ANTH3043

This class approaches the subject-matter of art anthropologically. What does approaching art anthropologically entail? As the Greek root of its name, anthropos (human), conveys, anthropology approaches all topics as fresh opportunities to answer the question “what is the human?” For this extremely general question, anthropologists examine mental as well as bodily dimensions of human existence. The topic of art is no exception. For an anthropologist, art is both a mental and bodily phenomenon. It is because our “mental” perception is subtlety influenced by our body which is, among other things, mobile. And our moving body, in turn, reflects the shape of the external world. What would this mean for studying art anthropologically?

The human “mind” can be cultured, acquire knowledge, cultivate taste, learn refined manners, and so on. But the human body is not as supple, malleable, or versatile. The body which enters a museum and stands in front of an artwork is not essentially different from the body which goes about the daily life. Giving an equal attention to body and mind, anthropologists tend to think that imagination and creativity we find in art are not exclusive to art; they are part of the general human capacity for imagination and creativity. From this angle, an anthropologist would treat an artwork equally whether it is hung in a museum or painted on the side of a building as a mural. Unlike an artwork hung in a museum, a mural is part of the mundane life. Out of the cacophony of urban bustles, things, and people does a mural emerge to encounter us as if by chance.

For this reason, anthropology encourages us to treat art’s effects on us side-by-side with the effects of small everyday experiences of beauty, intensity, curiosity, apprehension, etc. With such everyday effects in mind, this class will ask questions such as: Why do we feel “at home” while playing particular video games, but not others? Why does a certain soccer player’s feint motions strike us as novel, magical, or even beautiful? How is it that we find ourselves yearning for the miniature house reflected inside a snow globe? What does a crystal globe do to our perception? Why are we at times stunned by the figure of a person’s face suddenly and fleetingly appearing from moving clouds or on a cliffside? Why do we often find such figures more compelling than any man-made portraits? What does the cloud’s movement and our own mobility have to do with this effect?

OPT - Student Option

No

Summer Odd Year