Chapter 7 Reading Response
Chapter 7 Reading Response
Art is an important part of the human life. It is often believed that the art has developed from the cave images of animal. Also, it is said that people painted or carved animals because they were amazed by their appearance. The Ingold argues that the conventional views on this issue are false. This chapter was written in order to show the origins of animal depictions based on the difference between animism and totemism. The chapter is important because it reveals the truth about the art.
In this chapter the author provided an insight into the difference between totemism and animism on the examples of Australian Aboriginal people and societies of the circumpolar North. This chapter is also aimed at the demonstration on how totemic and animic ontologies are traced in the depictions of animals. Ingold writes that his suggestion regarding paintings and carvings requires further investigation and research. The conclusion of the chapter is directly related to the introduction where he promised to explain the difference between various depictions and carvings of ancient people and modern tribal societies. According to the author, “perhaps the most fundamental contrast between the totemic and animic depiction of animals is between a focus on morphology and anatomy in the former, and on posture, movement and behaviour in the latter” (Ingold, 2000, pp. 128-129 ).
Ingold used the ethnographic material from Australian Aboriginal societies to talk about totemism and information from the ethnography of the circumpolar North to demonstrate the peculiarities of the animism. The information was partially taken from the book by Taylor titled “Seeing the inside: bark painting in Western Arnhem Land” (1996) and chapter by Carpenter named “Image making in arctic art” from the book “Sign, image and symbol” edited by Kepes (1966).
How the information about totemic and animic ontology broadened your understanding of art?
Reference
Ingold, T. (2000). The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling
and skill. Psychology Press.
