Salute!! Ahhh yet another week has gone by. I actually look forward to contextual studies so that I can write a blog. =] So, YAAY I get to write a blog. I guess blog writing is kind of like a mark for another week gone by [and I might add, an insanely fast week] and of course for contextual studies. I think its rather helpful that we write blogs, because in all honesty if I didnt have to write this blog I would forget everything and/or never read the material given to me, except in class.
Well this week it was all about Manaakitanga, Conviviality and Relational Art. Again, I was going huh? I couldnt even pronounce Manaakitanga and Conviviality. I have a simple definitions for all three of these words:
Conviviality - sociable [due to food]
Manaakitanga - caring, kindness, hospitality and showing respect to others
Relational Art - objects producing socialbility
Now as I read more about Manaakitanga and Conviviality I start to see how they all relate to Relational Art, and how Relational Art relates to them.
What I thought was particularly interesting in the slide show was the Toihoukura programme. I didnt agree with the whole idea that 'Maori art should be created for Maori' Firstly, how selfish, I mean just imagine if this programme was put into place a couple hundred years ago, if the Maori didnt show or tell the English what their art was like just imagine what kind of turmoil it would have created. And imagine what it would be like today. I can also see how semiotics plays into this, the Maori could have been like 'Shhhh lets not tell the English people what this means' 'Let them try to figure it out or let them have their own meaning for our artwork' [reminds me of Chinse whispers actually] Both of them would have a different idea of what Maori art was. Like today, when Grant said 'Lets replace the word D-O-G with some other word' 'And only we would know about it' Other people outside of our social group wouldnt understand, unless we decided to tell them. Oh, and I had another thought about this Toihoukura Programme, if I was to draw all the Maori reliefs and koru's and the traditional stuff and immerse myself in a Maori world-view, would that make ME a Maori artist??? Tradition or Originality? I suppose its up to the person themselves. But wouldnt tradition in its own, be originality??
Both Manaakitanga and Conviviality relate to one another, well in my opinion they do. Conviviality means sociable due to food, and if I were to throw a beautiful dinner party in my mansion to hundreds of people [haha I wish] serve food, show kindness, hospitality and show respect for others I would gain Manaakitanga. Then because I served all this food I was able to create conviviality. And there you have it!! Mannakitanga actually reminds me of the Three Wise Men.
Relational Art relates to these by being sociable. Even in Relational Art one could create an artwork which involves food which would create Conviviality, and that would make you have Manaakitanga. Relational Art is interesting because its interactive and kind of forces strangers to come together as one to interact and deal with the artwork. Just like Relational Artists prove in their artwork. But wouldnt all art work be relational, because we all look at the artwork together and we all talk about it together...Maybe relational art is on a much larger scale of interaction.
In class today when we were looking at the art by a Relational Artist, I forgot his name. But it was the one with the licourice, I saw that after the title it said Placebo. I was like 'Ooohhh Placebo' I only knew the name because its the name of a band, but I didnt actually know what Placebo meant. So I researched and Placebo means 'The placebo effect is a medical phenomenon where the results of a medical treatment are affected by the patient's ideas about how effective the treatment is. The term is especially used when a patient responds dramatically to a physiologically inactive treatment' which is interesting because the artwork with the licourice was interactive.
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Infact I think Maori and Pakeha do have different understandings of Maori art largely because of each culture's understanding of the concept art. In a Maori context art is integrated with life so the carved meeting house can be seen as art as lived experience, there is no seperation. For Pakeha art is a seperate thing that exists in art galleries and functions as an item of exchange in a commodity market. Ofcourse contemporary Maori art also functions in that commodity market and I think this is where tensions begin to develop and the Adsett position becomes interesting. And while perhaps not in the case of art but certainly in terms of mythology Maori did mislead Pakeha about the significance and meaning of concepts, words and places because they wantedto protect their knowledge while gaining the advantages of association with Pakeha.
ReplyDeleteRelational art is particular because it quite conciously sets out to create socialities. A portarit is not painted to create sociality unless it is a relational project that brings people together to create a portrait. I would hope that people were not forced to participate in the way some poor guy is forced on stage to dance with the hula girl, I think participation has to be voluntary and in way that allows people to participate as they choose to. I think successful relational projects facilitate participation at a variety of levels just as a good party caters for the crazy dancers as well as the hanging out in the kitchen people. ofcourse most parties do not think of themselves as artworks.
Good to see you tossing around ideas you might also want to integrate a bit of independent research to extend your discussions. cheers Grant