Pointless?

Photo by Ed Yourdon

Another week, another tutorial topic...and this week it was a debate, which was a quite interesting one. Well, even though it was more like a "two point-perspective discussion" if you can call it that, since no one really leaned towards one side of the argument or the other. Nevertheless it really brought up some  thought-provoking points about whether it is pointless for non-Aboriginal people to buy and hang Aboriginal art on their walls since we can never understand the true meaning of the work.


It is true that we can never understand the true meaning of Aboriginal art and because of that, the topic of the debate questions whether it is pointless then in appreciating it at all? As non-Aboriginal people, we don't have the spiritual connection that Aboriginal people have with the land and we may never be able to understand their beliefs in the same way or feel as they do, just as it's impossible or hard for us to understand the beliefs of a different religion. Our appreciation can only be through the outside; its aesthetics and it will limited. So then doesn't it become pointless in appreciating Aboriginal art when you don't even know what to appreciate or when you don't know the essence of the art? As the article by Felicity Fenner, "Thinking Beyond Abstraction" talks about, what is then the point if we don't understand the meaning? Are people doing so for philanthropic reasons or even for some, for political reasons in desiring "to own something of another culture"(1)? Is "appreciation" then just a veil to a system of society based on old power structures and even if people buy Aboriginal art for purely philanthropical reasons, doesn't it miss the whole point of appreciating their art as being a beautiful form of art and that is in fact more than "art" but Aboriginal culture itself, not a mere commodity.


While these arguments may make it seem pointless in appreciating Aboriginal art, on the other side of the argument...we can also question: does it really mean that is is pointless for us to appreciate Aboriginal art when we don't know its true meaning? Like so many artworks around the world, even from famous artists, appreciation of their artworks does not necessarily derive from understanding of meaning but may be from appreciating it's purpose and its aesthetics or simply from its ambiguity or individual significance. Just as Roland Barthes says, meaning floats and there is no one true meaning (2). From reading some books, about Aboriginal art in the past, I don't think not knowing the meaning really means that it's pointless to appreciate it, in fact, it is seems to be the exact opposite. Much of the true meaning of Aboriginal art is hidden anyways and known only to a select few due to its sacredness. (3) So I guess, part of appreciating Aboriginal art may actually be in just knowing what we know and respecting it hidden values. At the same time, appreciation between one individual to another also differs, a non-Aboriginal person will of course appreciate it differently from an Aboriginal person.


Additionally, Aboriginal people have long strived to make their art recognizable to others, from not being considered as anthropology, as evidence of primitivity but as art:

Indigenous Australian art is no logner regarded as 'primitive', but as a sophisticated reflection of the contemporary realities of its makers. Far from being neglected, it is now regarded as an integral part of insitutional art collections and programs. The sweeping changes in institinional attitudes, policies, practice and programs have promoted a better awareness, understanding and apprciation of he realities and compelxiities of Indigenous Australian art, culture and society (4)

So non-Aboriginal people appreciating Aboriginal art is definitely far from being pointless. Recognizing, respecting and appreciating Aboriginal art is in fact what many Aboriginal communities have strived for; in having their art, part of who they are, being acknowledged as art and as being equal, both in terms of art as well as people. Therefore, even though it may be pointless in trying to understanding the true meaning of Aboriginal art which is often hidden, appreciating Aboriginal art is certainly not pointless.


Wow..that was like having a debate with myself. Hope you enjoyed!




References:
1) Felicity Fenner, "Thinking Beyond Abstraction," Contemporary Visual Art + Culture Broadsheet 38 (2009): 133.
2) Stuart Hall, "The Spectacle of the 'Other'" In Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (London: Sage, 1997), 228.
3) Sylvia Kleinert, and Margo Neale, The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000), 31-32.
4) Ibid., 460.