ASEBL Journal – Volume 11 Issue 2, Spring 2015
In criticism worldwide generally, such as in China, Canada or the Cameroon, analysis of artists’ work, often posthumously, is rare if it does not engage in some description of the artists themselves, to slake interest in what might have helped form
the perspectives and ideas – the food of the mind – that is in the art, as well as what
kind of persons they were. In New Zealand, in te reo there is a proverb concerning
art and the artist: He toi whakairo, he mana tangata. Where there is artistic excellence, there is human dignity (Mané-Wheoki 1995). Haka, arguably Aotearoa’s
best known artform, though often poorly understood by non-Maori only as a war
dance, also works essentially around interaction between performer and viewer. As
Nathan Matthews writes, “is a posture dance accompanied by chanted or shouted
song” (2004, 9). It comes under various classes of ceremonial performance, political expression, social expression, and war dance, and its main dimensions are interaction of the physical and spiritual aspects. Excellence in haka is judged from
the wana (thrill, excitement) that a performance creates, which is the product of the
performer’s ihi, his or her psychic power that generates emotional response from
the audience, and the audience’s wehi, their reaction (Matthews 2004). The artist’s
interest in making ihi felt by a viewer, and the viewer’s wehi that emerges from
interest in the artist’s ihi are essential. In all these cases, like many others worldwide, the perception of the artist that the viewers hold is a major factor in evaluation of the art itself. The reasons why differ in different circumstances: Iñupiaq
confirmations of narratives matter for informational and cultural preservation,
whereas the Wagner question concerns fear of influence in art used for entertainment. Nevertheless, evaluation of the artist matters for viewers.
Applying evolutionary knowledge specifically to elucidate art criticism, we can
understand the popularity of artworks from the perspective of an evolved relationship between artist and viewer where the viewer is interested in the perspective in
the art that comes from a mind that created the work. I will focus on what the evolutionary perspective from an artist / viewer relationship can tell us about impressions of McCahon’s Victory Over Death 2, 1970, a painting that has invited many
different interpretations, and about McCahon’s status as the most celebrated modern New Zealand painter to date. Interpretation of the painting is frequently contained in wonder about what McCahon meant, which is in general an application of
theory of mind, interested in the worldview behind the creation. This suggests how
Rex Butler’s claim that the ultimate power of McCahon’s work lies in how it can
be interpreted, can be understood in terms of interrelationship between the artist
and viewer by phrasing the situation as one of the viewer, as Zunshine would describe it, “metarepresenting” the artist in order to understand the perspectives and
ideas in the artwork.
The perspective of an evolved relationship between artist and viewer suggests theory of mind reasons for veneration of artists’ originality. If art’s roots are in aesthetics fostered in relationships between hominids, then later in signaling for religious and aesthetic purposes, and are influenced by theory of mind because art can
give us a deep, personal and unique connection with the artist, we should be highly
attracted to some worldview in a piece of artwork, regardless of whether we agree
or not, because this is the hallmark of a person or group, and / or the reason, behind
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