Understand more about Rock Art

Dineley, J 2012, Rock art: the story of us, Cosmos, 3 April, viewed 24 October 2012

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/online/5475/rock-art-story-us?page=0%2C2

Comparative essay

Write a comparative analysis of two or three Indigenous artists, performers or designers. Consider the time and place in which they were/are working, their gender, media, training and life experiences. Address the critical and popular reception to their artistic practice.

I will choose Tracey Moffatt and Christian Thompson for my comparative analysis essay. While researching about these two artists, I found out that Tracey Moffatt not only influence but also is inspiration of Christian Thompson. Thompson even created a series mimic images about Tracey Moffatt which has the title "In Search Of The International Look". I will focus on analysis the art-work “Up in the sky” of Tracey Moffatt and the art work “I need you, you need me” of Christian Thompson in order to find the common and the different. In addition, I think I will also compare about the identity and the biography of Tracey Moffatt and Christian Thompson 

Mixture idea between Indigenous art and Fashion

I just read the article “Aboriginal artists and Indian designer create latest ancient appeal” of Georgina Safe which post the website Smh on 28 April 2012. This article talks about the unique cross-cultural collection which was show at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. An Indian designer collaborates with nine other Aboriginal artists such as Udy Martin, Jimmy Pike, Ben Jangala and Lorna Fencer, etc to bring the beauty of Indigenous art into fashion. The collection includes flowing kaftans, loose dresses and tops in earthy prints with flashes of burnt orange, cobalt and green. These things was totally made from silk handmade in India by professional local hand beaded belts and trims artisans. In my opinion, the combination between Indigenous art and fashion is a quite interesting idea. This is the new way to bring the Indigenous Art to the world and let people in other countries aware about the aesthetic of this oldest traditional art.

Sources:
Safe, G 2012, ‘Aboriginal artists and Indian designer create latest ancient appeal’, Smh, 28 April, viewed 30 September 2012,< http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/aboriginal-artists-and-indian-designer-create-latest-ancient-appeal-20120427-1xq8l.html>

Image sources:
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/aboriginal-artists-and-indian-designer-create-latest-ancient-appeal-20120427-1xq8l.html

Australian indigenous architecture

Depend on the availability and supply of materials, Aboriginal people in each region will construct the suitable house. Each type of construction has different dome frameworks material (cane, stone, and timber) as well as the structures (arc-shaped, triangular, egg-shaped). House are designed for using in many years by a same family group.
• In cold regions of south eastern Australia: stone house
• In the Western Desert: Spinifex shelters
• In the Lake Eyre region: waterproof dome shelters

Dome-shaped shelters: this type of construction is extend across Australia and used for temporary even permanent structures.

• Well-constructed, grass-clad dome structures: permanent camps at Crawley on the Swan River, Western Australia
• Mud with grass are used to waterproof the dome shelters, circular stone-walled houses: the Lake Eyre region, South Australia

Spinifex shelters: Windbreaks architecture of spinifex or hummock grass as cladding over domed frames dominated. 

• Piled-up of Acacia or Cassia species with gaps filled in with grass, circular arc, a crescent or linear form with the wall always to windward, semi-open: the Western Desert region.
• Dome-shaped semi-enclosed wiltjas, upright mulga boughs inserted into holes, the brushy ends upwards, outer covering of tussock grass,the maximum internal height: 1.7 metres: the Warburton Ranges

Stone house: a part of a range of Indigenous stone engineering structures including stone-walled fish traps in the sea and rivers, weirs, canals, ovens and ceremonial stone layouts on the ground.

• Flat slab slate-type stone houses, heavy limbs with heavy clay to fill the gaps: the Australian Alps, the north-east of South Australia
• An elongated egg shape, clay infill, a hole in the roof, lined with fern, grasses and paperbark inside: the Warringah area, north of Port Jackson, Sydney.


Sources:
Australia government 2010, Australian indigenous architecture, viewed 30 September 2012,< http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-architecture>

Image sources:
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-architecture
http://iav.org.au/2012/09/stone-houses/

Artist:Trevor Nickolls

Trevor Nickolls(1949) is known as one of famous “urban” Aboriginal artist who has been working in the art for a very long time, since the 1970’s. The inspiration for his art works is from many different artists. According to Ai Arts (2010), “Trevor Nickolls' work is innovative and unique”. His work is the combination of many complex iconography as well as meanings. The main themes that Nickolls want to demonstrate in  his works is “Dreamtime to Machinetime” which “articulates the cultural transition which many Aboriginal people have undertaken in their journey from their traditional cultural heritage of living in the Dreamtime, into the world of mechanisation and technology”(Ai Arts 2010). Nickolls uses subjects such as the spirituality of the Aboriginal people, their interrelationship to land or other elements which are merged together rather than separate to present his idea about the interaction between two different worlds (the world of Aboriginal- image of wild nature as well as the spiritual- and the modern world-image of high buildings as well as the technology) and the dilemma of living within both (Ai Arts 2010). "Dreamtime is his Aboriginal roots and philosophy, and the Machinetime is the present age people live in. He uses his art to work out the balance between the two"( The Age 2008). 

Trevor Nickolls ,1993, Urban Scream , Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 75.2 x 59.5 cm

Sources:


Ai Art 2010, Trevor Nickolls biography, viewed 30 September 2012,< http://www.aiarts.com.au/trevor-nickolls-biography.html>

The Age 2008, The stuff of dreams, viewed 30 September 2012,< http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/the-stuff-of-dreams/2009/05/21/1242498866671.html>


Image sources:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/the-stuff-of-dreams/2009/05/21/1242498866671.html
http://www.aboriginalartcoop.com.au/aboriginal-art/trevor-nickolls/urban-scream.php

Artist:Darryl Pfitzner Milika

Darryl Pfitzner Milika (1950) is a famous Indigenous artist who has been involve in many significant exhibition as well as art program such as Look At Us Now Tandanya Inaugural Exhibition (1989), 3SPACE: – 21st C. Indigenous Explorers National touring Exhibition (2000-2002) or Art and Heart: The art of Darryl Pfitzner Milika - A retrospective: 30 years on(2009). In addition, he also hold the position of Chairperson at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in 2002. As working with Indigenous art in over 25 years, Milika has many experience in using different mediums as well as technique skills. “He has been the creator, the designer and principal artist or "special guest" contributing artist for 3 of Adelaide's most outstanding public sculptural works”(Aboriginal Art Director News 2012). According to Art Logic (2011), he “explored those demarcation zones that are alive with human sensitivities, potentials and possibilities” in every his art works. Moreover, throughout all of his work, he also want to demonstrates that there are absolutely nothing that can “assimilated or appropriated, allocated or intimidated” his physical as well as his spiritual being as an Aboriginality. 

Darryl Pfitzner Milika, Under the Duco, Beneath the Veneer, 1998, 500w x 300h, Carved timber and found objects - Courtesy of National Motor Museum

Sources:
Art logic 2011, Darryl Pfitzner Milika, viewed 24 August 2012,<http://www.artlogic.com.au/artist/darryl-pfitzner-milika?bio=show>
Aboriginal Art Director News 2012, Art & Heart: the art of Darryl Pfitzner Milika – a retrospective: 30 years on, viewed 24 August 2012,<http://news.aboriginalartdirectory.com/2009/06/art-heart-the-art-of-darryl-pfitzner-milika-a-retrospective-30-years-on.php>

Image sources:
http://news.aboriginalartdirectory.com/2009/06/art-heart-the-art-of-darryl-pfitzner-milika-a-retrospective-30-years-on.php

Museum of South Australia

In the tutorial of this week, we visited the Museum of South Australia which is on the North Terrace. I think this tutorial is indeed quite interesting because I have a chance to see many different Aboriginal handicraft stuffs that I have not seen before. By looking at Aboriginal daily objects, I can somehow imagine their daily life -how they eat, what they wear. With the detail explanation next to objects, I understand more about the Aboriginal people as well as their culture.

These plans indeed look quite interesting. I wonder about the feature and the taste of them. 

These things can be called as jewelry. They are used by both man and woman in order to not only decorate for their appearance but also have their own meaning. For example, on one hand the headband can be used to tight up the hair and make the owner look more beautiful. On the other hand, it also can show the owner status(single, married or still looking for partner). 

This list show me the original names of different regions in Adelaide as well as their meaning. I think this one is really helpful.

The Yuendumu School doors:

These doors tell stories about the Warlpiri people.It show people the precious landscape of regions where Warlpiri people used to lives. In my opinion, the artists placed their paintings on the doors because not only for decorating purpose but also with the meaning that  is welcoming the viewers to open the doors (Warlpiri people hold the key) and enter the landscapes.