March 24, 2018

At the Ancestral Café...

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... you can talk about whatever you want (and buy whatever you want through the Althouse Portal to Amazon).

I got my iPhone camera out at an exhibit called "Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection" at the Chazen Museum here in Madison. Australian Aboringinal artists work in what is a continuing artistic tradition going back many thousands of years— perhaps 40,000 years.

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The painting that's in the center of the first photo and fills the frame in the second is by the Yuendumu Women's Collaborative and is called "Mina Mina Dreaming." The wall card says that "Mina Mina" means "home or living place," and it's a place "where ancestral women stopped to sit under desert oaks, get water, and collect snake vines to wrap around food bowls and cure headaches."

50 comments:

Earnest Prole said...

It's interesting to see parallels with indigenous Berber textiles.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

It took them 40,000 years to produce that art. I had better doodles in 7th grade.

Be said...

@Earnest: I'd love to hear more about that.

There was a *wonderful* exhibit at the Fogg at Harvard, maybe two years ago? on Australian Aboriginal Art, which got into areas of time / depth / distance perception.

Elsewhere in my life, saw some amazing works, along with attempts to explain understanding and encoding of Spatial Relations vs Time Lengths.

rcocean said...

I bet Levi and Kaplan made a $killing$ on their Aborigine Art Collection.

I'd love to see how much they paid the Aborigines for the Art vs how much its valued today. I bet its pennies on the dollar.

Sometimes PC/Diversity pays offs!

And BTW, I like the Art. Although, like most primitive art, its rather repetitive.

Mark said...

There was a Brit guy playing didgeridoo at the opening for that exhibit, which was a great way to browse it.

He was far more entertaining than expected, my kid found him fascinating and was glued to his performance, I sat by the wall sized piece near the beginning and enjoyed down time in a pretty place.

YoungHegelian said...

The wall card says that "Mina Mina" means "home or living place," and it's a place "where ancestral women stopped to sit under desert oaks, get water, and collect snake vines to wrap around food bowls and cure headaches."

I just love how for the modern Left if you're a bunch of snake-handling, superstitious troglodytes that live in some foreign country half-way across the planet, you're "repositories of ancient wisdom". However, if you're a bunch of snake-handling, superstitious troglodytes that live in some holler in Appalachia, you're deplorable scum that really need to be shut out of society as much as possible lest you mouth some un-woke views on blacks, gays, women, etc.

At least the old guard Left was consistent: they thought all this traditional aboriginal culture stuff was booyah. "Say what you want about the British Empire, but for all its sins, it did drag the Wogs kicking & screaming into modernity."

Sprezzatura said...

This is shit.

Where's the gold plated class?

traditionalguy said...

Is that next to the local Outback Steakhouse? The Aussies are getting closer. They started a Boeing Dreamliner 787 service non stop from Perth to London today. That takes 17 hours in the air, but it cuts 3 hours off the old way that used a refueling stop in the Middle East.

traditionalguy said...

BTW, have the Harvard DNA experts figured out the race of Australian Aboriginese yet?

Guildofcannonballs said...

It was supposed to be 1.4T.

1.2 won't collapse nothing.

DAMNIT TRUMP!

Heh, Trump knows Solomon shat 1.666T last Thursday.

Heh.

Fernandinande said...

I think some of those guys are drunk.

YoungHegelian said...
I just love how for the modern Left if you're a bunch of snake-handling, superstitious troglodytes that live in some foreign country half-way across the planet, you're "repositories of ancient wisdom".


I don't see the word "wisdom" associated with these pictures, which are almost literal if they're depicting water and snake vines.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Taunting Trump is the right move, now as always.

Of course.

You know.

He is so stupidly fickle, not even correct as a clock twice a day.

Nope.

No Sir.

Gave an inch on (...) and if it weren't for Bad Donald none of THAT would have happened.

Same with (...).

And (...).

See, Trump fooled you dolted idiots, like us benevolent, kindly souls just attempted to prevent you from feeling as we are celebrating your feeling now. Because we are smart, caring, wise, caring, and friendly!

YoungHegelian said...

@fernandistein,

What's your point? Are you denying that this instance is an example of the cultural Left going gooey for some far-flung foreign tribal primitivism or are you denying that the Left does such things at all?

Lucien said...

So I made the mistake of looking at the clusterf**k that was the anti-gun march thread. And I recall thinking once Ritmo/TTR showed up in the first few posts and then Inga wasn't far behind, that this would be a 300+ comment thread and all the comments after the first 30 or 40 would be shit. And they were. And I guess I have to ask the regulars, why do you engage? I understand the perverse attraction of a flame war, but seriously why waste your time?

Guildofcannonballs said...

I guess, if you do the math, 1.2 on a scale of absolute destruction being 1.4, is kinda relevant, maybe.

But the attitude you feel you're 'helping', ancient more than most (ideas), not only insofaras not "helping" as in preventing grievance or pain, but helping as in jawing about ancient sutures ineffectivess extrapolated, is why cumulus.hillsdale.edu/Buckley did so much to help you understand whom yours arely.

Guildofcannonballs said...

The Greatest Trick I ever pilled, hope I aont' the deviol, Was ConvingicnG <Myself I exioosy existy!

Lucien said...

In regards to the topic of this post, I've met some very nice wealthy white Australians in Sydney who are making a lot of money selling Aboriginal art. I've got a friend who is a retired investment banker doing the same thing with sub-Saharan Africa tribal art. It's amazing the prices wealthy whites with more money than sense will pay for this stuff.

Southwestern Native American art used to dominate this space, but after 30+ years of acquiring it, I think the wealthy denizens of New York and San Francisco have more pots and blankets than they know what to do with, so they're moving on to other things.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Looks, we aint' inconsisted fools, NOT US!

So, we gotta hold Trump accountable for Kennedy fucking up the next bullcunt fuck up he does us to. Don't give no credit to Trump for anything Thomas upholds though: TRUMP DIDN'T NOMITATE NO DAMN THOMAS SO HE CAN'T GET ANY OF THE CREDIT FOR IT IMBECILE!!

Trump is POTUS bully pulpit and ought fucking TO Hell With Us All LBJ his way to power.

That is the America we deserve: Trump LBJ'in this bitch.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

I'm checking out 4chan like I normally do, seeing what crazy shit people are up to. And people are going batshit over the gun control marches. Lots of Nazi imagery, and photos of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks. I don't think the photos of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks really had anything to do with the marches, but those kinda photos seem to pop up on a lot of threads.

Anyway, after awhile I come back to Althouse and catch up on the posts. And I see the post on the gun control marches, and I read the comments. And it is pretty much more batshit than some of the 4chan stuff. But not as funny, and no pictures of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks.

So I go back to 4chan, and as I'm skimming through Nazi imagery and photos of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks, it occurs to me: did you ever notice that the boys who had sex with their teachers never went on to shoot up the school and shit?

And the answer is pretty obvious, right? If a boy is banging his hot teacher he isn't thinking about shooting up the school, because life is pretty good. So I wonder if one of Nikolas Cruz's teachers had just given the dude a hummer maybe that shooting shit wouldn't have gone down.

Like maybe a teacher in, like, Florida or Arkansas does a little DVDA after class and now there are four boys who aren't gonna shoot up the school, and that's a start.

And some of those commenters in the Althouse thread -- maybe if they had banged a teacher doggie-style in high school they would be a lot more mellow now. Because a lot of them seem real angry. There are real angry people on 4chan too, but at least 4chan has pictures of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks. Maybe Althouse should think about that.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Every moment on will be a step up from this one, for the Trump potUS.

People will write books and make money.

Okay.

Best of luck to you. If it takes you that to feel special, maybe you just are special?

YoungHegelian said...

But not as funny, and no pictures of naked girls spreading their ass cheeks.

Ass-cheek quotient at AA's really gone down since dear Laslo moved on to other things.

Sad.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Can I write off this last hour in taxes?

I am more chariatiable to Althousians than most others, like the IRS isn't toward people IRS agents might want to feel superior to, in terms of life-ruining.

Others who aren't fucking evil dicks are above the law, so why ain't I?

Sure, sure, the undereducation; but if I am just cool, you know, not like a conservative, or, God forbid, Althouse-forbid, an Republican, ought I aoini't be spo cpopo; tpo so as be above law?

DUH!!!

It's only the fiuck ups and GOPers who get busted,
'cause their guilty and all.

My state will work for my interests once those evil perople who disaggree are eliminated.

Michael K said...

And I guess I have to ask the regulars, why do you engage? I understand the perverse attraction of a flame war, but seriously why waste your time?

I stay if buwaya or a couple of others are still around.

Sprezzatura said...

'I stay if buwaya or a couple of others are still around, and it's not bedtime yet.'


Fixed.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

I was thinking about a teacher maybe doing a little DVDA with some high school students, and it made me think of a story I read a few weeks ago about a high school girl who is becoming a boy. She's taking the steroids and shit, and she does kinda look like a dude.

Anyway, she's on the girl's wrestling team, even though she thinks she's a boy, and she's kicking ass wrestling because the steroids and shit are making her like a boy, even if she's still a girl, and so she's like a boy wrestling girls, so that's why she's kicking ass.

I don't know if Althouse did a post about it, because I think that would be a thing she would do.

And I'm thinking: what if one of the real girl wrestlers got so mad at having to wrestle a boy that she then shot up the school? Because she's been practicing and practicing, and working out hard and shit, to be a real good chick wrestler, but then she has to wrestle a girl who's been taking boy juice and now he's kicking her ass wrestling.

I know that would make me mad. Not mad enough to shoot up a school or nothing, but some people's mad is different than others. But I guess chicks don't shoot up schools, when they get upset they become cutters and shit. But now that chick wrestler who's becoming a dude, is she gonna be more likely to shoot up a school? It's worth thinking about.

And all of this sex change shit makes me wonder if some of the naked girls spreading their ass cheeks on 4chan are really dudes. But I would think you would see their balls, unless they were cut off and shit. Fuck though, it would suck to be rubbing one out over a naked chick spreading her ass cheeks and then finding out she was a dude.

And I still don't get why chicks wrestle. Unless they are lesbians.

Guildofcannonballs said...

59 in the S and then one will drop dead, by the D hand, so as to give cover.

2020 is All Trump, and always forever and ever will be.

Guildofcannonballs said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpT-FW_G8-A

Sprezzatura said...

"I was thinking about a teacher maybe doing a little DVDA with some high school students"

BTW, did folks hear the reason that Tucker said we shouldn't listen to these kids?

He said that they should be ignored because their teachers are not supposed to have sex with them. If the teachers were having sex w/ their young students, then we would listen to what the kids have to say. According to Fox News.


Way more interesting than Althouse's take.


Guildofcannonballs said...

Just 'cause by design you ain't be hearded of it don't mean it ain't the real bein'.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

My oldest got her SAT scores today. She was hoping for 1300. She killed it, guys. 1420 :D And she has a 4.1 GPA. She's on her way! I'm a proud mama tonight.

Sprezzatura said...

IHMMP,

Good parenting matters.


IMHO.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
buwaya said...

An uncle, one of those who moved to Australia, once brought me a souvenir mini-digideroo, only about a yard in length but remarkably loud, covered in this sort of pattern.

The beauty of the digideroo, as a musical instrument, is that it requires no skill at all to produce what you can allege is most fashionable among the Abos.

That fine instrument did not last a week.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I just watched the introductory episode of the Netflix series "Altered Carbon". Watch the first ten minutes yourself, then tell me Hollywood is serious about its opposition to gun violence.

Original Mike said...

Comgratulations, Pants.

Yancey Ward said...

"And I guess I have to ask the regulars, why do you engage? I understand the perverse attraction of a flame war, but seriously why waste your time?"

I have asked that question many times, and received no good explanation from those who should know better, but engage anyway. I don't even understand the attraction of a flame war.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"I don't even understand the attraction of a flame war."
Uh . . . its got the words 'flame and 'war' in it.

becauseIdbefired said...

I don't understand the art, but I like the eye, and I like the way the lines flow around one of the circles, with a triangle. Seems, aesthetic, I suppose. Don't care for the bright colors, though I suppose in a world devoid of them, they are cool.

I was thinking about the trade deficit, and Trump's recent action. $50 (or $60) Billion in trade sanctions against China, vs. their $(5?)B against us. How do we lose in a trade war, with a $375B + deficit? Seems China loses.

Now, given labor is the primary cost, I don't see how we can easily compete with China on low skilled labor basis (so why do we import it? The cost of government services eclipses the benefit: I suppose the ownership class figures the taxpayers will make up the difference).

However, consider this. The free traders say, well, if you bring in foreign goods, then it reduces the cost to the consumer. That's true. It does. But, what happens when the (cheaper) goods you bring in lay someone off? If that person has to take a lesser job, then there are lesser taxes to pay for the low skilled (subsidized) labor. Or if that person goes on welfare or SSDI (rising considerably), they become a burden to the Federal government in addition to the lesser taxes.

Listening to the free traders, it would be better if everyone in the country were out of a job because foreigners can do it cheaper. That can't be right.

gilbar said...

" Or if that person goes on welfare or SSDI (rising considerably), they become a burden to the Federal government in addition to the lesser taxes."

no No NO!
Don't you Remember? According to Democrats, the most bestest way to enhance the economy is for people to be on welfare. Every dollar spent on welfare is multiplied by 3 or 4 !!! This is COMPLETELY UNLIKE WAGES, which just sit in people's pockets

Our True Hope is for Everyone in the USA to be on welfare, only this will bring true prosperity.


I'm really hoping i don't have to add this, but to be safe
<Sarc

Humperdink said...

Speaking of textiles, my hometown police department is in a bit a financial pinch. Seems their 5 year old bullet proof vests have an expiration date of June of this year and no funds for replacements. Who knew they had a shelf life?

I trust it's not a scam like the baby car seat manufacturers have foisted upon us.

Fritz said...

Curiously, there are no oaks native to Australia, only a eucalyptus that the British settlers called an oak.

Humperdink said...

Trump limits trangenders in the military based on a report submitted by General Mattis. A portion of the Mattis report:

"The prior administration largely based its policy on a study prepared by the RAND National Defense Research Institute; however, that study contained significant shortcomings. It referred to limited and heavily caveated data to support its conclusions, glossed over the impacts of healthcare costs, readiness, and unit cohesion, and erroneously relied on selective experiences of foreign militaries with different operational requirements than our own. In short, this policy issue has proven more complex than the prior administration or RAND assumed."

No surprise from the Big O and band of merry lefties.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/03/military-service-by-transgender-individuals-gen-mattis-speaks.php

Jersey Fled said...

Congratulations to Pants and her daughter.

I remember when my oldest was first applying to college. I was looking at the paperwork that her guidance counselor was sending off to colleges for her. It listed her GPA as 2.58. This seemed odd since she was a straight B student. The counselor explained to me that one (Asian) kid had taken all AP classes and had a 5.0 GPA. So in order not to confuse the colleges they adjusted his GPA down to 4.0, along with everyone else in her class. So every kid had their GPA's adjusted down by 20%.

This made perfect sense to this moron. I finally got her to send my daughter's paperwork out without the GPA being calculated. She acted like she was doing me a big favor.

Ralph L said...

Ass-cheek quotient at AA's really gone down since dear Laslo moved on to other things.
You mean other names.
The Germs have a word for this.

Ralph L said...

How the fuck does DVDA work?
Wait, don't think I want to know.

Why don't the guys just have sex with each other and cut out the middle (wo)man?

Ironclad said...

It says much that the aboriginal Australians managed if live in a continent for over 40,000 years and not develop a written language or any form of technology higher than that needed for a hunter gatherer lifestyle. Of course they didn't have any large animals to pull wagons or plow since they killed off most of the large species when they arrived. But abstract art is about as good as it gets - funny the new discoveries of Neanderthal art are about the same level - and none of them approached the cave paintings in Europe by the later inhabitants.

Maybe the NYT story the other day about races has more truth than we admit. It's possible to select for survival and minimize the rest of abilities.

Lucien said...

Ralph:

I’m not sure about DVDA — but I think you need to get a special DVD player for it.

Fritz said...

Ironclad said...
It says much that the aboriginal Australians managed if live in a continent for over 40,000 years and not develop a written language or any form of technology higher than that needed for a hunter gatherer lifestyle. Of course they didn't have any large animals to pull wagons or plow since they killed off most of the large species when they arrived. But abstract art is about as good as it gets - funny the new discoveries of Neanderthal art are about the same level - and none of them approached the cave paintings in Europe by the later inhabitants.


To be fair, that may be as much due to cultural isolation as anything else. Ideas are more infectious and long lasting than diseases. But it's a long swim to Australia now that the sea level has come up 100 meters since the end of the last ice age 14,000 years ago.

Australian aborigines have not been notably slow to adopt technology now that it's available to them.

Gahrie said...

since the end of the last ice age 14,000 years ago.

The ice age hasn't ended. Approximately 14,000 years ago global warming began began, and the Earth entered an interglacial called the Holocene. The Holocene is still active, but one day it will end and the cold will return.

mikee said...

My son years ago brought home from school a tempera paint artwork of a stylized turtle, surrounded by wiggly lines and white dots. It was done, he explained very seriously, in the style of the Australian Aboriginals, whose art from 20,000+ years ago could be seen on rock walls there. It was good for a ten year old. We framed it and hung it next to his comic-style shark from the year before, about which he wrote a poem:

The shark, shark, shark
Swims in the dark, dark, dark.
All the fish, fish, fish
Are the shark's favorite dish.