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Models and Patterns of Myths of Origin
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Methodology
Commonalities
Excepting the Chinese Myth which embody elements of chauvinism,
all the above myths and theories are clearly concerned with the
issue of emergence, the emergence of the world or man as the
case may be. This element of emergence in each myth is usually
consequent upon acts of the mythic hero from whom the given
cosmogony derives.
Apart from emergence, other motifs which is common
with some cosmogonic myths are the act of sacrifice and the
elements of ritual. Besides outright sacrifice, it is worth
noting that there is an element of magic in cosmogonic myths,
that is, magic as a process of cause and effect. For example,
God causes the world to be through an astonishing process.
Mithras the Persian god slays a bull to give birth to the
world. Buddha achieves the same effect by merely standing on a
flower to gaze in ten directions. The Big Bang, according to
the popular scientific myth, “bangs” the world into existence.
The list is endless. What all the examples point to is that
even if cosmogony often implies creatio ex nihilo, there is
always a ritual – a sacrifice or any other divinizing act –
either self-causing or not - which comes into play at that point
when nothing or not being transforms into being. In some myths
of origin, the mythic benefactor brings into being the mythic
hero who though may be of humble birth, performs some impossible
feats in the effort to complete the process of
emergence-creation.
Generally, the above myths derive from particular
cultures and places and can be seen to be competing with one
another for authenticity when viewed together. In addition to
this character, they operate dehors the realm of history and
calibrated time.
When I presented some of my paintings at a graduate
seminar at the University of Nigeria in 1999, a member of
faculty queried the relevance of myth to contemporary
situations. Another dismissed myth as the concrete manifestation
of the naivety of pristine imagination. To anyone aware of the
inevitability of phenomenology, the above positions call to
question the apparent shallowness of the 20th century
imagination. With the industrial revolution ever attaining new
heights, man is wont to regard with disdain some aspects of his
history and prehistory. Thus, it is common to find people who
equate myth with fairly tale. But myth is far from being a
product of fiction. Myth tries to infuse meaning into the
phenomenon of being. Myths of origin, for instance, narrate how
the world and man came into being. They were once components of
a system of thoughts that commanded contemporaneity before
suffering distanciation in both time and history.
The problem which the project addresses, therefore,
is that of re-interpretation and re-representation. It
identifies the creative resources in the selected myths and
tries to use them as a tool for re-examining not only the
controversy of man’s origin, but also the essence and purpose of
being. The project thus attempts the graphic application of
mythic imagery within the bounds of hermeneutic principles.
This methodology finally results in symbols which try to amplify
the meaning and signification of the myths.
The purpose of the project lies in its quest for
essence and clarity in its methodology, its approach to the
enormous demands involved in coining concrete imageries for the
exposition and elucidation of the subject matters which border
on phenomenology. Put simply, the project aims to extend the
frontiers of phenomenology by opening a graphic vista in the
approach to its study and application.
At this juncture, one may ask, what is the
significance of myth to contemporary society and reality? What
fancy does the myth hold for an artist whose life straddles the
20th and 21st centuries?
First, in myth, the unstoppable ship of life and
being finds a possible harbour. As for the creative person
grappling with the boundless resource in the mythopoeic imagery
or symbology, he/she is not on slippery grounds, for art,
fundamentally, is a brand of myth-making. Having said that, one
can then say that the significance of this project is anchored
on a realist concept of myth advocated in the project itself.
Besides its potential to provoke new thought in the study of
mythology, this project acquires added universal significance in
its ability to build a bridge between the past and present of
mankind, using the sacred potencies of art as the pivotal prop.
This task is most relevant to the survival of modern society. A
culture, after all, cannot abandon its past and pristine
traditions and hope to encounter the future without grievous
consequences.
Models and Patterns of Myths of Origin
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Methodology |
