OCR Text |
Show Man-made objects are marvelous things. Each one is essentially the physical embodiment of an idea. This was particularly true in preindustrial societies in which the designer/craftsman was a single person, working available materials into the image he held in his mind. Single objects are also complex things. Creative expression does not occur in a vacuum; every designer is influenced by the requirements and barriers of his environment, his culture, and his skills. It is important to place each thing as precisely as possible within the context of the time, place, and circumstance of its manufacture. When that is done, an artifact not only yields an intimate glimpse into a human mind but also acts as a direct signal from another time and culture. Every man-made object is designed to fill a need. Our twentieth-century Western society often identifies and isolates "art" from other human production. But the concept of art is time-and culture-specific and it is important not to extend a particular concept of art into a culture where it may be invalid. The prehistoric and historic Indian objects which appeal so much to our twentieth-century aesthetic, and which we may call art, played a distinct and usually utilitarian role in the lives of their creators. One scholar, Kenneth Ames, has suggested that by stripping things of their context, the alchemy of collection can transform objects previously considered tools into art.2 Describing an unadorned Ute packsaddle in terms usually reserved for twentieth-century sculpture can indeed seem to transform it into sculpture (Fig. 6). Its gaunt purity of form is both elegant and abstract. And yet, if asked to fix it in a gradient between the imaginary extremes of absolute art and utility, its maker would place it nearer utility. Indian craftsmen made useful things beautiful as time allowed, without formally segregating the concepts of art and utility. Perhaps it is best to suppose, with George Kubler, that "the idea of art can be expanded to embrace the whole range of man-made things"3 and to remember that the material culture of a people is but one dimension of the intricate fabric of song, dance, myth, kinship, religion, and survival skills which constitute a lifeway. When looking at a series of artifacts, particularly those which are the only remnants of a lost lifeway or culture, it is also important to remember that chance has dictated which objects survive to be collected. Museum collections may contain, as examples of ritual paraphernalia, many intricately beaded moccasins reserved for festive or ceremonial occasions. More ephemeral or everyday things have often deteriorated or worn out. Such regalia as brilliantly colored body paint for man or horse has almost always been lost. 2 Fig. 6 Frame saddle. Northern Ute. Wood, rawhide, sinew. Late 1800s (?). L: 47.0 cm. W: 25.5 cm. Collection of Utah Museum of Natural History. |