Art Manifesto: NeoCrotalic
(2003)
by JAVIER LOPEZ PASTRANA
Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico State, Mexico
After reading the textbooks written by the great Yucatecan journalist and archaeologist José Díaz Bolio about his Theory of "The geometry of the Mayas and the crotalico art" I state the following:
"CANAMAYTE"
It is necessary to take again the quadric-vertex called "CANAMAYTE" that is found structured in a natural way by the scales in the rattle snakeskin from the species named CROTALUS DURISSUS DURISSUS or AJAU-CAN as a rule of proportions in the plastic composition and that it represents the legacy of the mesoamerican cultures such as the Mayan, Olmec, Toltec, Aztec, Mixtec, etc.
The way in which they used the Crotalus-metric pattern in their architectural, sculptural, astronomical, textile and pictorial calculus, in addition to their application to ceramics and textile designs, etc. allowed contemporary Mexican plastic artists to rescue the rules of composition in a new way of "Crotalic Art" or "NeoCrotalic Art".
H) Due to the motive explained above, it is imperative that at the beginning of the current 21st century, a return to the "Best Method" is needed. It, together with the crotalic composition, provides us with the foundations wich in association, give the mexican plastic arts a personality that, when fusioned with global culture, does not lose the character of the cultural context unique to our own roots. With the basic seven elements of the "Best Method”, it will be possible to express the anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, phytomorphic, astromorphic and archeomorphic motives which as a group are the raw material for this proposition of NeoCrotalic Art
Sincerely.
JAVIER LÓPEZ PASTRANA
To achieve the preceding it is necessary that the NeoCrotalic Art be sustained under the following premises:
A) The NeoCrotalic Art must use the composition of the quadric-vertex of the "CANAMAYTE", which is a natural design of proportion observed in the scales of the rattlesnake’s skin.
B) The NeoCrotalic Art must never be based in copying architectural, sculptural, pictorial, or textile work from the mesoamerican cultures because it’s out of historical context, instead, the crotalic composition elements must be interpreted, incorporated and applied to the contemporaneous works either concrete or abstract, from the visual perspective of the plastic artist that uses it.
C) The NeoCrotalic composition is applied as much as to the proportions of the parts as to the whole, whether it is in a bidimensional or tridimensional format.
D) When using the NeoCrotalic composition in contemporary plastic arts it must be applied in substitution of the "aurea" (golden or gold) composition of the occidental origin.
E) The NeoCrotalic Art must be projected to the inside and outside of our nation as a plastic expression with Mexican roots that in the presence of inevitable global influence would form its own national personality with a unique, Mexican visual accent.
"CHERNOBYL" 2004
F) The ideas related to the NeoCrotalic Art must be based on the well-shaped ideas from the masterpieces written by the journalist and archaeologist JOSE DIAZ BOLIO, native from Yucatán.
G) Referring not to the composition but to the own motives of the visual representation, it is very important to apply the "BEST MAUGARD METHOD" that was promoted under the administration of JOSE VASCONCELOS when he was in charge of the "SECRETARIA DE EDUCACIÓN PUBLICA" (PUBLIC EDUCATION SECRETARY). The antecedents of this method date from 1918. From 1921 to 1924, it started to be taught in elementary and normal schools, all over the country. By applying this method, the purpose was to rescue the primary elements used in mesoamerican cultures that the artist ADOLFO BEST MAUGARD developed with the theoretical purpose of basing the objectives of the drawing based in seven elemental lines.
7 ELEMENTAL LINES
THE SPIRAL
THE "S" OR CURVE
OF BEAUTY
THE CIRCLE
THE WAVY LINE
THE HALF CIRCLE
THE BROKEN LINE
OR ZIG ZAG
STRAIGHT LINE
The reason to apply the "THE BEST MAUGARD METHOD" at the beginning of the 20th century, follows the idea of the Mexicans purpose of searching their National Identity, propitiated after the Mexican Revolution. Products of this intention are "EL TALLER DE LA GRAFICA MEXICANA” (THE WORKSHOP OF THE POPULAR GRAPH) and "EL MURALISMO MEXICANO" (THE MEXICAN MURALISM) as a way of a new intellectual awakening in Mexico, creating the confidence in its own spiritual strength, adopting a critical attitude towards the intellectual and artistic foreign production.
