An anthropological framework for interpreting contemporary artists from diverse cultures.

摘要

This study describes artistic activity--the process of making objects--as it is interpreted and endorsed by the artists. These interpretations are based on the artists' relationships with his or her culture of origin (African-American, Japanese, French, Jamaican and Chinese) and the amalgamated culture of migration within the United States. The focus is on six artists who are comfortable in representing their cultures of origin within their artistic activity and their objects.; The methods of investigation focused on "qualitative" (Mills, 1957) results based on individualization, repetitive activities and recordings (video and audio). As descriptive research, ethnographic methods such as participant-observation, interviews and life histories were primary sources of information. The on-going process of cross-validation of the researcher's interpretation with the artists was based on the multiple use of the triangulation theory (Denzin, 1970). The use of the Model for a Cultural System and its Aesthetic Segment (Maquet, 1979) and the Documentation Method used by the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropolgoy (1971) were the primary classification models for both artists and their objects.; In addition to the six "Individual Studies on the Makers and Selected Objects" (Chapter V) one of the conclusions was that artists are full members of a cross-cultural community. This study suggests that the boundaries of the arts community are not necessarily limited by the geographical or national boundaries that have been defined by specific societies. Instead, artistic activity determines membership, values, patterns of behavior as well as "exclusion" from the community. Private and public processes are also identified within the study in order to further support the identification of the arts community as a "closed" community that determines membership by artistic activity.; Further research is indicated in expanding the use of the Maquet Model as a tool for ethnological charting and interpretation. Such an approach could be beneficial to teaching anthropology, art history, art education and studio production because it reduces the usage of language and categories (e.g., "primitive art") of hierarchical classification systems. Simultaneously, it increases the importance of including the interpretations of scholars from the cultures of origin, as well as the artists who have the initial contact with the objects.