The newest podcast episode! Dr Great Art: "African Art Survey Problems." A short Artecdote concerning the difficulty in teaching an overview, or intro survey to Sub-Saharan African art, plus a free art image bank to download. Link to podcast: http://drgreatart.libsyn.com/episode-8-african-art-history-the-survey
Image bank link: http://brandl-art-articles.blogspot.ch/2016/10/african-art-course.html
Alternate download zip link: https://www.markstaffbrandl.com/african_art_history.zip
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Here is the script (NOT a transcript as I change elements when recording).
Dr Great
Art Podcast Eight
"African
Art Survey Problems"
Hi this is
Mark Staff Brandl, with the eighth "Dr (Great) Art" brief podcast. I
hope you enjoy it and come back for each and every one.
Today we
have a short Artecdote concerning the difficulty in teaching an overview, or
intro survey to Sub-Saharan African art.
February is
"Black History Month" in the US. And yes, few have missed the irony
that February is the shortest month! My contribution to this month has been two
years in the making.
I am addressing the
problem of teaching African art in a general survey of the whole, well --- the
supposed whole ---, history of art. I have taught these classes for years at
various university-type levels, fromm the wonderful Swiss Vorkurs through the
University. Prehistoric through Postmodernism. However, as we are all aware
this history is very limited. It is sexist, racist and classist in many ways. I
do NOT believe though that that means we should abandon it. It is NOT wrong ---
it is just not the whole truth! Art history, like anything else, has
its own history, as well as the history of teaching it.
True, according to the customary presentation of art history, art
fades into being, its origin uncertain, marches on, and does not end: the
well-established notion of a general march of history. This is tolerable,
simply not enough. It does not reflect the real complexity and multifariousness
of actual history, in fact, it suggests exactly the opposite: a tidy,
hierarchically clear, perhaps even evolutionary chain of events.
There
are other options for art history timelines and timeline substitutes, in
particular ones which think art has ended (from Hegel through Gombrich to
Danto), but I will attack these in another episode.
Totally
avoiding ANY timeline, though, I call the Non-Hegemonic
or when less magnanimous, the Symptomatic
timeline. This might also be called an anti- or non-model, anti-canon: "I
give up." In the name of "decentering the discourse" or
the like, some art historians do nothing innovative, allowing their fear of
incorrectness to lead them into a far worse scenario, a descent into a
Consensus-Correct yet unproductive morass of avoidance.
They teach only potential systems of interpretation, nothing
about the primary subject — art — itself. This is often coupled with a
deconstructive, quasi-Freudian perception of art as no more than a symptom of
some social sickness, one in need of some all-knowing theorist's interpretative
cure. Yes,
thank God, the wide acceptance of the Western canon as self-evidently universal
(even in non-Western regions) is over; yet it is not being significantly enlarged in such a model, but instead
becomes a shrunken paucity of visual-aids to criticism. Heuristically, this vision of art history is clearly
useless. What can we do! I have my own model (NOT a master narrative), model of
the timeline in which art is seen not as mono-historical or posthistorical,
but rather polyhistorical. The timeLINE not as a line but as a braided rope. The Brandl/Perreault Braid Model of Art History, as it
has been called. Once again, though, this is something I intend to discuss in
depth in a future episode.
At this moment, I am addressing a
couple very specific details. Sexism: I have addressed this simply by packing
as many new and rediscovered women artists into the standard one or two year
class. From Sofonisba Anguissola through Cindy Sherman, and many many
more. Classism, well, I'm working on it. The artworld does NOT seem to be
working on it, but I and a few others are. And then there is racism.
There are many newer international
artists we can easily include in art history survey classes, e.g. Henry Ossawa Tanner, Jacob Lawrence, Joyce Owens,
Kerry James Marshall, Betye Saar
(Say-er), David Hammons, Dawoud Bey, Martin
Puryear, Jack Whitten and many more. --- just a few who I teach.
But
one GLARING problem is an overview of the continent of Africa from Prehistoric
till recent times. There is much research material and many books on ancient
Egypt and the Arabian North --- and yes, although white people tend to forget
it, Egypt IS Africa. HOWEVER; there are hardly ANY general survey books or
sources for the whole rest of Africa! The place where we all originally
evolved! There are many good works on specific aspects or cultures or areas of
Africa, but no great survey book for the quick yet extensive view required for
a survey class. Not surprising, but nevertheless disheartening.
I decided to do something about it. First, to learn all that
for MYSELF, and then second, to compile images for use in such classes by me
and others. I have spent two years reading, watching educational videos,
listening to podcasts, and searching out images. Sub-Saharan Africa, as it is
called. From Prehistoric till now. I made an extensive collection of these
images and am giving it away for free on the internet. Punt, Kush, Nok, Axum,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Benin, Ife, Mali, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, Kongo, Dahomey,
Luba, Lunda, Zulu, Colonialization, Independence, and on through contemporary
artists from the areas as well.
I am giving away a Zip of a whole class in African Art. Please
download it, use it and get back to me. Let's build a decent survey class on
African art together for introductions. That is one great way to break the
barrier of ignorance about the continent in art.
There will be a link in the show notes.
So this week was less verbal info, than a suggestion for and
offering of images. That was
"African Art Survey Problems."
Thanks for
listening. That was "Dr (Great) Art" podcast number 8. If you wish to
hear more cool, exciting and hopefully inspiring stuff about art history and
art, come back for more. Also I, Dr Mark Staff Brandl, artist and art
historian, am available for live custom Performance-Lectures. In English und
auf Deutsch.
I take
viewers inside visual art and art history. Entertainingly, yet educationally
and aesthetically, I analyze, underline, and discuss the reasons why a work of
art is remarkable, or I go through entire eras, or indeed through the entirety
of art history. The lectures often take place with painted background screens
and even in my painting-installations.
You can
find or contact me at
www.drgreatart.com/
www.drgreatart.com/
book me at
www.mirjamhadorn.com
or
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
And don't
forget to go to http://brandl-art-articles.blogspot.ch, search for
African Art Course, (about the fourth post down at this time), download the
images and use them!
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