Waiting For Harry

Watching the movie "Waiting for Harry", I was amazed with the length and process of the funeral and all the aspects that go into planning and building the event. I have a fascination with funerals and how they are conducted within different cultures and religions. This funeral was really visually beautiful because of the process in which it was planned and the duration of time it took in order to fulfill the ritual. The hut where the bodies were kept served as a multi purpose structure for men to meet and gather, which was interesting because  they were next to the bones, It was like they were including the dead in there leisure time. I liked the art that was drawn on the log coffin where crows would perch and how it told a story. My favorite part of this ritual was the painting of the bones. It reminded of me of sugar skulls in the mexican culture. Sugar skulls are used during day of the dead and are decorations around cemeteries or decoration around shrines created for a deceased loved one. The celebratory aspect of the funeral is very visually beautiful also and I appreciated the history behind each part. The relationship between death and music is amazing. All songs were either about the deceased or about the funeral process. Many all cultures or religions have a strong connection to  music when concerning a funeral. Also, the connection with animals and death are very appealing to me because of how they help tell the story and are part of the healing too.

Why make sense of the past?

When looking at the pictures in the text and reading about the cave paintings, I can't help but wonder why is this so important? I know it's interesting to know that humans were artistic during prehistoric times and that they had a creative outlet, but why should there be scientists that dedicate their time and energy investigating and researching these paintings? I see graffiti in odd places, freeways, bridges, sewers, stair cases, bathrooms, benches and I wonder if hundreds of years from now will archaeologists come across these writing or drawings and study them? After seeing the power point from lecture the other day I had a revelation! I have loved anthropology since taking my first anthropology class years ago at my community college, I fell in love with the subject. I even thought that I can claim it as my major but realized I was a little too old. The point is I understood why we need to make sense of these paintings, we as humans are curious and we feel the need to know all aspects of past, present and future. It makes perfect sense to want to dissect and understand people that lived before us. One of my favorite parts of biological anthropology was learning about Neanderthals and other different hominids and how they scavenged for food and hunted for their families. I thought about this after reading the text and I imagined the early stages of human life creating, painting, fulfilling their need to express themselves. How they survived weather conditions and traveled across the earth. I wish we would have more images of what they left behind and more information on how they would past time. It's more clear to me now that previous humans had some sort of artistic outlet weather it be making art or painting on cave walls. However, we will never truly know what they are depicting in those paintings but it is fun to try and figure it out. The possibilities are endless.

Blog 7

"Today, most scholars, whether they are art historians or archaeologists, would deny that there even is such a thing as primitive art."pg.125


 I never really paid any attention to the word primitive until this class. Honestly, it's not something i use in my day to day vocabulary and I never really heard it or know people that use the word primitive. After hearing it in class, I can honestly say I don't like the word and it's connection to negative. It gives things a title of being less then in my opinion. Coming from a very enriched cultural background, most objects I'm used to seeing as beautiful pieces of workmanship would be considered primitive. Things that people make like pottery, tools, rugs, etc for daily use are beautiful one of the kind pieces of art that can actually be used instead of collecting dust. These things are functional pieces of art as well as genuine craftsmanship.
When I was younger and Tijuana, BC was a little safer, my friends and I used to go to Tijuana all the time. I always came home with something that I bought from a street vendor. One of my favorite purses is from a vendor. Just a knitted purse with a cool design, really basic. This woman sells these purses to feed herself and her family. It's a simple purse but I have gotten more compliments on that purse then any  name brand purse I have in my closet. It's items like my purse that make me hate the word primitive. This purse describes a lifestyle, a creation, a culture. It's specific to my heritage and meaningful because it's a homemade one of a kind piece of art. Another item that I love and use a lot is a ceramic turtle painted bright blue and has bold colorful flowers painted on it. It's purpose is a jewelry box and I store my favorite ring in it. This turtle is a really awesome piece of art and craftsmanship. The whole thing is homemade by the vendor which means he sculpted the turtle out of clay and then painted it. This is not only a hobby but their livelihood depends on it. It's items like this that make me appreciate my culture and the work that goes behind making this items.