Descripción De La Actividad Nombre: El día de los mitos

This first theoretical dimension focuses on the relations o f body painting to other spheres o f production. The spheres o f production can be defined as areas o f social activity in which certain kinds o f products, which are not always necessarily or entirely material, are generated. This dimension highlights the relationship o f body painting production and use (considered as within the visual productions sphere) to several other spheres, such as myths and religion, kinship, technology, subsistence, etc.^. In doing so, some o f the overlaps between these spheres, as well as the feedback generated among them, can be brought to light.

Consequently, this can show some o f the interactions o f spheres which are specifically significant for body painting creation, wearing and viewing, stressing the fluidity o f human actions, which can be ‘framed’ in these analytical categories only for research purposes, but are highly dynamic in practice. In the study o f body painting this overlapping o f different social spheres is emphasised by the fact that body painting can be worn while the individuals engage in activities such as hunting, tool making, dancing, story telling, etc.

Several analytical issues can be discussed within this dimension. Their selection depends on two factors: the available data about the spheres that interacted in the production and use o f body painting by a certain society, and the interests o f the researcher. For these reasons, I have selected the following:

a) the visual expression and construction o f mythical contents and cultural values via body painting production and display

b) the recursive influences between body painting and kinship

c) the influences that body painting technology has on the images’ intended purposes and outcomes

O f these, I am particularly interested in the third one, because, as will be shown below, technology is an aspect o f image making that is usually only tackled from a descriptive point o f view, underestimating the informative potential it offers. All these issues, in turn, are related to the construction and reproduction o f social roles and relationships which, as I intend to show, were partly generated through the practice of painting the body.

The involvement o f myths and cultural values in body ornamentation is possibly

dim ensions remains, to an extent, arbitrary, since it can be view ed in different ways.

the most frequent focus o f analysis in the study o f these creations. The work o f Kaeppler (1988) on Hawaiian tattoos is an example o f this: “like other Hawaiian art forms, tattoo was a visual manifestation o f social relationships among people, the gods, and the universe that changed over time”, and that “tattoo was primarily a protective device, and a function o f genealogy” (Kaeppler 1988: 157). The protective function of the Hawaiian tattoos, placed on the front o f the body o f the warrior, is reinforced by the fact that “the c h iefs shoulders, back and head were protected by feathered cloaks and helmets, but the front o f the body, the spear throwing arm, the inside and outside o f the legs, the ankles, and the hands needed protection” (Kaeppler 1988: 168). Hence the purpose and meanings o f the tattoos and their bodily position are shown to be linked to the myths and values they expressed.

Vogel’s studies on scarification worn by the Baule (from Ivory Coast) show that these scars function as a way o f relating and distinguishing society and nature, that is, as a “mark o f civilisation” (1988: 97). Scarification circumscribes those who are considered as civilised and distinguishes them from the uncivilised persons, whose human condition is nevertheless not denied by the Baule (idem: 100). This case is different from that o f the Bafia o f Cameroon who consider that “a man who is not scarred looks like a pig or a chimpanzee” (Thévoz 1986: 50).

The case o f the Yoruba (Benin and Nigeria), studied by Drewal and Drewal (1988) shows the superposition o f aesthetic and ‘socio-idiosyncratic’ functions o f body scarring or “kolo”. These scars function as statements about “the fortitude and endurance o f the individual” (ibid), since their display indexes the existence o f a generative force called use, which is the “absolute power present in all things” (idem: 94).

A final example is the study o f self-decoration in Mount Hagen (New Guinea) in which the superimposition o f at least three different ‘m essages’ was found: one, the signalling o f an individual in a specific role (as a donor at an exchange festival, as a warrior, as a big-man, etc.); a second one, the attribution to the actor o f an emotional state considered as appropriate for a certain role; a third content, the demonstration o f abstract and ideal qualities which are important social values, such as the bright costumes o f the dancers in exchange festivals, which indicate their prosperity and express their harmony with the ancestors (Strathem and Strathem 1971: 171, 172).

These studies clearly show the existence o f linkages between body ornaments, myths and cultural values. But, possibly because o f the assumed (and sometimes real)

primacy o f the representational and meaningful aspects o f body painting and other image creations, such topic has been the main focal point o f analysis, when clearly other aspects are also involved in generating these productions.

The study o f kinship has also been analysed within the area o f body ornament studies. In the case o f the Nuba (Sudan), studied by Paris (1972, 1978, 1983, 1988), kinship and gender are two crucial variables upon which body ornaments are structured. Women are oiled and painted according to their patri-clan section until they give birth, after that moment, they and their offspring are signalled with the husband’s patri-clan colour; hence, as Paris notes, there are no visual diacritics which mark the matri-clan section membership (1988: 34). Women also receive sets o f scars marking different stages o f their physiological changes (including their sexuality and maternity life), which clearly refer to their reproductive capabilities. No marking o f their productive activities is carried out. In contrast, men receive body decorations which mark their productive status and the changes they undergo in these roles: “The most elaborated form is peculiar to the most productively elaborate division -m ales between about 17 of age and 27 years to 30 years o f age.” (Paris 1988: 35). Hence kinship and gender relations are both marked and constructed via body ornamentation, and are in turn linked to the productive and biological reproductive roles o f men and women.

The case o f the Kayapo from the southern Amazonian border, studied by Turner (1980) is another example o f the creation and marking o f kinship relations through body ornamentation. Bodily adornments are used in different stages o f the relations o f the individual with the family: first, when the person is seen as an extension o f his/her parents’ natural powers o f reproduction; second, when the individual is detached from this unity and integrated to the social life o f the community, hence developing the powers to create a family o f his/her own; third, when this second ‘natural’ family is expanded and the individual becomes a parent-in-law, ascending to the prestigious role o f household head. This process is visually constructed by two different painting styles: a detailed, time-consuming one for the children, who wear individually unique designs made by their mothers or other relations and show their common identity with their families, and a non-detailed, expedient and stereotyped one, worn by the adults, who thus show their collective and socialised status. It is clear then that in this case kinship and age are two structuring variables o f the body ornament process.

In the aboriginal Australian cases, such as the Alawa, the analysis o f the uses and interpretation o f the meanings of the body designs require understanding the

mythical background on which they are embedded. According to these myths, the world was formed during a period called “dream time”^, in which hero’s that were half human and half animal, generated the rules o f social behaviour, left marks on the land by creating sacred sites when travelling along the territory, and established rituals which are still currently carried out and in which re-enact the hero’s travels (Layton 1989: 3). These ancestral beings were the first to apply designs on their own bodies (Dussart 1997: 188).

The way o f ‘reading’ the meaning o f these designs is particularly complex (see section on visual properties below), since several layers o f contents and interpretations are parallel and superimposed on the same motif. Hence, knowledge about the various and complete meanings o f paintings is “exclusive religious property, controlled by older men and displayed in ritual, on which m en’s political power largely rests (Bern 1979). Young men are initiated by admission to these ceremonies” (Layton 1989: 4). Mythical knowledge, gender division and power are then intertwined in the action o f interpreting the visual information o f Australian paintings. The latter factor, in turn, implies that body painting involves also a political use (see section 1.2.4 below).

As will be shown through the analysis, the Australian case shows a number of similarities with the Fuegian cases under study, in which the revelation o f important sections o f mythical knowledge (including the mythical reasons for the use o f body painting) occurred during the ritual practices involving body painting production. Hence, the active role o f body painting will be stressed, since it will be argued that it was not only a means to express mythical contents, but was also a way to constructing these contents, making them 'tangible' and hence reinforcing the beliefs on them.

But it should be noted that kinship is not necessarily involved in all cases o f the functions o f body ornaments. For example, Baule scars are not made to identify individuals belonging to a particular family, subgroup or clan, nor to mark initiation status (Vogel 1988: 101). So, as with any other social sphere or variable, kinship should not be assumed as an intervening factor in the body painting process until its influence can be adequately demonstrated. In the cases under study, there is only enough information about kinship and body painting for certain specific Selk’nam paintings (those worn during the kewanix dance). The analysis will show that kinship was indeed involved in these paintings, but that its involvement was not directly expressed through

^ The expression “dream time” com es from the b elie f that these moral rules and laws were transmitted from these heroes, or ancestral beings, to the aborigines ancestors when they were asleep.

a straightforward visual code, and that other variables were also shaping the creation o f these designs.

The third sphere to which body painting will be related in this thesis is that of technology. The creation and uses o f technical resources to materially produce the body paintings have been subject to study by some researchers. For example, Dussart (1997:188, 189) notes that the function o f the traditional body painting o f the Warlpiri (Australia) is related to their duration, that is, to their non-permanent condition. The body painting should last during the ceremony (about half a day), and it is used to call up the ancestral beings together with songs and dances. After the ceremonies have ended, the paintings are erased from the body, so that the powers do not remain; these body painting powers stem from the ritual context, and “an essential aspect o f its execution is its temporary nature.” (ibid). The ephemeral nature o f body painting technique is here related to the power they can unleash in a specific ceremonial context.

In the Hawaiian case, the art o f tattoo “emphasised the process rather than the product: it used pigment and human skin in such a way that design elements were formalised into meaningful combinations which were done with skill and served some purpose in traditional Hawaiian society.” (Kaeppler 1988: 157). Kaeppler's analysis also shows that the function o f a body ornament can be embedded in the production process itself o f the ornament: “the tattooing process was carried out in conjunction with the chanting o f sacred prayers that protected the warrior, especially those o f high rank. The process o f puncturing the skin during the recitation o f a prayer could capture the prayer and envelop the owner with permanent sacred protection.” (Kaeppler 1988:

168).

The process o f painting, and not just the result, was also significant in the Kayapo case o f Amazonia, in which the child is required to lie still and be painted by an adult member of his/her family. Turner regarded this process as crucial for the socialisation o f the child (1980:123-124). The specific techniques and tools used during the painting o f Kayapo adults and children are also not neutral and indistinct but intentionally selected for each age group: while the adults were quickly painted with the hands, the children were painted with “a narrow stylus made from the central rib o f a le a f’ (ibid).

These examples show the potentiality o f techniques-analysis when studying body painting practices. But, I suggest that these and other studies lack the necessary emphasis on and detailed description and analysis o f the technical processes employed

in making the designs, which in turn may unveil further unknown dynamics involved in their creation.

As stated in the introduction (see also section 1.2.5), image making techniques generate the visual features o f the designs, not only by creating them physically, but also providing them with the perceptible qualities that define their appearance. But technique, I propose, has also meanings and social implications that contribute to those o f the designs painted on the body and viewed by others. To sustain this statement, it is important to review how technology can be defined and characterised.

The term technology can be used in a general way to refer to the whole technical system or technical sphere without specifying to which social group or time period it corresponds. It can also be used to refer to a group o f techniques which generate a specific type o f product, the type being defined either for the raw materials used, the kind o f object obtained, the purpose for which it is used, etc. - e.g. Tithic technology’, ‘body painting technology’ or ‘hunting technology’^. Most (or possibly all) human actions involve a kind o f technique, hence the technology sphere o f society is a very expanded one, which partially overlaps with most the other spheres (e.g. with subsistence, with religion, with visual productions, etc.). In fact, technology does not exist in a void and always forms part o f the planning, construction and/or use o f a product.

A technique can be defined as a method or system o f action and material culture production that structures the work process, in which many linked operations are carried out by a subject upon matter^ in order to generate and/or use p r o d u c ts th r o u g h the inter-related use o f materials” and knowledge’^ (Vargas Arenas 1986; Pfaffenberger 1992: 497). Hence the human body is always involved in technical practices as the acting subject (sometimes even as a ‘tool’), and in some cases, as the ‘object’ upon which the techniques are used.

The engagement o f a technique in the production and/or use o f a material

There are nevertheless other definitions and uses o f the term technology (see for exam ple Sigaut 1994). ^ This involves any material entity, including the agent's ow n body or other person's bodies.

Products are considered here as any perceptible result o f a human action, hence including from 'hard' material culture objects, ephemeral ones as a body painting, and other cultural results such as a determined voice pitch, a dancing or sports m ovem ent (M auss 1979 (1934), Sigaut 1994).

*' Likewise, materials include natural resources, portable and non-portable human-made objects and the body o f the agent and o f possible subjects o f the action.

Knowledge includes rational thought and perceptual thought, both o f which are verbal and non-verbal (Gardner 1983, A m heim 1986a; Pfaffemberger 1992). It also involves not only information about reality but also know-how (or procedural knowledge) and skills (personal/group talents). See section 1.2.4 on cognition.

involves a succession o f stages that can be called production sequence (the term ‘production’ being used in a broad sense here, including use/consumption). These include obtaining raw materials, manufacturing new goods, using them, maintaining and recycling goods and managing waste disposal (Schiffer 1972). Production sequences can rarely be thought o f happening independently o f others, and in fact in general different stages o f different sequences can overlap in one activity. For example, in the activity o f decorating a ceramic vessel by incision with a bone burin, the stage of manufacture o f the ceramic decoration sequence overlaps with the stage o f use o f the bone artefact sequence’^. This overlap has been pointed by Lemmonier: “The use by some techniques o f the products o f others, as well as the existence o f operational sequences or o f technical principles in common creates among them multiple relations of interdependence, which confer on them a systemic character.” (Lemmonier 1986: 154). This indicates the highly dynamic nature o f technical processes, which can only be boxed in these categories for analytical purposes.

With the exception of a few researchers (e.g. Mauss 1979 (1934), Leroi Gourhan 1945), technology has been traditionally considered as a neutral means to pursue a pragmatic end which was dictated by a specific need. Consequently, technology has generally been accounted for in the form o f descriptive catalogues o f tools and techniques (Ingold 1997: 107) which actually offer little explanation o f how and why these acts happen, and which generally keep untouched the preconceived assumptions mentioned above.

This ‘standard view o f technology’ (Pfaffenberger 1992: 492) has been recently challenged by a new theoretical trend, which can be called the ‘critical theory of technology’ (Lemmonier 1986, 1993; Ingold 1986a, 1986b, 1988, 1997, Sillar and The 2000; Pfaffemberger 1988, 1992; Sigaut 1994). This perspective lacks homogeneity and complete consistency, since “... anthropologists are still in the first stages o f their thinking on this subject, and have not yet achieved consensus on their conceptual