Painting with Dongba Pictographs

F i g .3. LynneRobertsGoodwin,SWACE 1, from the series T d the CkngingWorldo f Obsemzbk Objects,computer-manipulated images realisedasphotographs,13x 12in each, 1991. This seriesis aboutthe natureanddesire t o create, mechanically anddigitally,anillusory and deceptivesurface--a surfacethatbeliesits process. time. The use of high-resolutionimages overlaid in the digitalenvironment createsthe seamlessnessof photographic representation. The work is concerned with the philosophical and cultural positioning of language . Its boundaries, limitations and personal relevance are paramount to the artist,who speaks through the work of the diaristicfictionaljourney or path that individualspursue. This path is represented in many of Roberts-Goodwin’s works by linear text or a band of space-creating a black void. This combination of image, object, illusion, text and void creates,within the work, an inscribed surface,which is photographic in material and process yet bears the gestural marks of traditional formsof representation. The nature and desire to create, construct and manipulate photographic imagery, is, in itself;a pursuit of illusion and intangibility . The surface belies the process. Bibliography Borges, George Luis, Labn’nths (Harmondsworth, Middlesex:Penguin/New Directions, 1970). Campbell,Joseph, Inner Reaches of Outer Space (New York Harperand Row, 1988). Chuang Tsu, Gia Fu Feng and Jane English, trans. (London:Vintage, 1976). Debord,Guy, Society o f the Spe&cle (Detroit,MI Black and Red, 1983). Eco, Umberto, Travels in Hyper Reality (New York Picador,1986). Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations o f Tibetan Mysticism (London:CenturyPaperbacks,1987). Kemp, Martin, The Science ofArt (New Haven, CT: Yale Univ.Press, 1990). Krauss, Rosalind C., “Photography’s Discursive Spaces,”in The OriginaliQ oftheAvantGarde and Other Modaist Myth (Cambridge,MA: MIT Press, 1986). Lovelock,James, Gaia: ThePractical Scienceo f Planetmy Medicint (NewYork Allen and Unwin, 1991). Penrose, Roger, The Emperor’sNew Mind? Concmzing Computers, Minds, and the Laws ofphysics (New York Vintage, 1990). Reanney, Dar~yl,The Death o f Formet-A NEWFuture for Human Consciousness (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1991). Vale, V., and AndreaJuno, eds., Modern Primitives (San Francisco,GA:Research, 1989). PAINTINGWITH DONGBA PICTOGRAPHS Xu Zheng Qiang (with Lan Bi Ying), Teacher’sSchool, Lijiang 674100, Yunnan Province,China. Received I7Jub 1991.Acceptedfor publication by RogerF. Malina. Human culture originatesin ancient art. Lijiangis the capital of the Naxi Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest Yunnan Province.It is also the center of the Dongba religion,which is ancient and incorporateselementsof shamanism . Dongba religious texts are written in ancient pictographic characters.Because these pictographic characters are only understandableto Dongbas (Naxiritual practitioners)and only Dongbasare able to write these texts, thisform of writingis called Dongbawriting. Dongba pictographsare known for their distinctive and expressive style. Dongba literature consistsof several beautifulmyths and legends. Dongba texts also include information on Naxi philosophy, history, astronomy,geographyand medicine,as well as Naxi music, dance,painting and ancientformsof art. Because of the vast scopeof knowledge contained in Dongba texts,many contemporaryscholars refer to this as “Dongbaculture”considered a unique phenomenon that is ancient,primitiveand rich. In recent years Dongba culture has attracted the attention of many scholarsfrom abroad who are interestedin conducting research on Naxi culture. The painting shown in Fig. 4is a creation inspired by Dongba legends. It incorporates aspectsof legend and Dongba pictographic characters.The five pupils of Dingba Shilo, a central figF i g . 4. Xu Zheng Qiang,untitled,o i lpainting,80 x 50 cm, 1989. Abstracts 75 Fig.5. Xu Zheng Qiang, pictographic charactem:(toprow, left to right)a person carryingrice, autumn, light; (secondrow)a cock crowing, moonlight,stam; (thirdrow)amale and a female,awoman feedinga chicken,a couplechatting at home; (bottomrow)a man plowinga field w i t h twobulls. a personharvesting rice. ure in Dongba culture and an ancestor of the Naxi, are portrayed in this painting. The five pupils hold bamboo brushes sent to them by a golden deer. Inspired by a bluebird, they are facing a rough bark book. The background of the painting consists of Dongba pictographic characters that depict a person carrying rice, autumn, light, a cock crowing, moonlight, stars, a male and a female, a woman feeding a chicken, a couple chatting at home, a man plowing a field with two bulls, and a person harvesting rice (Fig. 5). method used in Dongba paintingsthrough exaggeration of the Dongba pictographs. In it...