INFORMATION to USERS the Most Advanced Technology Has Been Used to Photo Graph and Reproduce This Manuscript from the Microfilm Master
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. These are also available as one exposure on a standard 35mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Hovr/ell Information C om p an y 300 Nortfi Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Num ber 901.1,204 A n anthropological framework for interpreting contemporary artists fr o m diverse cultures King, Sharon Minor, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1989 Copyright ©1990 by King, Sharon Minor. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR INTERFRETING CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FROM DIVERSE OJLTURES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University Bÿ Sharon Minor King, B.A., h.Ed. ***** The Otào State lAiiversity 1989 Reading Committee: i^roved by Dr. Kenneth Harantz, Adviser Dr. Ojo Arewa Adviser Dr. Arthur Efland Department of Art Education To God give the glory* 11 ACKNCWLEDGEMENTS If there is need for an exaitple that reflects the value of collaboration, this study provides such an opportunity. Beyond its expressed purposes of observations, classifications and interpretations, the underlying threads of continuity can be found within the collaborative spirit among the makers, myself and the members of ray reading committee. It was my role as conduit that I found most valuable and necessary in keeping a sense of balance between observations and interpretations. It was the two-way accountability that kept me striving towards some sense of honesty in ity reporting. Most of all it was the spirit of excellence that each participant had become accustomed to long before ny study, whether it was the maker or the reader. Their examples of excellence encouraged my most responsible efforts even vÆien there was absolutely no passion left within me and enthusiasm was a poor substitute for the ardors of scholarship. With sincere appreciation, I thank Kenneth Marantz, ny principal advisor, \dio certainly served as the warp within this weaving of academic and artistic activity. As a friend and motivator he continued to prod me towards the vision I had and he encouraged me to report it. He accepted my determination to do it on ny terms but he also maintained skillful guidance in demanding that ny terms were coherent. iii I thank Arthur Efland, the weft, for his continual influence as a reader, instructor and friend. His belief in the quality of academic work served as a pathvray towards ny future endeavors. I owe a deep gratitude to Ojo Arewa, vdio fulfilled and answered needs often before they were conscious to me. It is Ojo #io was the loom. His steadfast support has been as important as his often unexpected challenges to ity romantic notions towards the academic community. There is a special acknowledgement for both John Messenger, \dio introduced me to the possibilities within art and anthropology, and to his wife, Betty, who accompanied him to ny performances and exhibitions with equal support and enthusiasm. Their suggestions, encouragement and publications continue to serve as patterns. I am also grateful for the opportunity to test ny findings in the classrooms of Kenyon College. President Philip Jordan and Provost Reed Browning have been instrumental in ity having time and space to refine ity concepts. With the assistance of ny colleagues and students of both the Anthropology/Sociology and the Art Departments, I am committed to furthering vdiat the following study has merely begun. I am indebted to the artists and their families and friends wlio accepted ny intrusions warmly and responded to ny presence with curiosity and enthusiasm. I am particularly grateful to Sam Gilliam and Bill Hutson who both listened to ny early ambitions and carefully suggested priorities and sources of information. Both, introduced me to another level of the arts community that is as well protected as any other community of the privileged. IV Finally, I am pleased to have spent quality time with Ban, Jenny, Pheoris, Shir Lee, Bill and Noel. Each, has contributed so much to the arts community and I hops I have furthered their servi by telling their story to a cross-cultural academic audience. Without a doubt, none of this could have been acconplisl.^d without the able work of Sharon Duchesne. As typist, she contributed to this document by solving the visual and technological problems of presentation. Her personal determination to achieve excellence is yet another exanple of the quality that has been a part of the collaborative effort of everyone vdio has Contributed to this document. Growing up as a seventh-generation African in America, I have been fortunate in receiving the nurturing and guidance of four of those generations within my family. While such a task proved to be an ovendielming undertaking for individuals within the family,, as a collective unit, they were able to instill within me personal qualities and standards that have influenced my choice to do this kind of study. One quality was development of the instinct to identify those with wisdom and seek their guidance. At the knee of my great grandmother, Hattie Mae Matilda Elizabeth Rucker, I learned how to respond to those vrtio sought truth, never compromising with anything that was a distraction and to attract their willingness to channel and teach me the skills of inquiry, diplomacy and humility. At the table and from the pulpit, I learned from my father, the Reverend John Horace Minor, that the power of Africans was and is tremendous. We, as African-Americans are living proof of our V ability to adapt and to address any extra-cultural influences that are inçosed on the Continent of Africa and in the New World. From my grandmother, Hattie Mae Williams, I learned the value of reciprocity. Her life was an example for me of Wiat can happen between people vrtien there are mutual exchanges, events and opportunities for respect and beauty. Likewise, itty mother, Frances, continuously reminded me of the tragedy that follows those Black women ^ o are culturally-accepted as beautiful but denied societal outlets for their intellectual energies and expression. My uncle Charles and great cousins Thomas, Lois and Betty provided me with ample materials and opportunities for training and travel often reserved for the privileged within American society. Yet, through the collective management of their material and spiritual resources, I was taught how to appreciate abundance and how to refuse any enticements that were attached to forms of . exploitation and manipulation, vdiether in forms of employment, education or marriage. There are others \Ao are significant to my cross-cultural support family. They include my Christian family at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Columbus with Reverend Thomas E. Liggins, Pastor. Also, many Reverends have been influential to my professional and spiritual perception of cross-cultural studies. They include Robert Dungey, Bill Lewis, Errol Rohr, David Redding, Leon Troy, Sr., Lyman Liggins, Thea Maloney and Morrisine Smith. Each, has appeared just at the very moment I needed rest or light in order to press on. VI The most immediate appreciation, however, is to both ny children Robert Lewis Clark, III and Jaci Caprice Clark. Through no particular reasons for understanding, these two young children grew up supporting ny need to pursue this work, often at their personal sacrifice of attention from an atypically western-defined African single parent in America. Finally, I am fortunate to have found ny life-mate in ny husband, Everage Moss King, Jr. It is through his presence in ny life that I am now comfortable with ny past and a little less anxious about my professional contributions to the future. VI1 VITA January 5, 1949 .................. B o m - Washington, D.C. 1966 , .................... West Virginia State College, Institute, West Virginia 1970 .......................... B.A., George Washington university, Washington, D.C. 1972 .......................... Teaching Certificate, University of District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. 1975 .......................... M. Ed., Wright State university, Dayton, Ohio PUBLICATimS "Common Ground - A Ritual in Common Sense, A Step Towards Cultural Democracy," ARTSPACE, February, 1985. "Creating in the Community," DIAIOGUE - an art journal. May, 1985. "The Gossip We Label Primitive Art," ARTSPACE, January, 1986. "Benjamin Cnmpler - No Apologies Accepted," COLUMBUS ART, May, 1986. "ACE (Arts for Community Expression) - A Love Story," COLUMBUS ART, May, 1987.