How do aesthetics affect one’s understanding of African art and sculpture? Are there absolute standards of beauty which operate transculturally, or is there a specific aesthetic for each society? Certainly in our own American culture, artistic appreciation and aesthetics are not the same as in African culture, where aesthetics generally have an ethnical basis. In all African languages, the same word means “beautiful” and “good”. Sculptures are considered to be “good” if they fulfill their function and purpose. These words are consistent with the use and meaning of African sculpture because art is intended not only to please the eye but to uphold moral values. The ethnical and religious basis of African art may explain why the human figure is the principle subject of African art. African art often appears in ritual contexts that deal with the vital moral and spiritual concerns of the human condition.
In African art aesthetics, there are clearly standards of beauty. These standards are four precise qualities that describe sculpture and indicates what is “good” “bad”: resemblance to a human being, luminosity, self-composure, and youthfulness. First, the quality “resemblance to a human being” is one of the elements used by African artists to praise a carved figure. This element is used because African artists seldom portray particular people, actual animals, or the actual form of invisible spirits in their sculptures. Rather sculptures were intended to be likenesses of their living subject. Sculptures are not portraits of individuals, but they are supposed to looks if they might be. The second quality is luminosity, or the play of light and shadow over the sculpture’s. Another quality is self-composure, a straight and upright posture and symmetrical arrangement of the part of the sculpture. This does not exclude asymmetry, but it does restrict it to fairly minor details. Finally, youthfulness is also important, the representation of the subject in the prime of life.
To analyze these four qualities further, we will use the example of the “Ibeji” figures of the Yoruba People. Yoruba describes a number of semi-independent peoples loosely linked in geography, language, history and religion. Art and sculpture in the Yoruba culture were made to be used. Many writers and critics on Yoruba art long believed that African languages provide no specific vocabulary or elements for aesthetics, although Robert Thompson’s research concerning the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria, (African Art in Motion, 1974), suggests they have precise vocabulary that describes and evaluates their art aesthetically. Thompson discovered nineteen criteria, “the most frequent being jijora”, a moderate resemblance to the subject, a balance between the extremes of portraiture and abstraction. The Yoruba esthetics and terms including the following:
Ifarahon -
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visibility; the various parts of a sculpture should be clearly formed both in the initial stage of
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blocking out of masses and in fine detail.
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Didon -
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luminosity, or shiny smoothness of a surface, so that the whole sculpture offers a play of light
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and shadow.
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Gigun -
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a straight upright posture and symmetrical arrangement of the parts of the sculpture.
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Odo -
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representing the subject “in the prime of life.”
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Tut -
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serenity, coolness, or composure.
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The Yoruba sculptures “Ere Ibeji Twin Figures” symbolizes the birth of special children whose births can bless their parents with good fortune. The Yoruba have one of the highest rates of twin births in the world, and if a twin dies, it is considered a great misfortune. After the death, the mother commissions a memorial figure (two if both twins die), and the soul the deceased twin is transferred to it. In the figure, emphasis is placed on human resemblance rather than photographic likeness. The facial features, though stylized, are carefully delineated and delicate. The mother dresses the statuette in cloth, adorns it with jewelry, and keeps it near her bed. She also offers it good food and weekly prayers, and performs more elaborate rituals on the occasion of birthdays and annual festivals.
The Ibeji statuettes are ones that conform to the Yoruba aesthetic of physical proportion focusing on the straight upright posture and symmetrical arrangement. The head is on third the size of the body, disproportionately large and infantile in representation. An infantile representation is an apt expression of the desire for children. The head is associated with the person’s destiny or inner head, which determines success and failure in life. If “Ere Ibeji Twins” (fig. 1) are analyzed using the methodology, the following observations can be made. First, the objects are 10 inches tall, and approximately 3 feet and 3/4 inches wide. The primary material used is wood, but there are some metal pieces located on the objects. There are also some small plastic materials located on the left and right sides.
The object consists of three separate parts - head, body and feet. The lower section below the body is a square shape, the upper part a cone shape. The middle section of the object is a rectangle with two elongated cylinders on the left and right that are attached to the upper portion. The objects are somewhat rounded in form. The larger portion suggests the head, and contains smaller shapes that could indicate facial features, such as bulging pupils indicates by nails, scarification marks on both cheeks, and small lips. The rectangular middle section is the body and exhibits various body parts, including cylinder shapes for arms, and representations of clothing. If one speculates about these objects, the strong, noble poses speak of the power of the twins. This is also a metaphor of the aesthetic element of self-composure. It suggest that these objects present themselves as composed proud, dignified, and reserved.
Secondly, the smoothed surface of the Ere Ibeji Twin Figures which is difficult to achieve without sand paper, expresses the desired quality of light and shade over the entire sculpture In African sculpture the lustrous and smooth appearance of the objects is a indication of healthy skin. These surfaces are also often embellished with decorative scarifications. Figures with rough surfaces and deformities are intended to appear ugly, and thus morally flawed.
It is easy to analyze the formal characteristics of African sculpture in terms of vertical, horizontal or diagonal emphases; of relative naturalism or abstraction; of rounded, angular or cubic elements; or in terms of tension, rhythm and movement.
In comparison to the Yoruba art and aesthetics, the Mende and Temne societies in the Sierra Leone civilization have their own meaning for aesthetics among their art. Many of the sculptures of the Sierra Leone civilizations exhibit the head also large, featuring domed foreheads with faces that are depressed underneath. The eyes have groove-like lines. The mouth is extremely small. The necks are long, the body slender with large breast, legs thin and straight and arms and hands close to the body. Most of the facial features are portrait like. Positions are also varied: standing, kneeling, sitting.
The sculptural masks of Sierra Leone are hollow helmet-like heads carved from the full trunk of a large tree, worn over the entire head with rims resting on the mask wearer’s shoulders. Most masks have characteristics similar to that of humans, but very exaggerated. The forehead is more than half the size of the entire head, and ends in a point. The face is depressed and the eyes, chin, and mouth are small with very elaborate hairdos.
Like the Yoruba, the Mende and Temne civilization have precise terms and theories that describes their art aesthetically. These terms and theories are as follows:
Inner serenity - composed expressions.
Nobility and Intelligence - exaggerated, smooth and broad foreheads indicates intelligence.
Youthfulness - a youthful appearance connotes fertility, vigor, productiveness, and ability to labor.
At the heart of Mende society stand Sands, the only known African initiation society in which women customarily wear masks. Sands masks bear the name Sowo-Wui: worn on top a black robe of raffia and brought to life by a graceful dancer, the mask becomes Sowo - goddess and river deity, embodiment of the philosophies and ideas carried by Sands. The mask is 26 inches tall, and approximately 12 inches wide. The primary material used is wood. It is Sands’s role to guide their initiates passage from girlhood into womanhood, and to ensure that as adults they measure up to the Mende society’s exalted yet demanding vision of the female community. Simultaneously expressed in the conception and execution of the Sowo-Wui are notions of feminine beauty, grace, goodness, and social success. The creases that adorn the mask’s neck function as a metaphor for wealth and status, and by extension beauty and sexual allure. The mask’s pursed lips, tiny nose, sealed ears, and heavily lidded eyes are images of discretion, chastity and dedication to high moral standards. (Willet, Frank., African Art. Thames and Hudson, 1992.)
There is little information available concerning Temne masquerade traditions. The Temne are from the Sierra Leone civilization. Research conducted in the early 1900’s suggests that Aron Etoma masks are associated with Obenle, an initiation society whose members play a crucial role in coronation and burial ceremonies held for the Temne people’s paramount leader. Obenle’s masks are worn in the context of chiefly funerals, along with a bushy ankle-length robe of palm fiber, the natal. The mask is carved in the form of a highly abstracted bush cow, and worn horizontally on the head so only the snout, the large nostrils and teeth are visible atop of the Natal. The mask is 24 inches tall, and approximately 18 inches wide. The primary material is wood.