| Original Message: A Mandela bead ? What gives something meaning ?? |
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Frank, your position intrigues me. You consider the Chinese current bead production technically wonderful but meaningless. What gives anything meaning? I couldn't say, could you? I don't think you could prove that any beads made in a production manner were made with a meaning in mind, beyond in the mind of the maker. Historically, specific beads were made as talismans, I'm sure, but meaning?
Cultures evolve. You can not just give meaning to an object by declaring it. Naming a bead after someone or something will not give it meaning. That has to come with use and time and is a personal matter, and then I think obscurity reigns. Does great art have meaning? The Mona Lisa? The great pyramids? Meaning is a personal thing and comes from within.
Our present modern techno culture doesn't revere beads save for some folks like those here on this forum. And each of these bead lovers imparts his or her own meaning to the beads of their greatest desire. I believe that beads have always been used as decoration and primarily so.
What does wearing a beautiful bead or strand of beads mean? " Hey look! I am wearing a beautiful bead! I feel more beautiful wearing it!"
Rarity of specific bead types in specific cultures has given them value within that culture but meaning? Even the precious Dzi has value and is revered in several cultures, but what might its meaning be? And what might a universally desired bead type be? I make beads and they have great meaning to me as I am seriously invested in their conception and manufacture. Others find them lovely or ho hum depending on their own position or aesthetic values. Witness the discussions here on various glass beads vs. various stone beads, either contemporary or old.
I think that the quest for meaning in beads is just that, a quest, not a destination. And properly conducted the quest will be never ending.
just my opinion……
The bead pictured here in my post I named the "end of the world" bead because I finished it on December 12 of last year, the end date of the Maya calendar. But it doesn't mean the end of the world. It's just a bead.
All best wishes,
Art
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