And The Winner Is

Connection To The Land And The Soul

I’ve found that traditional Aboriginal art does have to main themes running through it, the land and spirituality. I think this is why I’m struggling to really get involved with it. If there is two things I have no connection with in my life it’s a connection with the land and a connection with spirituality. The spirituality is easily explained, I simply do not believe in any higher being or any type of force that can not be scientifically explained. When someone is talking about their spirituality I’m simply not moved at all. People may think thats cold but everyone has a right to believe in what they want.

The land is harder to explained, especially when my family has a long history with it. I come from a long history of farmers that have been farming in Australia since the early 1800s. So I guess you could say I have an ancestral connection to the land (obvious no way near as long as the 40,000 years though). But I’am the first generation to break away from that tradition because I simply have no interested in the land. When it comes to art I also have no interest with the land. Just because I say I have no interest in the land doesn’t mean I’m hostile to it, it’s I just don’t think about. This may very well change in the future but at the moment the art I make and like has no connection to spirituality or the land. 

White Guilt

White guilt does seem to be an outdated term that only crusty old conservatives use, but is there any truth behind it. 

In my own life I do I think there is a touch of it. In the last past I talked about being mugged by a group of Aboriginal guys. I do think I forgave them more easily than if it was a group of white guys. When someone comes up to me to ask for money I’m probably more like to give it if they were Aboriginal. I don’t think any of these actions are on a conscious level, I think there are feeling that come from how I was raised. When your growing up and your taught how horribly Aboriginals have been treated in the past and how horrible sections of the community still live, surely this would leave an impression that is deep ingrained in you. 

So are some people subconsciously nicer about Aboriginal art than they would to non Aboriginal art. Because during this course I’ve noticed that I have only read art critics essays were they have nothing but praise for a work. The only negative articles I would find would be by conservative people who have some other deep down problem about themselves their try to work out.

How much does our upbringing and political views affect our viewing of Aboriginal art?

DOROTHY NAPANGARDI

Mina Mina - 2004

Spinifex -  2003

When visiting the Flinders city gallery exhibition 'Spirit in the land' the artist that spoke to me the most was the work by Dorothy Napangardi. Probably has nothing to do with how she meant for the work to be enjoyed but hey on any level these works are daunting and intimidating. 

My Experiences With Aboriginal people

I guess my life is very similar to many white suburban Australians, I don’t really know any Aboriginal people. I definitely haven't tried to make it this way but circumstances have made it be that way. I went to school in the Adelaide hills and during primary school and high school I don’t remember there ever being one Aboriginal kid in any of my classes. Where I worked for fiver years there was not one employe that was of Aboriginal descent. And at Uni there are no Aboriginal people in any of my classes. To purposely seek someone out because of their race seems a bit perverse to me. 

Without having any friendship or working relationship with anyone of Aboriginal decent means my experiences have been largely negative. The biggest event in my life that has involved Aboriginals was about five years ago. Me and my friend had parked our car by the torrens river at the back of Adelaide Uni. When we were heading back to it, a group of Aboriginal youth tried to mug us. I was lucky only to get punched in the face a few times but my friend had his arm broken. As this is my only ever experience of violence of any kind it has left a major impact me. Living on South Terrace on a regular bases I get homeless people (many Aboriginal) asking for money or just get general abusive behaviour. As I suffer terribly from anxiety these experience again have quite a big impact on me. 

Although most of these experiences have been negative I absolutely don’t think this represents Aboriginal people at all. As any descent human being should do, I judge people as individuals, not on their race. 

Emily Kngwarreye

Emily Kngwarreye - Big Yam Dreaming - 1995

Can you enjoy a painting if you don’t know or can’t understand it’s meaning. Well i do love this painting, but I know nothing of the story or meaning behind it. To be brutally honest I kind of don’t want to know. I have my reasons for enjoying this work art. I’m sure the way I appreciate this painting would have nothing to do with the story behind it. 

I guess what i’m trying to say is like with a song someone might write and has a very person meaning to the musician but to millions of other people they put their own emotion values onto the song and make it about something very special to them that has nothing to do with the original meaning of the song. I think the same can be done with any other art work.

Aboriginals In Mainstream Film and Tv

When I say mainstream film and TV, I mean the drivel that is spewed out on a nightly bases to the masses i.e.. reality shows, soap operas. I can’t say I watch those shows but it’s impossible to ignore the ads and there general presence they have. The point I want to make is pop culture is the only culture many people get in their lives. I know I’m sorry, that sounds like something an elitist knob would say, but I love pop culture as well so I’m not. 

The presence of any indigenous people on these programs is minimal. I’m sure the presence is even less behind the camera as well. So the point i want to make is Aboriginals are dominating the ‘high culture’ aspect of Australian society but when it comes to majority of culture consumed by Australians, an Aboriginal presence is still very much in the background. 

Traditional Indigenous Art - High Art or Outsider Art?

I do not have an answer to this question. And I don’t mean to use the term outsider art in a derogatory way.

But the question I was asking myself is can art be classified as high art if the artist has no art training. One of the first things I learnt at art school was that without an art education the art world would not take you seriously. So if an elderly Aboriginal just starts painting without ever having an art education should it be classified as high art. Well I guess the argument would be that the individual has an accesses to a knowledge that is more or less equivalent to the knowledge that any other artist has. 

The problem that I have is I come from a very westernised way of thinking and viewing the world. So my instant view that it has to be outsider art. But the majority of the western world does consider it high art. I’ve spent hours thinking about this and I think I have come to a realisation. 

The question does just come down to labels. The concept of having different levels of hierarchy in the art world just sounds stupid. Why are we so determined to put labels on everything? I think the concept of hight art is a term that would only be used in the art market anyway.