“The Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress”

Background

The book “The Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress” has been written by Shelly Errington. In this book, the author expounds the history of Primitive art and links it to different phases. She analyzes that how it evolved throughout the phases of history and how it has changed its outlook. It took different faces at different stages. This detailed study is divided into three chunks. First of all there is a detailed introduction, entitled "two centuries of progress, " explaining the nature and primitive art history and in which the views of primitive art has been produced by them to change the way the environment looks and then it is later viewed in a different perspective. It pays more attention to the different definitions and meanings of the term "primitive” and "authentic" and the nature of progress itself. Thought this process and methods the author discusses the basis for the main part of her thesis.

Analysis on Primitive Art

The concept of "primitive art" is rooted in anthropology. This term appeared in early 1871 in the main work of one of the leading representatives of anthropology at the time, EB Tylor: Primitive Culture. Once it was considered a "category" but primitivism is an internal phenomenon of Western art. A review and influence of so-called primitive arts in the Western artists started in 1905 when Fauves "discovered" African sculptures. Primitive art is a whole art form of great originality, often brightly colored and stylized. The best examples are the body paint and masks. This is a set of art forms of great originality which is often brightly colored and stylized.

Primitive Aesthetics

The primitive aesthetics combines figurative and abstract elements that represent tangible or spiritual forces whose relationship with the realism is almost zero because they respond to the concept that these people have nothing to do with the temporal aspects. The most characteristic example of primitive art is the mask, usually made of wood or straw. It is an object of adornment associated with tribal magical rites, in which men covered their faces, dance and mime to perform actions and seek help from guardian spirits, deities to drive away evil and appease the gods and forces of nature. Another facet of art is the decoration of the human body with tattoos or scars. This personal decoration is completed with all kinds of necklaces, headdresses, bracelets, etc., Performed with different components or materials such as shells, feathers or seeds. The decorative motifs are almost always linear, very simple and symbolic.

Western Idea

The western idea of Progress is well-written in Errington's introduction of his humorous book and it is portrayed in primitive art presentations which are displayed in worlds' fairs and museums. Her main emphasis is on the fact when the intellectual of West gave up modernity and progress, the third world government and MNCs worked up together and took those themes up under the concept of development and ...