Tommy Faulconer: Post 1

One topic we discussed in class that stood out to me was the concept of perception of whether a piece of art is religious or not. Because I love to learn about other cultures and customs, it was a very provocative thought to ruminate on. In all of history, there are several accounts of colonization in which those coming into foreign countries could not grasp the practices of the native people and would label them as profane. For example, the dances of the Native American people were thought to be devilish when they were a part of ritual and prayer in the culture. It makes me think about all of the pieces of art I may have seen and thought were nothing more than profanities. For example, I can't count the number of times I have seen a fertility statue and thought of it as profane and sexual when, in reality, it is part of ritual and cult of a native people. It is a divine piece of art that guarantees them protection and fertility from their higher power. So often, these native rituals and images are also turned into forms of entertainment and twisted from their original purposes. Dances for the harvest are turned into stage productions for profit, and people unfamiliar with culture and the rituals involved are unable to recognize and appreciate the connection to the divine within these pieces of art.