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Intrinsic aesthetics desa kala patra within performance, continued Some contemporary Indonesian artists and scholars have been finding themselves in the position, not just oftrying to understand and react as individuals , but of having to legislate and respond in a systematic manner to the effects ofintense societal transformation upon traditional arts and religion .1 In a few recent attempts to grapple with these issues, people often suggest clear delineations between such concepts as sacred and secular/profane , form and function, or aesthetics and efficacy, in order to clarifY shifts in cultural priorities. Often these delineations prove limited in scope, and tend to diminish rather than enhance our perspective on the rich ambiguities ofa complex tradition. I shall try to clarifY the nature ofsome of these ambiguous issues ofaesthetics in performance, ritual, and everyday life. Ethnomusicologist Judith Becker (1980: 103) has written, with particular reference to Javanese gamelan music: "In a traditional society in which music is closely linked to religion and ritual, in which the music system supports the entire edifice ofbelief, the question ofbeauty is always subordinate to the question of efficacy." This kind of analysis reflects an anthropological perspective arising from a desire to avoid seeing all human cultures in terms of ethnocentric Euro-American aesthetics. Art is more than something intellectually and sensually pleasing; it "does something" quite different in every culture (and subculture, as well). Art, in this performative sense, can effect change by reordering and redefining the spiritual and social environment. But this implication-that a greater significance is to be found in the results of having done something ritualistic than in the 1. An early draft ofthis chapter was first presented at the New England regional meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, October 1981. It was then published in Asian Music (r98r: 43)· Intrinsic aesthetics I 121 participants' appreciation of the actual process-relies upon a distinction that does not exist in practice. Beauty is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that quality or combination of qualities which affords keen pleasure to the senses, or which charms the intellectual or moral faculties, through inherent grace, or fitness to a desired end." Two different interpretations of the word aesthetic define it as "ofor pertaining to sensuous perception, received by the senses," and "ofor pertaining to the appreciation or criticism ofthe beautiful ." P. J. Zoetmulder (1974: 173) defines the Kawi 'Old Javanese' word tango·: "Alango means both 'enraptured' and 'enrapturing'. It can be said of a beautiful view as well as of the person affected by its beauty. It has what we might call a 'subjective' and an 'objective' aspect, for there is a common element-the Indians would say a common rasa-in both subject and object , which makes them connatural and fit to become one. Objectively tango· is the quality by which an object appeals to the aesthetic sense." J. Stephen Lansing (1983: 79-82) discusses this concept of tango·, ultimately leading to the suggestion that "wayang reveals the power oflanguage and the imagination to go beyond 'illumination,' to construct an order in the world which exists both in the mind and, potentially, in the outer world as well." In Bali, beauty within ritual is a basic ingredient of efficacy and, in a sense, ofany social activity at all. Not only are the Balinese gods and deities notorious connoisseurs of the arts, appreciating both embellishment and minute aesthetic detail, but also, physical interaction or activity within any environment or space seeks a flow and balanced ordering, an equilibrium that is appreciated as an aesthetic property, sensually, formally, and psychologically . The Tripramana threefold unity, "Three Ways of Knowing" or "Three Powers," expressed in Kawi as bayu sabda idep, is a source ofmuch philosophical discussion but is concerned with, and often applied, at least in principle, to everyday life. Bayu is wind, breath, energy, activity; sabda is vocalized expression; and idep is thought, perception.2 Basically, this Balinese conception aims at integrating these three levels and balancing them within any activity that may initially tend to favor one or another. Ifsomeone is engaged in a physical activity, he or she should meditate (consciously focus his or her mental faculties) on the situation at hand, and also find 2. Zurbuchen (1987: 129) offers additional interpretations. "In a general sense they refer to action or results (bayu), the form in which these occur (sabda), and the motives or meanings (idep) that underlie them." She also suggests linguistic and aesthetic aspects of the terms and the role they...

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