvings of the Papua Gulf tribes (Kerewa) included agibas (essentially a skull rack). These agibas were used to hang human skulls for display. The skulls were often decorated with shells, seeds and other organic materials. One agibas could be used to hold hundreds of skulls belonging to one clan or tribal segment. Often the agibas would be fashioned into human appearance or a pair of humans. The Kerewa of the Papua Gulf truly embraced cannibalism and “head hunting” as a way of life. The fact that they had artifacts which were hand carved specifically for the purpose of displaying the skulls of their enemies serves to emphasize this. Among Native North Americans, the belief in spirit guides was not only a sense of spirituality but a way of life. It was believed that spirit guides granted certain individuals “privileges” that could be carried down through generations. For example, one could be granted to perform certain dances or own a certain mask. A significant type of mask to the Kwakiutl was the “transformation mask”. This type of mask consisted of two faces. The individual wearing the mask need only pull on invisible strings to reveal a mask underneath the original mask. The mask underneath the original mask was always much different from the expression of the original mask. The Kwakiutl used their masks to represent animals, people, ancestors and supernatural beings. Transformation masks in particular were used to illustrate part of the belief system of the Kwakiutl. This belief system says that humans originated from animals that magically turned themselves into humans: “An almost universal feature of the religious system of Northwest Coast tribes was the concept of a personal guardian spirit who gave the individual lifelong protection” (Waite 1982) The transformation mask could have an animals face or a particular expression from a human face. Once the string was pulled, however, it revealed a human face with a much different expression from the first part of the mask. The transformation masks were actually handed down from one individual to the next through ceremonies. This was significant in the “coming of age” of individuals within the tribe. The masks were a representation of ancestry and truly were important in tribe members connecting with their ancestors. Another important art form for of the Kwakiutl was the totem pole. Totem poles could reach as high as 40 feet and were usually carved from single pieces of cedar. Totem poles were often used for a sort of documentation or served as a story. They provided a picture of myths, legends, and history pertinent to the tribe that made them. Earlier twentieth century art such as Totem Pole and House by: A.Y. Jackson, depict what some of the earlier totem poles of the Native North Americans look like. For the Kwakiutl, Totem poles served as a way of life, as a Totem pole is shown in Jackson’s picture. In addition, totem poles often depicted carvings of ancestors and important tribe members. The stories that they told were often very pertinent to a particular family or tribe’s lineage. Again, the totem pole, like the transformation mask, was an important link between ancestors. Totem poles, such as the slides viewed in class, can appear as a series of highly decorated faces, each representing something or someone in particular. In looking at Japanese Noh theater, there are several aspects to be considered on a spiritual or religious level. There are 4 possible roles that one can adopt when performing Noh. The most common role is the role of the shite. The shite represents an individual or human being and then later, becomes a ghost. In the type of play called Kami mono, the shite character starts out as a human and then evolves into the role of a deity. This is interestingly very similar to the idea brought forth by the transformation masks of the Kwakiutl. The depiction of an individual undergoing a physical or spiritual transformation is captured in the stories told by both the transformation mask of the Kwakiutl and the Noh theater of the Japanese. The type of play known as Kami mono serves to bring honor or praise to a particular deity or spirit. There are several hundred types of Noh plays that depict a similar transformation for the Shite as well as other aspects of spirituality, death, the after life, and ancestry. It is living art that recreates spiritual and religious beliefs of the Japanese. The other three essential roles in Noh theater are the Waki (foil to the Shite), the Wakizure (the companion to the Waki) and the Hayashi (instrumentalists). The Waki, Wakizure and the Hayashi are supporting characters in Noh to the Shite. By reenacting these religious and spiritual scenarios, the Noh gives faces and personalities to their deities and their dead. This is certainly a way to both keep alive those that have passed as well as give life and human characteristics to mythical spirits. Certainly, pieces such as the one viewed in class which depicts the Day of the dead celebration, are a bit more well known than some of the pieces that have been discussed thus far. In Mexico, the actual day of the dead is a celebration. The specific piece of art depicting the Day of the Dead, depicts dancing skeletons, playing musical instruments and celebrating. These skeletons are in what appears to be a graveyard, among the actual dead. It could also be that the skeletons are in fact the deceased resurrected and joing in a celebration. The celebration in Mexico and among individuals of Mexican decent, is an observation of the relatives and loved ones that have deceased. This takes place on November 1 and 2nd of every year. It is dated back thousands of years to the Aztecs. It is though that the original celebration honored an Aztec goddess known as Mictecacihuati or “Lady of the Dead”. This celebration which is captured in the piece depicting the Day of the Dead, is another cultural form of connecting to one’s ancestors. It is a way of almost temporarily reviving one’s departed in order to celebrate them. In taking a look at Indigenous art in Australia, we can see a recurrence of the idea of story telling. Much like the totem pole and transformation mask, Indigenous art has been passed down through many generations in order to capture important information within families and aboriginal tribes. It is essentially stories of dreams: “Art was and remains an important component of the system of restricted knowledge, and at a more metaphysical level is the major means of recreating ancestral events, ensuring continuity with the ancestral past, and communicating with the spirit world. Dreamtime is how the aboriginal thought the world was created: “its like having a creation story for Christians” (Morphy, 1991). Many different types of medium have been historically used to make Indigenous art such as leaves, stone, wood and other natural materials. Each piece was viewed as a certain type of manifestation of someone or something. These pieces of art were central to the very essence of the Aboriginal people. Through many different cultures, both historically and currently, art is an important way of giving personification to deities as well as celebrating and keeping alive the memories of ancestors. Certainly, almost any cultural art can somehow be connected not only to deities specific to that culture, but also to the ancestry of the artist and to the tribe or clan of the artist. Works Cited: Pearlstone-Mathews, Zena, Jonaitis, Aldona, 1982, Native North American Art History, Peek Publications, Pablo Alto, California Read More