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.