[Paddlewise] Greenland Boats, Inuits & Aesthetics

The discussion of possible "aesthetic considerations" among the Inuit in
designing kayaks is interesting, and I'll jump in briefly.  I offer the
caveats that (a) I'm relatively new to paddling (long-time sailor), and (b)
I know little about  historical designs or about Inuit culture.

When I was an anthropology student at UNC some twenty years ago, we spent a
fair amount of time studying non-literate cultures in an attempt to
determine where -- or if -- a sense of the "aesthetic" might manifest
itself.  I took one graduate seminar dedicated exclusively to that question.
We found many examples of things that were apparently "artistic" in quality,
that went "beyond pure function," and that evidently derived from some sort
of aesthetic.  However, in virtually each case, we were also able to explain
these things in some other terms.  Often, for example, the items had some
"religious" purpose (in the broad sense necessary when using that word in
such a cross-cultural manner), and the dedication and effort in creating the
item, and the remarkably beauty of it, derived from some strongly-felt
"religious" belief or concern.  As I recall, we really couldn't find
examples of "art" in early or non-literate cultures.

We concluded (as a group -- this was a group effort [and therefore subject
to many mistakes <g>]) that "art for art's sake" was a modern Western
phenomenon.  We attempted to pinpoint it's arrival on the scene, and picked
(as I vaguely recall) the 18th Century and the arrival of the "museum" as a
concept.  So much of our thinking as human beings changes so dramatically
coming out of the Medieval Era (and gradually through the following eras
leading up to the "Industrial Era"). . . I think it's very very difficult
for most of us to understand the extent of these changes.  Our minds used to
really focus so much on external forces, on "God", on icons of the Church,
etc.  Now, we are autonomous individual entities, each of us, by nature.
That is a "new" thing.  This involved the "separation" of many previously
"unified" things -- God, certain objects (icons), our "selves," etc.  Now,
we think of "art."  Before, we did not.

My point?  Um, I forget. . .   I'm getting older.  But seriously, I guess my
point was that it may be a futile exercise to attempt to apply our modern
Western concepts of aesthetics (or most anything else) to earlier Inuit
culture.  The circles just don't fit in the boxes.  It may be that, although
there are things of great beauty, things that evidence incredible human
effort that would appear to have no strict "functional" basis, nonetheless
these things probably had some very "real" purpose in the culture in which
they were created.

Finally, as an almost humorous aside, being the "good anthropologists" that
were were, we concluded our studies by trying to analyze the question of
whether even the contemporary Western notions of "art" -- it art for it's
own sake -- were self-deceptive.  Does "art" really serve a purely
functional purpose even in our own culture?  An economic purpose?  A
communicative purpose?  A political purpose?  This was fun, of course, but .
. . being the good anthropologists that we were, we also concluded that it
is not possible to scientifically study the culture that produced the
scientific maxims by which the purported study is to be conducted.  Like
Heisenberg's molecules (or whatever they were), the very studying changes
the object of the study, and at any rate it is the object that is doing the
study.  Therefore, no science.  Sigh.

Sorry for the rambling, which is arguably way off topic.  I just love this
kind of thing.  Kayaks.  They shore are purty.

Mark Lane
NY


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