An Appraisal of the Incidence of Happenstance as Leverages of Creative Instincts by Indigenous Yoruba Carvers of Western Nigeria.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue IX, September 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

An Appraisal of the Incidence of Happenstance as Leverages of Creative Instincts by Indigenous Yoruba Carvers of Western Nigeria.

Yusuf Ayinde Abdulrasaq
Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Federal College of Education, Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract: In making sculpture composition by carving, the myriad of thoughts and actions from concept formulation to formation encapsulate an assortment of the use of techniques and elements of design, these are either in accordance to the guiding rules of traditional conventions or that of the principles of design. Aside from the import of conventions, elements of design and principles, there appears to be a fourth angle that is either often played down or overlooked entirely in the course of wood carving which cannot be ignored. This paper therefore sought to idealise the attributes and efficacy of incidence of chance as fundamental concepts to adopt in the course of actualising compositions in sculpture making by the subtractive method. The paper elucidated with some examples how, saliently, the concept of happenstance, as unplanned concepts, has contributed to the final compositions of some renowned sculpture compositions and edifices. The paper concluded by postulating that happenstance should be adopted as additional model to principles of sculpture composition and recommended to sculptors or carvers to reinforce their creative drives by being cognisance of the benefits of acceptable haphazardness as a principle of creativity to observe in sculpture composition by the carving method.

Key words: Carving, Composition, Conventions, Happenchance, Incidence.

I.INTRODUCTION

The creation of any traditional or contemporary wood carving composition in Africa is based on the dictates of traditions or the import of academic standard that is reliant on the use of elements of design in accordance with the guiding rules of the principles of design. The trio of the concepts of traditional convention, elements and principles of design are the basis or the building blocks of artistic compositions, while Ragans (1988) asserts that “visual images are organized by rules” and that such adoption of the use of compositional guiding principles is like speaking a language using organized words.
Understanding composition making in art could be viewed from the perspective of its constituents in terms of elements and principles or by the communal dictate of the traditional conventions. These conventions may be as varied as the society in Africa, such is the peculiarity with the Yoruba traditional carvers of Western Nigeria with their unique approach often unknown to modern system of sculpture composition, with such traditional conventions, Adepegba (2007) attests to the fact of traditional principles of Yoruba indigenous wood carving as against academic method of modern European art forms. In support of this disparity, Eyo (2008) espouses the indigenous conventions of carving by the Yoruba people of Western Nigeria in their unique

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