Exploring Ephemeral Arts - the best blog on the subject?

A few questions about the progress made so far..

This site has been exploring a number of areas connected with ephemeral arts. It would be useful to examine what has been achieved so far and to outline the scope for future development of the blog as a resource for students, teachers, librarians and parents.

Further work is to be presented to address the specific areas of interest that have been identified and inspired by the blog so far. A number of students, artists and teachers have responded by email or made verbal comments. These comments will be taken on board. The blog is intended for students at GCSE and 'A' Level standard, that is, for those who may be working on projects as a part of their secondary school education. More advanced students and also their teachers may also find that elements covered here will inspire them to look further at some of the themes outlined here.

The blog is also intended for the lay reader who may just want to look at artistic expression in a different way. The blog will also be of interest to younger children who can see, interpret and enjoy the pictures provided here.

So the questions we started to address are still valid-

• what are the ephemeral arts?
• How can we interpret these forms of expression?
• What are the different ways of thinking about time-based culture?

People provide artistic expression to celebrate an event. They dress and present themselves for the occasion through artistic expression. They decorate the buildings or houses where the cultural events take place. They celebrate important events in the open air. Many of the ephemeral arts are connected to important dates in the cultural, religious, political and historical calendars of communities in different parts of the world.

Predicting future activities on this site...

I have also created some routes or pathways for investigating ephemeral arts in the future:

• Entries related to "Exploring avenues for inspiration" will examine the work of artists whose work is dedicated to time-based cultural and artistic expression, or whose output is also ephemeral. A start has been made by looking at the work of Andy Goldsworthy. There is scope for looking at the work of other artists, some of whom may not be famous or even be known.
• Further work is to be presented to address the theme," Exploring Avenues for Cultural Communication" where a range of entries will be produced to reflect the diversity of this area.
• A third theme has been added. It explores ephemeral arts by linking them to geography and to various countries where these arts are most visible.
• More themes will be added later.

Exploring sources of inspiration 2- Ephemeral arts as cultural communication

How does hair inspire ephemeral outcomes?

Helen Coleman(1) writes," Hairstyling and hairdressing have great cultural significance in Africa. Coiffures have been regarded as diagnostic of ethnic origin, gender, phase of life cycle, as well as simply fashion; and have been related to power, age, religion, and politics. The transitory yet highly visible nature of hair ensures its suitability as a medium for personal and social expression. It is not just the domain of women; elaborate hair styling for men can be an equally important indicator of their place in society". Hairstyling for weddings must present interesting opportunities for self-expression.

The transitory nature of hair can also be explored also in relation to beards, especially where men dress for specific occasions.

In general to what extent does the use of ephemeral arts as cultural communication vary from the original definition used for this site where the transitory arts are created for a specific event or occasion? This aspect will be explored further.

Helen Coleman's comments are drawn from 'Artword', a University of East Anglia website. www.artworld.uea.ac.uk

'Sycamore Leaves Stitched together' by Andy Goldsworthy

This is an example of work that is transient, with a defined 'life'. It was created in Yorkshire Sculpture Park on 23 October 1987. The picture is on display at the Springer & Winckler Gallery. Source http://www.artnet.com A search using any of the regular search engines is recommended.

I have selected this picture from many that are available because it shows how the artist has used brightly coloured leaves, stitched them together to form a hanging object and added it to the landscape. Many, if all, of Goldsworthy's works depict his additions to the natural environment. The blog will explore how various communities use such work to add to their environment. I see this as a form of celebration of nature.

Exploring Sources of Inspiration 1- Andy Goldsworthy

The Sculptures of Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is an environmental sculptor in which his use of the natural surroundings create an art form. He explores and experiments with various natural materiel such as leaves, grasses, stones, wood, sand, clay, ice, and snow. The seasons and weather determine the materials and the subject matter of his projects. With no preconceived ideas about what he will create, Goldsworthy relies on what nature will give him. Goldsworthy "feels" the energy from nature and transcends that energy into an art form. His transient sculptures contradict the permanence of art in its historical pretense.

Because of this mortality of nature, Goldsworthy uses the photograph as a form of documentation to capture the essence of his work. "Each work grows, stays, decays- integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its height, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit."-Andy Goldsworthy.

Source: www.arthistory.sbc.edu the site of Sweet Briar College. The site shows many examples of 'process and decay' the transient nature of work which this blog also covers.

Further Examples of Ephemeral Arts

Further Examples of Ephemeral Arts

The most notable examples in this site are drawn from the Indian Subcontinent. These are mehndi, rangoli, masks, fancy festival dress, face painting and floral decorations.

Mehndi consists of decorations of hands, feet and face by using henna paste. Mehndi is used to celebrate weddings, cultural events and now, increasingly as a fashion statement. Examples of mehndi are shown in the Mehndi Gallery. Please see the website using the links given on the left.

Rangoli shown here is another example of ephemeral arts. Rangoli is the creation of images using grains, lentils, rice, leaves and seeds to celebrate various cultural events such as Diwali and the New Year. Rangolis are also created using coloured powders, petals, soils and coloured rice. The patterns are typically colourful and often geometric in design.

Masks. There is a long tradition of mask making in the Indian Sub-continent. Used ceremonially and in street performance, masks are generally made from paper pulp or tree fibre. In performances, men will often play female roles by wearing masks. Examples of masks are provided in the exhibition.

Flower decorations. A large number of ephemeral arts, such as masks and garlands use flowers due to their short-lived beauty. Certain types, such as marigold and rose, are used more commonly used since their colour or scent religious significance.

Alpana is a floor art that uses utilises a combination of coloured pastes and flower petals.

Dussehra (spelt differently by various communities) is an annual religious Festival that commemorates the victory of good over evil, the demon Ravan. Community members build work together to build the towering effigy of Ravan and act out a ceremonial battle between good and evil. The ritual climaxes with the triumphant burning of the demon against a night sky.

Face painting is perhaps the most widespread ephemeral art, being particularly popular with children around the world. However, in the Indian Sub-Continent it has a much greater spiritual significance. Various communities use face painting to express important messages relating to cultural events.

Further examples are to be added showing the ephemeral arts from countries in Africa, North and South America, Europe, the Far East, Australia and all island communities in the world.

Do you have pictures that could be published here? Please contact me by using the email address given on the left. This site follows copyright regulations before readers' pictures can be published.

Belgian Floral Carpet

The Grand Palace in Brussels hosts a Floral Carpet

Christopher Stocks reports in The Independent on Sunday ( 6 August 2006) about the Belgian city of Brussels' annual floral carpet. This year from 12 to 15 August the city's famous Grand Palace, which is a UNESECO World Heritage site, plays host to a floral carpet which will be 77m by 24m and will include something like 300,000 begonia blooms, each of which will have been hand-stuffed into place by a team of 100 expertly trained gardeners. The carpet takes just four hours to complete. The carpet has always always been intended to be seen from a distance.

The creator of the Grand Palace carpet, according to Stocks, was a begonia-loving landscape architect Etienne Stautemans. He started making small floral carpets out of begonias in the 1950s. Sadly, he died in 1998, but since then the Brussels carpets have been designed by fellow landscape architect Mark Schauttet. Each design takes the best part of a year from planning to execution, with a different theme each time: in 1981, for example, the carpet illustrated the Belgian coat of arms in honour of the state's 150th anniversary and in 1994, it was dedicated to to the British regiments that liberated Brussels from the Germans, with their regimental badges recreated entirely in begonias.

This year's theme is compared by the organisers to the stained glass of cathedral rose-windows, "a giant kaleidoscope" and "the alchemy of the Middle Ages". To Christopher Stocks, " the patterns look like Islamic tiles or Indian fretwork screens coloured in with fluorescent felttip pens, but whatever the inspiration, it's certainly an eye-catching design.

In addition to the usual complexities of design, logistics and execution, Schauttet and his team 'begoniasts' have come up with a way of mechanising the nine sections of the overall design so that each, individually, rotates on its axis, thus- presumably the comparison with a kaleidoscope, according to Stocks.