1. First of all, in a documentary on American art, why do you think
Hughes dedicates an entire episode to early American religion?
Religion has always influenced the art. Religion was
been an important aspect of America’s past. Along with religion came religious art,
which meant new styles and techniques.
2. Who were the Pilgrims and what is their significance to Hughes in the
documentary?
The Pilgrims were the most radical wing of 17th
Century English Puritans. All they wanted was a fresh, clean start, & the
New World was their best chance. They were simple, & had different concepts.
The New World was a blank page; somewhere they could right their designs. All
those visions have left indelible traces in the identity of modern Americans.
3. What was their view toward pictures or portraits or religious
iconography? Why do you think they felt and acted this way?
It’s a great ill, they have a simple life. It’s a huge
superstition to mankind, a thing of the devil. They blind man with man’s art &
keep man from having the proper reference of God. They were extreme puritans;
they didn’t required religious iconography to feel close to God, on the
contraire. I think that the fact that men were the ones that made those images
made them uncomfortable. Men are not good enough to pretend they know what God
looks like, I suppose.
4. What are some characteristics of adobe building? Why was it used? And
how does it relate to our contemporary interest in organic food?
Indian labor, Spanish techniques. The Adobe is dried
mud so it’s easy to repair. The whole style is organic; it is “harmless” & “pro-environment”
5. How does a blend of the European and Indigenous fusion of art and
images ‘work’, according to Hughes?
Blending the art & images of the European &
the Indigenous helped to unite the two “worlds”. Indians were able to keep
their culture but also to acquire new culture.
6. How did isolation influence and define the early settler experience
in New Mexico? How do you think it is a
metaphor for the entire American experience?
Houses would have their own chapels, plain but
reflected the hard life they had. The isolation is the result of a very unique
cultural expression. I am not sure how it could be a metaphor. I guess I would
say that sometimes we close up and isolate ourselves.
7. How does the documentary paint the Puritans and their sense of
destiny?
They thought they were destined to greatness. It was a
mythic event. They would build a city on the hills. They have been chosen by God
to begin a new face of human history. They were biblical fundamentalists; they
were the first to call themselves Americans.
8. How do you think the Puritan vision still reside in Americans today?
These ideals are still the fundaments of Americans way
of thinking, because they still believe they are the freer country & it’s
their job to free everyone else.
9. Why do you think, as opposed to Catholic churches and cathedrals, the
Puritans chose to keep their places of worship so bare and without decoration?
They never considered the splendorous decorations as
something necessary to praise the Lord, just an “eye of God” to remind them he
is always watching. They wanted to see things clearly, they never needed anything
else.
10. What was the significance of the Puritan gravestones?
Death was important to the Puritans; the gravestones
would remind you that this world is only an anteroom to a real and eternal one,
that everything was substantial.
11. What was Puritan portraiture primarily for?
A record & commemoration of a person after they
were dead, they were also an index to wealth. Money was a sign of Gods approval
so they had to show it off.
12. Why do you think the Quakers generally distrusted the arts
altogether?
Art was not natural. They didn’t needed anything to
represent God’s will.
They were made by the wives & daughters of the
Amish. They remind modern Americans of their roots. It’s a tradition that has
passed over generations and generations.
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