Prayer Flags and Butterflies and face 4 of 29
Thanks for all the wonderful comments and feedback on my art journal page featuring prayer flags. To provide a bit more information, check out this link which describes their origin in Tibet or the wikipedia entry. I learned that there is a "prayer flag project" run by artists, which you can read about here and also a "peace flag project," check it out here. Both of these look like wonderful, artistic ventures which are based on the idea of prayer flags but which encourage artists to create their own designs rather than stick to the traditional ones. I'm a bit of a traditionalists, so I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I'm going to think about it for a while.
And, in the meantime, I'm definitely going to participate in Deb's very cool "Butterfly Project" gathering. Check it out here.
What do you think about artists re-interpreting ancient traditions?
****************************
Today's art is my Day 4 Face for the 29 Faces Challenge. See more faces here.
I suppose I don't mind too much, it is probably how other great peices of art come into being.
ReplyDeleteWe used to live in a house where we had prayer flags draped across the front veranda, it was a shared house and it was when we were at Uni .. those were the good old days! ;-)
How fun! I didn't know about the 29 Faces challenge or I would have joined in, too.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great when artists re-interpret old traditions...it gives a whole new slant on them....and can eventually develop into something completely different.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it must be how art and traditions have developed over the centuries.
I think what I think is that traditions are more likely to die away if they aren't constantly refreshed and revisited. Christmas, for example, pulls together lots of different cultural references.
ReplyDeleteI have no problems with re-interpreting ancient traditions to fit today's life styles. Change is good.
ReplyDeleteI will also participate in the Butterfly Project.
We were discussing the subject of "copying", "plagiarism" and "drawing inspiration from..." last week, at the studio.
ReplyDeleteWe agreed that direct copying is wrong (of course it is!), but as far as other areas go, we decided that nothing is really ever new, because everyone is influenced by their surroundings, their experiences and what they see/learn etc. The Romans re-interpreted the Greeks - they re-interpreted the Mesopotamians, who re-interpreted the Assyrians.... How can we fail to be influenced by our surroundings and, as the World becomes more accessible and information on every subject, so much more widely available, we will all see and learn about other cultures and their traditions. It's good to explore these influences, so long as we do so in a thoughtful and respectful way, so that we don't offend the people to whom they are special. (mind you, respect for others' cultures has not really been a key point in Art over the millennia... )
I love your "Face", with the blue spikey hair. Can't read the text, so not sure what it says... The Face does look a bit bemused too, actually.