William Robertson Smith

William Robertson Smith (1846 – 1894) was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is also known for his book Religion of the Semites, which is considered a foundational text in the comparative study of religion. Religion of the Semites is an account of ancient Jewish religious life which pioneered the use of sociology in the analysis of religious phenomenon.
“In a few introductory pages of his Lectures on the Religion of the Semits the Victorian biblicist and Arabist William Robertson Smith pioneered the myth-ritualist theory. … Smith’s approach to ancient religion is behaviorist.” (R.A. Segal. 1998, 1)
“According to Smith, “in almost every case the myth was derived from the ritual and not the ritual from the myth (Smith 1889, 19) … myth is merely the explanation of a religious usage.” (R.A. Segal. 1998, 2)
“The antique religions had for the most part no creed; they consisted entirely of institutions and practices” (Smith 1889, 18). Smith grants that ancients, whom he compares with primitives, doubtless performed rituals for some reason: “No doubt men will not habitually follow certain practices without attaching a meaning to them” (Smith 1889, 18). (R.A. Segal. 1998, 2)
For Smith, ritual is conspicuously more important than myth, which he calls “secondary”. (R.A. Segal. 1998, 3)

1. The Myth and Ritual Theory. An Anthology. Edited by Robert A. Segal. 1998. Blackwell Publishers Inc. Malden, Massachusetts, USA.
2. William Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semits, First Series, 1st edn (Edinburgh: Black, 1889).

Edward Tylor

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, an English Anthropologist (1832 - 1917). In 1883, Tylor became the head of the University Museum at Oxford and was a Professor of Anthropology from 1896 until 1909. Published in 1881, Tylor’s first book, Anthropology, is still considered to be modern in its cultural concepts and theories.

Tylor was not particularly interested in fieldwork. He derived most of the material for his comparative studies through extensive readings of Classical materials (literature and history of Greece and Rome), the work of the early European folklorists, and reports from missionaries, travelers, and contemporaneous ethnologists.
Tylor is considered representative of cultural evolutionism, based on the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin. Tylor generally seemed to assume a Victorian idea of progress rather than the idea of non-directional, multilineal cultural development proposed by later anthropologists. He believed that there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he determined was universal. He reintroduced the term animism (the faith in the individual soul or anima of all things) into common use. He considered animism as the first phase of development of religions.

Tylor formulated one of the early and influential anthropological conceptions of culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

He formulated also the classical conception of myth as an explanation of the world.
“For Tylor, myth is an account of events in the physical world. Myth is more important than ritual, which is the application, not the subject, of myth. Myth constitutes creed, which is merely expressed in the form of a story. For Tylor, myth serves the same function as science. Indeed, myth is the ancient and primitive counterpart to modern science.” (Robert A. Segal. 1998. Introduction to the The Myth and Ritual Theory, an anthology, edited by Robert A. Segal.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burnett_Tylor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology

Igor meets Igorots

Pagan ritual in the center of Taipei city
About two weeks ago I was so lucky to participate in the pagan ritual in the center of modern Taipei city. My recently research of Negritos and their former existence in Taiwan evidence brought me to the studying of Philippines ethnology.
According to many researches the Pygmies (or “Negritos” which, in Enlish, means “little black people”) came to the Philippines from the south by landward migrations across the land bridges about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. They became the aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines, and their descendants, still exist there.
Later from the mainland of Southeasten Asia the first seafaring immigrants - the Indonesians (which means “Island Indians”) - came in rough-hewn sailboats to the Philippines shores. They came in two main waves of migration, the first wave dating about 5,000 years ago and the second wave about 3,500 years ago. It is said that they belonged to the Mongolian race but with Caucasic affinities.
The Indonesians fought with the Negritoes for ownership of the land. Possessing a higher type of culture and armed with better weapons, the Indonesians triumphed over their Negrito opponents. The Indonesians with whom the Negritoes afterwards intermingled in various degrees drove the “little black people” to the interior regions.
According to D.P Barrows (D.P. Barrows. p. 5) “the Negritos have retired from many places where they lived when the Spaniards first arrived”, but by the beginning of 20th century there were still “several thousand in Luzon, especially in the Cordillera Zambales, and in the Sierra Madre range on the Pacific coast, and in the interior of Panay and Negros, and in Surigao of Mindanao.” Now the Negritoes, popularly known in Philippines as the Agta or the Aeta, live in the mountainous areas of Luzon, Negros, Panay, and Mindanao.
The last Asian immigrants to colonize the Philippines during prehistoric times were the brown-skinned, maritime Malays. The Indonesians were in tern driven by the Malays from the coastlands and open plains.
Gregorio F. Zaide cites (G. F. Zaide. 1957, 24-25) Professor Blumentritt, who says, “The ancient Malays reached the Philippines in three main migratory waves. The first wave arrived at about 200 B.C., representing the headhunting Malays – the ancestors of the Bontoks, Ifugaos, and Tinggians of Northern Luzon. The second wave came after the start of the Christian era, from 100 A.D. to the 13th century A.D., representing the alphabet-using Malays – the ancestors of the Bisayans, Tagalogs, Ilokanos, Bikols, Pampangans, and other Christian Filipinos. And the third wave arrived between the 14th and the 16th century A.D., representing the Mohammedan Malays – the ancestors of the present-day Moros.”

The people, whom I so luckily and surprisingly met in the park near Minquan W. Rd. MRT station in Taipei City called themselves Igorots and were the descendants of the ancient headhunting Malays of Philippines.

Igorot is the general name for the people of the Cordillera region, in the island of Luzon. Some Igorot groups formerly practiced headhunting. The Igorots are grouped into six ethno-linguistic groups, the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg (or Apayao), Kalinga, and the Kankana-ey.
The Bontocs, who live on the banks of the Chico River, were once well-known because of their headhunting practices. From ancient times they did perform a circular rhythmic dance acting out certain aspects of the hunt, always accompanied by the bronze gong. There was no singing or talking during the dance drama. It was a serious but plesurable event for all concerned, including the children. In the center of the modern Taipei I did take part in such kind of the dance drama with the Bontocs, who work in Taiwan and have cultural and religious ceremonies in the night park almost every Sunday. It was amazing! one of the participants even gave me a bronze gong to try utter the sound.
Historically a hereditary class of priests hold various monthly ceremonies. I was lucky to talk with one of them, about 35-years old intellectual, who studies in Hualian the culture of Amis tribe.

Nowadays many Igorots as other Filipinos have left their mountain homes to seek better opportunities all over the world. Like many Diasporas, they maintain their cultural heritage in foreign lands by gathering together in common bond. In the night park by a lucky chance I met the members of the Igorots Diaspora organization which purpose is to keep their traditions alive.


1. David P. Barrows. 1926. History of the Philippines. New York. Copyright 1905 by David P. Barrows.
D.P Barrows was the Professor of Political Science, University of California;Formerly City Superintendent of Schools, Manila, 1900-01;Chief of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes of the Philippines, 1901-03;Director of Education for the Philippines, 1903-09;Formerly President of the University of California.
2. Gregorio F. Zaide. 1957. Philippine Political and Cultural History. Vol. I. The Philippines Since Pre-Spanish Times. Manila: Philippine Education Company.

Kazimir Malevich says

Malevich wrote about Suprematism in his treatise The Non-Objective World: Suprematism is the rediscovery of pure art that, in the course of time, had become obscured by the accumulation of "things" . . . The black square on the white field was the first form in which nonobjective feeling came to be expressed. The square = feeling, the white field = the void beyond this feeling. Yet the general public saw in the nonobjectivity of the representation the demise of art and failed to grasp the evident fact that feeling had here assumed external form. The Suprematist square and the forms proceeding out of it can be likened to the primitive marks (symbols) of aboriginal man, which represented, in their combination, not ornament, but a feeling of rhythm. Suprematism did not bring into being a new world of feeling but, rather, an altogether new and direct form of representation of the world of feeling . . .. The new art of Suprematism, which has produced new forms and form relationships by giving external expression to pictorial feeling, will become a new architecture: it will transfer these forms from the surface of canvas to space . . .. Suprematism has opened up new possibilities to creative art, since by virtue of the abandonment of so-called "practical consideration, " a plastic feeling rendered on canvas can be carried over into space. The artist (the painter) is no longer bound to the canvas (the picture plane) and can transfer his compositions from canvas to space"

Suprematism is a Desert

Kazimir Malevich says:
Under Suprematism I understand the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art. To the Suprematist the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, meaningless; the significant thing is feeling, as such…
Feeling is the determining factor ... and thus art arrives at non objective representation at Suprematism.
It reaches a "desert" in which nothing can be perceived but feeling.
But this desert is filled with the spirit of nonobjective sensation which pervades everything. …A blissful sense of liberating nonobjectivity drew me forth into the "desert," where nothing is real except feeling . . . and so feeling became the substance of my life.
We have seen how art, at the turn of the century, divested itself of the ballast of religious and political ideas which had been imposed upon it and came into its own attained, that is, the form suited to its intrinsic nature and became, along with the two already mentioned, a third independent and equally valid point of view.

Art no longer cares to serve the state and religion, it no longer wishes to illustrate the history of manners, it wants to have nothing further to do with the object, as such, and believes that it can exist, in and for itself, without "things"…

Suprematism has opened up new possibilities to creative art.., a plastic feeling rendered on canvas can be carried over into space. The artist (the painter) is no longer bound to the canvas (the picture plane) and can transfer his compositions from canvas to space.
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/malevich.html

Cubism

10 July, Tuesday Painting Class Agenda

Analytic cubism

Cubism was a short but highly significant art movement between about 1907 and 1914 in France. The most notable of cubism's participants were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form — instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. The roots of cubism are to be found in the Paul Cezanne’s later works:
1. The idea to break the painted surface into small multifaceted areas of paint;
2. The simplification of natural forms into cylinders, spheres, pyramids and cubes.
2 Main Types of Cubism
There are two main types of cubism, analytical cubism and synthetic cubism. Analytic cubism was mainly practiced by Braque, and is very simple, with dark, almost monochromatic colours. Synthetic cubism was much more energetic, and often made use of collage including the use of several two-dimensional materials. This type of cubism was developed by Picasso.
Analytic cubism is the first form of cubism. The time period was from about 1907-1912. Color was almost a monochromatic scheme that often included grey, blue and ochre. Instead of an emphasis on colour, Analytic cubists had gotten the idea from Paul Cezanne and focused on forms like the cylinder, sphere and the cone to represent the natural world.
Illustrations
Analytic cubism
http://www.roberto-crosio.net/1_citta/BRAQUE_PICASSO.htm

A still life based on a complementary colors color scheme

10 June, Sunday Painting Class Agenda
Color harmony
Color harmony creates an inner sense of order, a balance in the visual experience.
When something is not harmonious, it's either boring or chaotic. At one extreme is a visual experience that is so bland that the viewer is not engaged. The human brain will reject under-stimulating information. At the other extreme is a visual experience that is so overdone, so chaotic that the viewer can't stand to look at it. The human brain rejects what it can not organize. The visual task requires that we present a logical structure. Color harmony delivers visual interest and a sense of order. In summary, extreme unity leads to under-stimulation, extreme complexity leads to over-stimulation. Harmony is a dynamic equilibrium.
A color scheme based on analogous colors
Analogous colors are any three colors which are side by side on a 12 part color wheel, such as yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange. Usually one of the three colors predominates.
A color scheme based on complementary colors
Complementary colors are any two colors, which are directly opposite each other, such as red and green and red-purple and yellow-green. These opposing colors create maximum contrast and maximum stability.
A color circle or wheel
A color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept.
PRIMARY COLORS: red, yellow and blue
In traditional color theory, these are the 3 pigment colors that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these 3 hues.
SECONDARY COLORS: Green, orange and purple
These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.
TERTIARY COLORS: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green
These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is a two-word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html
http://www.behr.com/behrx/inspiration/artistic_1.jsp
http://www.ecoverdesigns.com/articles/colorwheel.htm