Trip down memory lane: How did this start?

Thursday, January 24, 2008

In Spring of '07 I took my first History of art class, specifically I took a survey in Asian history of art. Personally I can say that I can truly recommend the class, mainly because of the way it was taught. Instead of showing a seemingly random list of artworks the professor decided to present how the different religions affected the style of the art across different regions and periods. And one of the religions that influenced the art of Asia the most was Buddhism. What I found most interesting was how elements of the religion were preserved from as different cultures were adopting it. For example: When you see images of the Buddha you will generally see an urna (its the dot you see on the forehead which is actually its a curl of hair) and the ushnisha (the protuberance on the head) and many other signs that denote him as an actual Buddha.


Photo of a Buddha statue at Borobudur taken by Scott (SA-photo)

So on this class they also showed us how architectural elements were affected. Of the structure Buddhists built stupas were the ones that they kept building as the the religion spread. Actually Japaneses pagodas function as stupas as well, and even though they don't look almost anything like their more ancient counterparts (those built in Asia) elements such as the ritual of circumambulation, the preservation of relics inside the structure , the the layered structure, etc are still present.


Photo of a Japaneses pagoda taken by dbking

I found all of this very intriguing because I am not used to the idea that a piece of architecture can have so many meanings and that it keeps being preserved generation after generation. I also thought that if these structure were capable of preserving their meanings after hundred of years, even though their outwards appearance changed, then could it be possible to use contemporary art mediums to recreate their message? Well this seemed like a good concept to study so I decided to continue researching them, so that I may be able to construct the artwork that represents a stupa and its message.

So what is a Stupa anyway?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Every time I try to explain my project to people (from family, to professors, to classmates) the first question they ask is: -Wait, a what?-, followed by: -What's a Stupa?-. So lets start by explaining what they are:

In Buddhism one of the most important structures they make is the Stupa. In them they keep the relics of influential Buddhists, like the historical Buddha. The purpose of these structures though is not to simply be a place to preserve these remains, but instead they are places for the Buddhist devotee to visit and be spiritually influenced by it. The basic ritual surrounding stupas consists of the person circumambulating (yeah! big word... it means to walk around) several times, each time closer to the center of the stupa. The idea behind this is that as they get closer to the relics in the stupa, it reflects how they are getting closer to achieving their goal of reaching Nirvana. Another way the stupa helps the devotee is that the stupas are covered with images whose meaning they would interpret and so be able to learn more about the religion and better their karma.

Image of the Stupa at Sanchi taken by Marc Shandro
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=34958707&size=m