The work of surfaces: Object worlds and techniques of enhancement in the ancient Andes

Lau, George F. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0089-3625 (2010) The work of surfaces: Object worlds and techniques of enhancement in the ancient Andes. Journal of Material Culture, 15 (3). pp. 259-286. ISSN 1460-3586

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Abstract

This study is an examination of techniques in the Recuay culture (1—700 AD) of ancient Peru. In addition to identifying things that look alike, it reviews different procedures by which they were made to resemble each other. The author examines shared techniques across different media and forms, which helped to shape a general noble aesthetic. Three main points are discussed: first, the techniques share a similar emphasis on enhancing surfaces by conceiving and applying the designs in terms of their negative space or adjacent background. Second, the different technical procedures constructed the exterior worlds of chiefs, their social and physical structures, by saturating special objects and settings with surface elements related to nobility. Finally, it is suggested that the techniques distinguished Recuay value systems from those of neighbouring groups and cultures.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art History and World Art Studies (former - to 2014)
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Centres > Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Art History and World Art Studies
Depositing User: Vishal Gautam
Date Deposited: 09 Feb 2011 14:57
Last Modified: 11 Aug 2023 11:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/21228
DOI: 10.1177/1359183510373986

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