Primitivsm was conceived from the belief that life was at its best during the early, more natural stages of mankind. The art form promotes a 'back to basics' lifestyle that many artists adopted to promote a better understanding of the natural environment rather than civilisation's often destructive development. Some formal characteristics of Primitivist art are:
-Changing of bodily proportions
-Overt sexuality often linked to Freud and devoid of all censorship preferred by the audience of the time.
-Flattening of space
-Links to the Other in an us vs them format.
-Rough application of medium
Primitivism is a desire to step out of the norm of contemporary society where as the phrase 'Primitive' is used to describe, often crudely, an early stage of technical development or human simplicity.
Modern examples of Primitivsm are:
-The Homeless - often people that live on the streets have chosen to do so, therefore rebelling against the idea that material possessions equate to happiness.
-Sushi - going against the popular tradition of fatty, overcooked food.
-Vegetarians/Vegans (hey, i was hungry when i thought of these!) Because they reject a contemporary diet and go back to basic and natural meals for either moral or health reasons.
Primitivist artists found inspiration in the art of untrained painters and children's art which they felt depicted inner emotions more effectively then conventional artworks of the time. They often featured subjects that were considered 'lesser' then European societies and imitated tribal art as they found that both foreign culture and art had far greater emotional and artistic depth then academic work of the time.
Although it wasn't exactly like the artworks we'd witnessed during the lecture, I felt that Fiona Hall's artwork had a very strong Primitivist element to it.
Hall made use of a modern medium (sardine cans) to reflect her fascination with the link between the environment and human sex drive. By using such a contemporary human invention often attributed to serving as tombs for deceased fish, Hall seems to suggest a hint of nostalgia for the way things used to be, and her depictions of nature and human body parts without technological intrusion give the viewer the idea that aspects of the human psyche 'dirtied' by society were once as natural as nature. This longing for 'the way things used to be' reminds me very much of the 'back to basics' attitude conveyed by primitivist artists such as Gaguin and Matisse.
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