Speculative Proposal for Year One
Upon review, I’ve realized that the scope of my original idea for my MA project is massive, so I’ve narrowed my focus for my first year proposal.
My original concept is a comparison of women’s reproductive
rights being controlled by the patriarchy to conservation/environmentalism and
the control humans have on the planet’s resources. My thesis for my Fine Art Diploma
was on threatened species and why they are threatened was part of the project,
which is called “Anthropocene of the Crime.” So I have already done a lot of
research on human impact on the planet.
I started thinking about the theory that humanity was
originally a matriarchal society, with the Goddess being the power figure. Figurines,
referred to as “Venus” figures, found throughout Europe and as far east as
Siberia, are plentiful (currently there are over 200 known) and have been dated
to the Palaeolithic Era (which spans 1.4 million to 10,000 years ago.) Many of
the figures have been reliably dated to around 30,000 years ago (approximately
the same time as the cave paintings at Chauvet, in France) with a couple
thought to date back 500,000 years (disputed.)
Venus of Willendorf, discovered in 1908 during an archaeological excavation in Lower Austria, is now in the Naturhistorisches (Natural History) Museum, Vienna, Austria. This figure is just 11.1 cm tall and was made between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago.
As these sculpture are so old, the purpose of them is purely speculative. Most appear to have had no feet and would have never stood on their own. The most common theory is that the figures were fertility idols or goddesses.
Some make the assumption that early humans worshipped or otherwise
elevated women, using these figurines as a body of proof. There are also
opposing opinions, of course.
One book, “When God Was a Woman” (in the UK published as “The
Paradise Papers: The Suppression of Women's Rites”) by Merlin Stone (1976) has
been credited with giving impetus to the rise of feminism theology in the 1970s
and 1980s.
Merlin Stone worked on this project for around ten years,
searching out information that was not readily found/available, particularly
from the Middle East and Europe, about the “sacred feminine.”
I’ve done some digging and there are several books by
scholars both for and against this theory and I am in the process of accessing
copies – some are available as pdf files in the Internet Archive, so I am
starting there.
I am going to start with the prehistoric goddess figure and
work my way forward through time, across cultures. I’m interested in the
changing definitions of what was considered to be the standard of female
attractiveness and the influences that affected that image, as well as
perceptions of power. The control of religion and the patriarchy will be
investigated as to how it influenced the role of women, and I will build on
what I discover throughout the rest of my program.
My initial idea for what I want to create is an interactive
sculpture that people can play with. I would create a Venus figure of my own,
cast several copies, then create parts that can be interchanged (think, Mrs.
Potato Head…) The parts would represent changes in the “ideal” of feminine
form. I am thinking I could document these changing norms using posters, collage
or paintings, and have them displayed with the sculptures.
The Venus figure I plan to make will be a composite of
several figures from different periods – as I want to be able to create
interchangeable parts that represent different periods of history, the figure
will need to be somewhat generic, while still representing the Palaeolithic
features.
I am currently reading “The Golden Thread: How Fabric
Changed History” by Kassia St Clair (2018) which ties into the area of
traditional “women’s work” which is a theme I’ve been very interested in. I
have a work in progress that is comprised of fabric and uses as many techniques
as I can utilize (doing myself, by hand) to represent the skills that were
dismissed as mere crafts, not art, as they were made by women – needlework,
weaving, quilting, beadwork, lace, tatting, knitting, crochet, rug hooking,
tapestry, etc. I want to continue with this work and complete it.
This theme dovetails nicely into the goddess figure research. Fibre traces have been discovered in a cave
in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia (in 2009) that have been dated to the Palaeolithic
(34,500 years ago.) These fibre traces have been found in multiple levels of
excavation and show advanced techniques, including dyes of multiple hues.
Women have been the main fabric producers throughout time,
up to the industrial revolution, essentially. Spinning, weaving, sewing – these
were all domestic tasks that women did in the home. It is a fascinating history
– for example, how women kept the secrets of raising silkworms for centuries,
solidifying China’s chokehold on the silk trade.
This is a pen and ink sketch I did c. 1980s (based on Seated female figure of fired clay, Çatal Hüyük, Turkey, 5500 BCE.)
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More images, more information, and narration!!
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