Mask with Headdress, Deangle, We/Dan, Côte d'lvoire or Liberia, 20th century WHY DID THE ARTIST CHOOSE TO USE THESE STYLES AND FORMS? A discussion of African aesthetics. The first time you look at African art it probably will appear "different." Certainly it looks different from European, American, or Asian art. In Africa art objects often look the way they do for specific reasons. If we know the reason why an object looks as it does, it is easier to understand and appreciate the object. A naturalistic or realistic art object has a photographic likeness to the real thing which it is meant to represent. For example, a naturalistic portrait would look like a real person. Most African art is not intended to look naturalistic or realistic. Traditional African artists are usually more interested in depicting an ideal or the world of the unseen: moral values, things from the imagination, from the spirit world, or from mythological or religious beliefs. Although most African art is abstract, some African groups like the ancient people of Ife, Nigeria (A.D. 1100-1500), chose to make realistic art. We discussed this deangle mask before in terms of function and context. Now let's consider why it looks the way it does, remembering that traditional African artists are not interested in trying to make masks that look like naturalistic portraits. This mask is called a deangle mask; deangle means that it has female characteristics. It represents the Dan people's ideal of feminine beauty. Ideal beauty is perfect beauty. In particular, the slit eyes with lowered eyelids, the small ears, and the full mouth with pointed teeth are thought to be beautiful. (Remember, although this is a female mask, it was still danced by a male masker.) PART 3-PAGE 1 OF 7
SLIDE 12
WHY DOES THIS OBJECT LOOK THE WAY IT DOES?
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