“Kolam” Hindu Earth Graffiti As Land Art in the Field of New Art1
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Vol.12/No.36/ Dec / Jan (2015/16) “Kolam” Hindu Earth Graffiti as Land Art in the Field of New Art1 Zahra Rahbarnia* Pinky Chadha** Abstract Land art, as a style of "New art", has been creating artworks with a modern, and then postmodern approach, since the 60’s. This environmental art works were, at first, located in desserts, jungles, mountains and other remote sites. Therefore they could attract only art lovers. With the help of the methods and tricks of the environmental art, and also the philosophy of Postmodernism, land art also, was able to be transferred from the remote locations of its birth, to the places which were more interesting to a wide range of common audience. They have been able to gather more and more observers since then, because the new locations were inside the towns and cities, on the streets, road and pavements, where people pass through every day. In this way the artist could interact with his audience in a very deeper and more influential way. It is obvious that, it is the postmodern philosophy of art that has helped common people to know and understand art. With the help of this new ideology, art has come closer to people and is no more particular to a specific art educated audience. Land art, therefore has been lucky enough to be born in Modernism and raise and develop through postmodern era of art. This has helped it gain more interaction of the observers. Thus the scope of land art widened, and today as we can notice, many arts related to land, could be placed in this zone. Painting the earth has been taken into a huge consideration in contemporary times, as could be seen in the work of ground graffiti artists. But the truth is that, it’s a kind of art that has long been popular among many old nations including the Hindus and their traditional customs, such as Kolam. This traditional art which is also known as Rangoli, is very common among Hindu people in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bengal, Malaysia, and where ever Indian culture is current. The tradition of creating kolams is held in everyday life of Indian people, and also on national and religious festivals such as, Deepawali, Pongal and also during occasions such as marriage events, auspicious customs and other similar milestones and gatherings. They are meant to be sacred welcoming locations for the Hindu deities, which keep both the tradition and the art form alive. Similar practices are followed in different states of India: Kolam in Tamil Nadu; Muggu in Andhra Pradhesh; Mandana in Rajasthan; Chaookpurna in Chhattisgarh; Alpana in West Bengal; Golam kolam in Kerala; Chowk pujan in Uttar Pradhesh and others. Kolam is a drawing with colored powders on the ground of the front doors of Hindu houses. They were done with rice flour at ancient times, on a dark ground which was colored with cow’s dungeon. Their purpose is to decorate and also to bring good luck. They are believed to give boons to the people who create them and also to the pedestrians who walk over them. Therefore people who are to visit the members of a house, or are walking on the sidewalk, deliberately walk through the Kolam designs, which are renewed time by time during the day. Design depictions may also vary as they reflect traditions, folklore and practices that are unique to each area. It is traditionally done by women. As these traditional designs look like the new versions of arts done by contemporary artists on the ground, the hypothesis of this paper is established on this subject. This fundamental research is to create a new vision towards the traditional arts as a whole, and also a new vision towards the traditional Kolam as a new land art specifically. To gain this purpose, this descriptive analytical article, has documented data through library resources. By analyzing the clearest, the most popular and the newest features of new art (according to the daily development of media), and matching them with the characteristics of Kolam, it can be stated that, Kolam designs could be considered as land art, and therefore sometime, some of the traditional arts could be considered parallel to new arts; as they match the characteristics of art of contemporary era. Kolams are made on ground; are displayed out of the walls of museums; are renewed every so often; and as the audience deliberately across them to gain boon, it can be said that, the audience interact with these designs. Due to these similarities (and more) which are discussed in the body, the hypothesis of the paper could be proved out. Keywords New art, Land art, Kolam, Postmodernism. *. Ph.D. in Art research, Associate professor, Faculty of Art, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. [email protected] **.Ph.D. Candidate of Art research, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. Corresponding Author, [email protected] .......................................19.. .. ........... ........ ....... .......... The Scientific Journal of NAZAR research center (Nrc) for Art, Architecture & Urbanism “Kolam” Hindu Earth Graffiti as Land Art in the Field of New Art /19-26 Introduction In the last decades, land art, may often have recalled “Lyotard2” is a postmodernist philosopher and pieces of art in mind, created out of the cities, remote author. No one else has developed such an early, sites, and urban areas, but in the recent decade, along precise and lasting philosophical concept of the with the flourishing of land paintings and graffiti, Postmodernism. On the basis of this concept not the realm of artistic creativity has expanded widely. only in philosophy, but also in other disciplines- Therefore many art pieces produced on earth could be the international actuality and multidisciplinary counted as land art and put in the field of New art. productivity of postmodern thought could establish It is worth mentioning; painting on the ground has itself. Postmodern is now an expression which is no been existed in many religions and tribes, considered longer applied merely to literature, architecture and as a worshipping method with specific meanings in other forms of art, but it is sociological as well as many of them. There exists such painting in Hinduism philosophical, and economical as well as theological. too. These ancient paintings which are referred It has been merged with the fields of Psychology, to as “kolam” in Tamil4 language, are designed History, Anthropology, Culture and Media. And the (traditionally) by women on the front ground of reason, every month new users are added to it, is not their houses in the dawn, with rice flour. According only because of fashion and propagation of an idea. It to the authors, this art has formal and conceptual has a very reasonable cause: the very moment which similarities with land art and new art, which are going is called Postmodernism, allows them to explore in to be discussed further in “discussion”. Other than all fields” (Welsch &Sandbothe, 1997: 76). ccording their form of appearance; mortality and perishing to Lyotard and other philosophers, the postmodern personality, repetition, interaction and effectiveness art is trying to create an understandable art for the on the audience, being purposeful, environmentally public-out of the traditional frames. To reach this dependent, magnification and enlargement etc could purpose, the contemporary artist benefits any method be considered as the similar characteristic of these two and new media, in order to increase the number of fields of art. Since the purpose of this study is creating a their audience. “In postmodern art, the message of new view point towards traditional arts, in general (due the final product is made of the creators’ feelings. to postmodern philosophy and New art), and building Communication in postmodern designs has emotional a new viewpoint towards the traditional kolam as a function, and its encouraging action is towards the new environmental art, specifically; the authors have audience’s feelings and emotions” (Amraei, 2011: 76). chosen the most obvious and general, and the newest Although, the arts are not nowadays precisely characteristics of New art to study on, in accordance dividable by style, the historians and philosophers with the properties of kolam. And since the audience have been able to define their limits and ranges plays the most important role in new art (in the process more or less, according to the media they use. “New of completion and also destruction), the authors have art or New Media Art is actually an art that is made tried to concentrate on the characteristics of New art of the 20th century media. As these arts are often which are specifically related to the audience. This created on the basis of the observers’ interaction, they article describes and introduces the kolam designs and may cause extended social and cultural reactions3” New art, in order to identify the objective; then attends (Shanken, 2005: 415-418). By the way, the art of to the obvious properties of land art as a branch of this period includes installation, video art, conceptual New art. In the body, article compares kolam designs art, performance, land art, body art, web art, photo and land art in the scope of traditional and New art. art, multimedia, video installation and etc. Since the new content and form in new art is in accordance Literature review with postmodern philosophy, the artists gradually The authors5 of “South Asian Folklore: an withdrew the “isms” and even the recent modern art, Encyclopedia”, Margaret Mills and Peter Clause have and made their own personal styles instead. Every described this art and its various expressions and also artist today tries their own way of communicating its importance in Hinduism, in a section.