Paganism and the pentagram

An image which seems to be  a reoccurrence within the art work of the heavy metal genre is use of the pentagram which is a symbol used throughout history in particular through paganism.

Paganism describes a group of contemporary religions based on a reverence for nature. These faiths draw on the traditional religions of indigenous peoples throughout the world

• Paganism encompasses a diverse community.
• Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens all make up parts of the Pagan community.
• Some groups concentrate on specific traditions or practicessuch as ecology, witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.
• Most Pagans share an ecological vision that comes from the Pagan belief in the organic vitality and spirituality of the natural world.
• Due to persecution and misrepresentation it is necessary to define what Pagans are not as well as what they are. Pagans are not sexual deviants, do not worship the devil, are not evil, do not practice 'black magic' and their practices do not involve harming people or animals.
• The Pagan Federation of Great Britain have no precise figures but estimate that the number of Pagans in the British Isles is between 50,000 and 200,000 (2002).

The Symbol dictionary (http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1893) describes 'the five-pointed star or pentagram is one of the most potent, powerful, and persistent symbols in human history.'

The pentagram is often referenced in the heavy metal genre and this article gives a great illustrated history of its use in the heavy metal genre or counterculture, and the symbolic meaning by using it in reverse.

'Naturally there are many using it today, not only within Pagan and Wicca circles, but those interested in Satanism and the occult. Though the distinction is by no means set in stone, upward-pointing pentagrams have often been used by those wishing to point to god/gods, with the downward-pointing pentagram being used by those with darker intentions – no surprise then, that metal has traditionally gravitated toward the inverted pentagram.'

http://teamrock.com/feature/2015-11-17/an-illustrated-history-of-the-pentagram-in-heavy-metal

COP3 Practical Crit.

Group crit Monday all day.

We had a group crit where we showed all the practical work we had done for COP3 . Unfortunately I left it too late to construct some presentation boards.

These need doind asap.

From the feed back I did get I feel I know the direction I need to go and the work I can aim to finish in the time I have left. im going to make a start on my posters and final designs by the end of this week. i need to work out how im going lay it out in and the content in the next few days then decide on the bits.

current band designs of a dark kind

 I have continued to look further into the types of images used by bands in their merchandise, to help understand what images are used, how they used what similarities are there and also why these images are used. What message do they send.

Designs iv seen of recent band and clothing companies with design that are using images that could be associated with old religious illustration, but as its used in this way it could be interpreted as a bit evil.

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are often referenced to as one the founding members of the heavy the metal genre and have some fantastic art work for their albums.

Black Sabbath Record coveres

One of my favotite ever album  covers, Just think been back in the 70s seeing this cover then hear the sound that came out from the record must of been an amazing/scary experience . Seeing images that are directly referencing the dark side of faith and then hearing the deep dark riffs, must of had people hairs on end.

http://loudwire.com/cover-stories-black-sabbath-self-titled-debut/

Black Sabbath feels like they would be a good focus for my practical due to their connection with heavy metal and as they are still a current band that is playing and touring.
 

Industrial Britain

Industrial 70s Britain

This point in time had a huge influences of the building of heavy metal.

The use of something that symbolises this time feels like it could be useful in the build of my album covers and help to give voice.

Throughout my own life I often felt that I have no been given a voice, and that certain elements of society have judged or tried to make me conform to a particular way of being. The working class at this time tried rise against the establishment and from this bands such as Black Sabbath rose. The influences of both the sounds but also feeling of frustration and aggression fed into the birth of heavy metal. In the 70s there was union strikes and people became frustrated and were fighting to be heard. The images below have been inspired by this research.

The Birth of Heavy Metal as a counterculture

The Birth of Heavy Metal

After investigating some of the historical religious art work that has influence heavy metal bands I have started to look at the origins of heavy metal, where did in come from, in the hope that this will help me understand why these images are made.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpVVicUuQ8


Iv watched this program a few times in the past it fantastic at explaining where and when Heavy Metal was born. It explains the roots of the sounds and the culture in which the environment was right for the birth of this. Features some great artist from some of the world's greatest ever bands.

"THE DARKNESS"
"Shaped by the environment"
"Maybe too heavy for some"

Menecing names of the bands, Judist Preist, Black Sabbath,
"The aim was always  at christ, Christianity thats who it was always aimed at" - Burke Shelly, Budgie

Talking about the darker stuff the darker forces fit wit the heaviness of the music, it fits the music -Ozzy Osbourne


The guitar riff - Heavy Metals Leader

-36mins

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r600m


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00g29g1

Tony Iommi on Black Sabbath's occult reputation

Tony explains what it was like to know what people thought of him and his band. HE say people where frightened and scared of what they where doing, but they where just musicians playing they music. 

Rob Halford on metal roots

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00g1cm4

Rob Halford of the band Judas Priest on his theory why Heavy metal is named just that.


I also read a really interesting piece of research  by Hjelm, T, Kahn-Harris, K and LeVine, M (2011) Heavy metal as controversy and counterculture. Popular Music History, which explored heavy metal as a counterculture. Which also revealed.

‘Metal tends to be dominated by a distinctive commitment to ‘transgressive’ themes and musicality’ 

The artwork within heavy metal counterculture is often seen as controversial because of its use of imagery that focuses on death, the devil, and is sometimes anti religion and anti establishment. It pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable. As an artist I identify with this. I am also often criticised for my use of skulls, but these drawing seem to compliment this style of art.

Vanitas Practial

VANITAS

• Skull: Death, this is a clear memento mori message or the transience of life, a universally recognized symbol of death.
• Watch or hourglass: time is limited and is passing, therefore, use it wisely.  See a typical one-handle XVII century watch at the lower right of the photo.
• Books: Human knowledge and its temporary nature.
• Artist’s instruments e.g. Palette, brushes, easel: Indulgence in the arts, very few could afford to be painters let alone patronize the arts. 
• Shell: they were normally exotic ones not commonly available in the Netherlands. They were a symbol of the vanity that comes with wealth, as these were exotic items at the time, only a very wealthy person would have one of those.
• Insects, decaying flowers: transience of life. They were inserted in paintings depicting expensive objects as a reminder that life is temporary and moral considerations deserved more attention than material things. 
• Broken or tipped over glassware: transience of life or life is fleeting.
• Musical instruments: indulgence of the senses as a luxury. Sometimes they are present as artistic inspiration, as music would inspire artists.
• Silk or velvet tablecloths: vanity, as these were expensive things. Silk being the ultimate fabric material and purple the most expensive dye, hence the Roman emperors wore purple tunics. 
• Oriental rugs or carpets:  These were prohibitively expensive items, carpets were placed on tables to avoid stepping on them and causing decay in their colors or integrity. They were a symbol of wealth but also a sign of pride as they were items brought into the United Provinces through
  
  
  trade and commerce.
• Jewelry, clothes or mirrors: remember the temporary nature of beauty, wealth and wisdom. Earthly riches are temporary and therefore life should be carried out according to the modesty traditions that were in place at the time.
• Mirror: a clear symbol of the vanity that should be avoided.
• Jars: Stoneware or porcelain were used for water or oil, both substance sustain life at the time.

(http://levinrodriguez.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/symbolic-meaning-of-objects-used-in.html)

Once i had learnt some of the meaning to the objects in the Vinitas style of still life painting i have started to try construct my own with what i have seen. 

Looking at the work of Pieter Claesz Who has done many a still life in the Vanitas format, I found he had the best examples of showing these objects in his compositions.

So i did some roughs in pencil to see if i could come up with a similar image  using just a few of the objects from the lists. 

By using the objects that the old master used when creating these images. 

Fruits to show gluttony and exotic fruits enjoyed in life. 

PIpes and coins to show the wealth of the subject

IM going to start drawing out the individual objects and scan them in to photoshop to see if by been able to have more freedom with position and size it could make for a interesting image.

Also agg some colour trying to focus on the monochrome style to see if this will add some gritty and gloom feeling to the image. 

THe objects that whee used in vanitas painting where all there because they have a meaning th that can be linked to the passing of time leading us to our one guarantee in life the dreaded death of one's self. 

 Rotten fruit showed that the passing of time is inevitable and that even the goodness of fruit turns bad, to rot and wither and dries up.

Religious symbolism and iconography

Questions started to arise about how I could use these religious images and how this creates meaning. Thinking about semiotic value I have been looking into religious symbolism, and found that there is a significant amount of symbolism in the within religion, which could be one of the reasons why it is used by metal bands.

Religious symbolism and iconography
https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-symbolism

Vanitas 16th - 17th century still life

Vanitas

My research of historical religious art led me a style of art called Vanitas.

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/vanitas
noun

a type of Dutch symbolic still life painting common in the 16th and 17th centuries

Morbid, Death , life is fleeing, limited time we have on earth, fleeting , selfishness, mortality, 

Beautiful morbid scenes

Skulls - show death
Clocks, pocket watches, nearly burnt out candles - fleeting time
Food - things we should of eaten or have eaten
Books- what we should or wanted to have read 

Vanitas is a type of still life painting that was done in the 16th and 17th centuries.  It is done to remind the viewer that they will die and life will come to a end. They are seen as morbid as the content shows the vanity in life and then it ends. The paintings included images of items that would show items to represent the fleeting time we have on earth. Painted by masters most of the paintings where beautifully painted and each item had great care and time  in creating and arranging them on the canvas even if the message is of a subject we tend to hide away from they are still incredible works of art and a great way to document life.

http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/vanitas


https://www.britannica.com/art/vanitas-art

Information about the where and when the style of painting came from, also the content that the paintings would contain.

David Bailly
1651
Oil on wood, 65 x 97,5 cm

This one by Bailly is rare as it contains a a portrait of the artist but from about 40 years before when he was much younger, maybe this is vanity of a self conscious level trying to maintain your younger self.

I feel this could be a good way in todays world to attach messages to in a visual way, you could add our fragile world with the current  damage we are inflicting on it for our own selfless lives, the NHS could be well documented in this style with the current cuts and attempts to privertes it by our shameless government. These are just a few quick examples of how this style of still life could be put to modern use and i should try to experiment with these.

I can also see how you could document your life onto these style of illustration.

Please note that scholars are still arguing about many of these "meanings". Here is a list of common objects found in "vanitas" paintings and their meaning:  

·                Skull: Death, this is a clear memento mori message or the transience of life, a universally recognized symbol of death.

·                Watch or hourglass: time is limited and is passing, therefore, use it wisely.  See a typical one-handle XVII century watch at the lower right of the photo.

·                Books: Human knowledge and its temporary nature.

·                Artist’s instruments e.g. Palette, brushes, easel: Indulgence in the arts, very few could afford to be painters let alone patronize the arts. 

·                Shell: they were normally exotic ones not commonly available in the Netherlands. They were a symbol of the vanity that comes with wealth, as these were exotic items at the time, only a very wealthy person would have one of those.

·                Insects, decaying flowers: transience of life. They were inserted in paintings depicting expensive objects as a reminder that life is temporary and moral considerations deserved more attention than material things. 

·                Broken or tipped over glassware: transience of life or life is fleeting.

·                Musical instruments: indulgence of the senses as a luxury. Sometimes they are present as artistic inspiration, as music would inspire artists.

·                Silk or velvet tablecloths: vanity, as these were expensive things. Silk being the ultimate fabric material and purple the most expensive dye, hence the Roman emperors wore purple tunics. 

·                Oriental rugs or carpets:  These were prohibitively expensive items, carpets were placed on tables to avoid stepping on them and causing decay in their colors or integrity. They were a symbol of wealth but also a sign of pride as they were items brought into the United Provinces through

trade and commerce.

·                Jewelry, clothes or mirrors: remember the temporary nature of beauty, wealth and wisdom. Earthly riches are temporary and therefore life should be carried out according to the modesty traditions that were in place at the time.

·                Mirror: a clear symbol of the vanity that should be avoided.

·                Jars: Stoneware or porcelain were used for water or oil, both substance sustain life at the time.

Please note that scholars are still arguing about many of these "meanings". Here is a list of common objects found in "vanitas" paintings and their meaning:  

·                Skull: Death, this is a clear memento mori message or the transience of life, a universally recognized symbol of death.

·                Watch or hourglass: time is limited and is passing, therefore, use it wisely.  See a typical one-handle XVII century watch at the lower right of the photo.

·                Books: Human knowledge and its temporary nature.

·                Artist’s instruments e.g. Palette, brushes, easel: Indulgence in the arts, very few could afford to be painters let alone patronize the arts. 

·                Shell: they were normally exotic ones not commonly available in the Netherlands. They were a symbol of the vanity that comes with wealth, as these were exotic items at the time, only a very wealthy person would have one of those.

·                Insects, decaying flowers: transience of life. They were inserted in paintings depicting expensive objects as a reminder that life is temporary and moral considerations deserved more attention than material things. 

·                Broken or tipped over glassware: transience of life or life is fleeting.

·                Musical instruments: indulgence of the senses as a luxury. Sometimes they are present as artistic inspiration, as music would inspire artists.

·                Silk or velvet tablecloths: vanity, as these were expensive things. Silk being the ultimate fabric material and purple the most expensive dye, hence the Roman emperors wore purple tunics. 

·                Oriental rugs or carpets:  These were prohibitively expensive items, carpets were placed on tables to avoid stepping on them and causing decay in their colors or integrity. They were a symbol of wealth but also a sign of pride as they were items brought into the United Provinces through

trade and commerce.

·                Jewelry, clothes or mirrors: remember the temporary nature of beauty, wealth and wisdom. Earthly riches are temporary and therefore life should be carried out according to the modesty traditions that were in place at the time.

·                Mirror: a clear symbol of the vanity that should be avoided.

·                Jars: Stoneware or porcelain were used for water or oil, both substance sustain life at the time.

Most of the images of this time use a skull as one of the main objects for subject matter, skulls are something I draw a lot and thinking about them in this way is quite interesting.

The research into Vanitas created a turning point when thinking about my own practical, the use of images in this style of art has huge semiotic value. The images although simplistic carry a significant amount of value and meaning. I started to think how can use images such as these in my own work to create not just a superficial image but create with with more meaning.