So much art, so little time!

It seems that every time I look at a work of art I get new ideas.  Many of them.  Too many?  Nah. Every thought is useful in the end.  I added a few gadgets to my iGoogle page that show me new images of art every day and/or reload.  I love to learn about art -- not necessarily every Important Fact about each and every artist, although I do find the lives of artists to be interesting.  It is more a sense of the why -- why did the artist create that?  Why were they able to do it? Where did that magic come from?  I love the human creative spirit and the objects that it produces.  All over the world, all through time. Each a reflection of the unseeable mind.  Each beginning is a potential for someone else to pick up on and run with just a little bit further.  Or they can double back and produce a new road altogether.   Has anyone been creating? Please share, and I can post...Cheers! 

Submit! Amuletic Art

Images are powerful things, as witnessed by our response to them in both our highly visual culture today and in the many examples of amulets made in ancient cultures.  So many of the objects made in the ancient world carry amuletic significance within their cultures -- art that was meant to serve, as opposed to entertain.  It has always fascinated me how one of the first objects creted in every culture around the world has been a human figure showing fertility and survival in symbol form.  Here are some more amuletic images that illustrate, for me, that special link between magic and art.

Lots of beads and trinkets have served as amulets -- but this is one of the most common.  It is the evil eye bead, called "nazar" in Turkish, and it is prevalent throughout the middle east.  A Turkish friend once explained it to me as being like an extra eye that would capture evil and keep it from entering your own eye.  These beads are pinned to babies to ensure their good health, and are exchanged as lucky charms.  They adorn jewelry, wall art, clothing, and more -- in fact, I once bought a bathroom rug and toilet cover that had the nazar design. Go figure! 

The origin of the symbol goes back to ancient times and the symbol of the evil eye is present throughout the world.  Visit the Wikipedia site on evil eyes for more examples.  Very neat stuff, IMHO. 

These shirts amaze me.  They are called "Talismanic Shirts" and were intended to protect the wearer.  The shirts are covered in careful writing, numerical lists, and symbolic images that assist in keeping the wearer safe.  They were worn to battle under armor. The detail in these shirts can be stunning -- I remember seeing one in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul that had a combination of ink lettering and embroidery in very fine gold that was breathtaking.  This example is from a 2005 exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and was owned by the Sultan Cem.  The site has some additional information and a cute selection of amuletic shirts designed by kids who visited the exhibit.  The Talismanic shirt of Sehzade Selim can be seen on this site. 

No thought on amulets could be complete without thinking about the Egyptians.  Throughout the cultures of the living and the dead existed powerful symbols that helped the world function.  When a deceased person was being mummified, many small symbolic charms and objects were included in the mummy's wrappings to ensure proper regeneration of the body.  The above image is called the Wedjat Eye.   This site, from the Griffith Institute at Oxford, contains the notes and images from the excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb.  Carter describes the amulets and where they were found on the mummy.  Today they look like little decorative beads and baubles, but back then they were tickets of admission to the afterlife. 

I'd like to add more, but as always am short on time...maybe others can find examples of talismanic or amuletic art from art history? There is no shortage!! 

Submit! Consider: 

1) Wearable Talisman: Make something that you could wear as a personal talisman.  Consider whether it would be worn inside or outside your clothing, and what form it would take.  What materials would it be?  Colors?  Imagery?  Think about what you'd like to keep your focus on (after all it is a new year!) and make something personal. 

2) Adapt an existing amulet form into something new. Look at it's design and symbolism, and see if you can update the image to reflect how an amulet with the same function would look today.  Survival then may have meant a good harvest and a predictable flood...survival now?  

3) Consider how you would use the process of embroidery and drawing to create your own talismanic shirt -- start with an old white T-shirt, and see where it leads you.  Stamp, print, embroider, draw.  Think about what (or who!) you'd like to be protected from and make it visual using text and symbol.  Wrap yourself if good luck -- wouldn't it be neat if the shirts actually worked? 

Have fun, and send any images along to aropple@aol.com for posting to the soon-to-come AHFQ gallery. Thanks!