Art in Oceania
The visual art and architecture of native Oceania, includes media such as sculpture, pottery, rock art, basketry and personal decoration. In these cultures, art and architecture have usually been closely connected, e.g. storehouses and meetinghouses have been decorated with detailed carvings, and so they are presented together here.
Up until the 16th and 17th centuries when European societies happened upon the scene, Oceanic cultures maintained several types of Neolithic technology. One exception was in the northwest of New Guinea, where the people living around Geelvink Bay (Teluk Cenderawasih) traded very small quantities of metal from the Indonesians of the Moluccas (Maluku). The art of forging was zealously guarded, almost as a cult secret; some tools were traded but only in amounts far too small to have made much impact on usual working conditions.
Throughout the rest of Melanesia and in Polynesia and Micronesia, the basic tool remained the stone blade, which was hewed as an adze or an axe, and sometimes interchangeably as both. Tridacna shell was sometimes used for blades in those parts of Oceania where stone was in short supply, including Micronesia and the Solomon Islands. When obsidian became available, it was chipped into blades for use as both weapons and tools. Other suitable materials included bamboo and bivalve shells, which allow very sharp edges. Some fine cutting and engraving was performed with unhafted boar tusks or with hafted shark and rodent teeth. Animal bones served as gouges, awls, and needles. All these tools were employed in working wood, which with only rare exceptions was the main medium used throughout Oceania.
Clay was also used, mainly for sculptures, for some of the smaller musical instruments (whistles), and for pottery in Melanesia and New Guinea. The creation of clay vessels was nearly exclusively women’s work, except in a few small areas in New Guinea and the northern Solomons. A typical method involved spiral coiling of rolls of clay. The decorating of the pot was the work of men.
Some working of shell and turtle shell was done with simple drilling and abrading equipment. The carving of stone, although obviously presenting far more arduous and time-consuming problems than wood, was undertaken remarkably often and occurred throughout the Pacific Islands; hammering, pecking, and polishing were the main methods. Even so resistant a material as jade was mastered by grinding with abrasives.
Paint and painting were thought to animate sculpture, sometimes literally, in religiosymbolic terms, as paint was considered to have magical, vivifying powers. Paints were generally ochres, with some vegetable-derived pigments. Water was the typical medium, occasionally supplemented with sap. Brushes were made from the fibrous ends of chewed or frayed sticks, small feather bundles, pieces of wood, and sometimes the most basic applicator of all, the finger. Apart from sculpture, the surfaces used for painting were rock faces, bark, and tapa (cloth made from pounded bark). Rock painting was very common in Australia, where panels of bark were also used. In Melanesia, paintings were made mainly on sago-palm spathes and sheets of tapa cloth. In Polynesia the women created large amounts of tapa, which were then decorated with traditional designs using vegetable dyes. Some of the techniques they used included painting, stenciling with leaf templates, rubbing over relief-design tables, stamping, and printing with carved bamboo rollers.
The only areas where weaving was practiced were the Caroline Islands, the Polynesian outlying islands east of the Solomon Islands, some of the Santa Cruz Islands, parts of Vanuatu, the Saint Matthias Group (northwest of New Ireland), and a few places on the northern coast of Irian Jaya. Spinning was unknown; instead of yarn or thread, strips of banana fibre were used on a simple backstrap loom. Weaving was a woman’s craft in the Caroline and Saint Matthias islands but was employed by men elsewhere. A form of “finger weaving,” as in net making, was used by Maori women in creating textiles from flax fibres.
The architecture of the Pacific Islands was varied and occasionally large in scale. Buildings reflected the structure and preoccupations of the cultures that constructed them, with much symbolic detail. Technically, most buildings in Oceania were no more than simple assemblages of poles held together with cane lashings; only in the Caroline Islands were complex methods of joining and pegging known.
Oceanic artists’ quest for media was consummately opportunistic; they regarded almost anything from the lavish natural world that surrounded them as potentially usable. The sea yielded shells of all kinds, especially conus, cowrie, and nassa shells. Birds provided down, beaks, and plumes (those of the birds of paradise were particularly prized); animals provided teeth, tusks, and skins; insects supplied wonderfully brilliant wing cases. The vegetable kingdom was drawn upon for flowers, leaves, and fibres. The assembly of such materials into single objects was uncommon in Polynesia and Micronesia, but the practice was typical of Australian and Melanesian styles, and contributed brilliantly to their more spectacular effects. The most basic medium of all was the human body, which allowed for both removable and permanent decorations, including scarification, enhanced by treatment to raise keloid welts in New Guinea, and tattooing with needles and pigments elsewhere.
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Sphere: Related ContentHow to get the most from your Grid-Connected Solar Power System
Ok, so you have just had your new grid-connected solar panels connected by your friendly accredited solar power installer.
Now, remember the first meeting you had with the sales consultant at the kitchen table. Do you recall talking about your prior energy use in the home, and what habits you should alter if you decided to get solar? If you answered yes, then you probably organised your solar quote through mysolarprice.com.au, as we only engage solar companies that we know will educate the consumer about their typical power use and give them a great understanding of what power output the system is capable of. Some ‘fly-by-night’ solar panel companies who have only recently arrived on the scene have misled the public in the performance capacity of their grid connected systems. This has led to some mistrust and confusion in the Solar arena. Mysolarprice.com.au is aware of these companies, and will not deal with those solar installers found to be giving misleading information or involved in any dishonest sales tactics.
Have you forgotten these power saving tips the solar consultant gave you? If so, don’t worry, as we have the TOP 15 tips for reducing your power consumption to get the most out of your tariff feed, whether that be Net Tariff feed or Gross Tariff feed. Some homes with larger systems from 2kw (2 kilowatts) or more may not have to modify their behaviour at all and will still be in positive territory, that is, getting a surplus or credit for their power. This depends on the home, roof type, shade, number of people in the home, appliance usage, and most importantly their behaviour in the home or in other words how they interact with their home. Some people work during the day and turn their standby power off, whilst doing their washing and household chores at night time. Whereas other people have an air-conditioned home office which uses a massive amount of power during the day and do almost nothing at night. Why does this matter you may ask? If you are in a state like Queensland which has a “Net Tariff Feed” this is extremely important. A Net tariff feed basically means you get the balance of the power you send to the grid from the amount of power youhave used during the day but not at night, because solar panels don’d generate power at night time. Therefore, if you are using a great deal of power during the day when your solar power system is working the hardest, you are competing or cancelling it out with the amount of power you are feeding back to the grid, or “Net” Feed. If however, you are away during the day and turn off all your appliances at the wall to eliminate inactive and active standby but only leave the essential items on like the fridge, you will be streets ahead of the rest and get more of a “net” balance which means one thing: more $$$$$$ in your pocket!
These top 15 energy saving tips range from modifying the building fabric of the building, to being more energy efficient, to minor behavioural modifications like turning off the lights when you leave the room. This list is in the order of the simplest minor behaviour modifications to bigger structural changes to the building material.
TOP FIFTEEN POWER-SAVING IDEAS
1.Turn the lights off when you leave the room. This is especially important if you have energy-guzzling old-fashioned incandescent lights or worse, halogen lights. I have seen people leave on 4 x tastic 500w heat lamps on in the bathroom all day. That’s an incredible 2KW or 2000 watts of power being consumed for no reason.
2.Allow natural light into the rooms. This will reduce the need for lights during the day.
3.Replace all incandescent light bulbs and halogens with CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) or LED’s. They use only around a quarter or less power than the standard 75watt incandescent or 60watt halogen, and can last far longer than the standard incandescents or halogens.
4.Use Sensor CFL spotlights outside, instead of the old energy-inefficient spotlights of old.
5.Turn off all standby power. This is probably the best tip I can give you for reducing your daily electricity consumption. A typical home usually operates at around 10-15% standby power, so if you have a quarterly bill of $400 that means $40-$60 of that bill is standby power -which does nothing! It may not sound like much but that’s approx. $120-$240 a year just for not turning appliances off at the wall. An easy way to monitor your standby is to buy a proper standby power board.
6.Choose energy-efficient appliances. This doesn’t necessarily mean throwing out your 5-year-old fridge because it only has 2 stars, and spending $2,500 on one that is 4 star. It means if you are presented with an option of buying a new appliance, then make sure it has the highest star rating available. So if you have the money and the choice is over a 2 star 50 inch plasma TV or a 5 star 50 inch Led TV you should get the LED.
7.Turn off any second or third fridges not in use. I have found in energy audits that many people have a spare chest freezer or 20-year-old rusting fridge with deteriorated seals in a hot garage. This will account for a large chunk of your electricity bill. Often I’ve opened the door and there’s nothing even in there, so the fridge is running -and working overtime- for no reason.
8.Turn off the computer monitors and speakers when not in use. This is so easy, but most people I come across forget to do this. If you have a Sub-Woofer with a separate power supply be sure to turn that off also when not in use.
9.Draft Sealing in Winter. If you use electric heating in winter, be sure to cover any drafts, otherwise you are merely wasting money.
10.Use ceiling fans or pedestal fans instead of air-conditioning. Air-conditioning can be one of the most expensive appliances to use in summer. If are going to use air-conditioning in summer, make sure that the room is well-sealed, the windows are covered and you have insulation in the ceiling.
11.Air-Conditioning Tips for Summer.
- Buy the optimum sized air-conditioner for your room -not house, unless it’s ducted. If buying ducted make sure it can be zoned.
- Buy an energy efficient inverter air-conditioner with a high star rating for cooling and heating.
- Set the thermostat between 18-21 degrees. Every degree celsius higher that you set the a/c increases your consumption by 10%
- Re-circulate cool air from the inside instead of drawing hot air from outside. If the compressor is outside make sure its not sitting exposed in the western sun.
- Make sure the windows have both internal and external shading.
12.Air-Conditioning Tips for Winter.
- Set the thermostat to 23-26 degrees
- Wear warmer clothes to insulate your body so you don’t need mechanical heating
- Insulate your space as with Air-Conditioning in Summer Tips.
- Because hot air rises, a ceiling fan can be turned to the lowest setting -in reverse- as this actually pushes the warm air down towards the home’s occupants
- Avoid electric radiator heaters and electric fan heaters as they are massively expensive.
You are better to use reverse cycle air conditioning because it’s much cheaper (most people don’t know this).
13.Insulation. Reflective foil type insulation is better in sub-tropical climates such as Brisbane has, whereas thicker, bulky insulation such as wool/fibreglass or polyester is better suited to more temperate climates such as Toowoomba.
14.Windows. There are plenty of things you can do to insulate your windows to stop the heat entering the house during summer, and keep it in in winter. In summer it’s important to keep direct solar radiation off the east and west windows by vertical screening, and keep it off north facing windows with big eaves or horizontal shading. This is so you can let the sun in in winter when it is lower in the sky. These are principles known as solar passive design.
15.Hot Water. If your home has an electric hot water system and you have it on the wrong tariff this can be the bulk of your bill. Generally, your hot water should be on an off-peak tariff depending on your location and retail provider. A hot water bill is normally a quarter of the electricity bill if the system is electric. If it is a newer heat pump it will be much less. The most efficient water heating device is Solar Hot Water, with a natural gas boost.
These are just some of the basic energy-saving tips I have come across while performing household energy audits which I find a lot of people need help with. If you can reduce the daily consumption it’s going to make it a lot easier to:
1. Keep your bills down, and
2. Make it easier for the Solar Panels to work and provide you with a bonus or credit on your next bill.
One other thing I haven’t mentioned is panel care. Your panels should be kept free of dirt and grime, because even a small build-up of dust on the panels can drastically reduce the panel’s performance by up to 30% or more. I will look at the process of solar panel maintenance in my next article.
If you require any further energy saving tips or solar power saving tips, then Mysolarprice.com.au can help. We provide all the solar panel infomation necessary to make an informed solar purchasing decision.
Mysolarprice.com.au specialise in solar power brisbane solar hot water brisbane and solar pool heating brisbane
Sphere: Related ContentAll About The New Red Laser Application For iPhones
The iPhone contains a few applications available for use with it and more are being produced and applied to the application store all the time. Just about anybody can invent an application for the iPhone and place it in the app store; all that anyone is required to do is show the app to Apple for screening and approval.
One helpful application is be the red laser that comes available with the Apple iPhone. The red laser lets people to scan a product and instantly have access to the available prices of that specific item online. Alongside the online comparison shopping that the barcode scanner provides, the red laser also has a number of other quite useful features. For instance, you can scan a movie noticed while walking around a shopping mall and the red laser will find a copy of it online and will also provide for you to have the whole film sent to your TiVo.
The red laser is also capable of adding items to your shopping list. For example, whenever a person is going to throw away their toothpaste, they can scan it and it will be added onto the shopping list reminding them to purchase it next kitchen shopping trip.
One can use the red laser to scan just about anything and find information that is applicable to their interests. You can try using it on a book and the red laser can locate a copy of it within a nearby library. It is able to do this because of its highly developed integration with the world’s biggest library catalogue -WorldCat. The red laser is also capable of looking for a copy of a book scanned and locate any online retailers which have it in stock.
Other than discovering prices and locating products, the red laser will also allow you to scan food. If anybody is allergic to an ingredient, one can scan a food item and then tap on the allergen info. Instead of labouring to go through the whole list of ingredients in the packaging, red laser will reveal a list of all the ingredients within the product and show you the most common allergens within it. In addition to that, red laser could also help you eat better by providing the full nutritive contents within the product.
Red Laser contains several other helpful features -you may be surprised at the numerous things you can scan and find helpful information on. This is definitely an application worth purchasing.
If you are looking for a great provider of architectural rendering services, annual report design or web design. Brisbane businesses can contact bydaughters for a free quote and expert advice.
Sphere: Related ContentWhy you should turn to stone cladding when building your dream home
If you ask anyone who knows about stone cladding, they’re most likely to tell you one thing over everything else: it’s the bee’s knees. Really, a stack of rocks and stone never looked so good. If you’re looking at building your own dream home, you’ll want to consider including stone cladding in the final design of your house.
Far from looking like your typical pile of rocks stacked on top of each other, the majority of constructions that use stone cladding can look very aesthetically pleasing, not to mention dependable and extremely easy to construct. Examples of stacked stone constructions are far and wide and can be found in a range of places. Take for example a certain country retreat in the Daylesford Hills in Victoria, where they opted to go for it instead of the usual sandstone walling. The architect ended up choosing Craft Stone European Castle Stone Golden Sand as the alternative.
What resulted from this was a much more pleasant design and they were able to avoid additional footings, by using timber frame & fibre cement as a substrate. This was done for use in an outdoor portion - a rock wall if you will - so it’s something that will catch the attention of people passing by if they ever come across it.
But of course, usage is in no way limited for outdoor sections of a house. Indoor use is also popular, and when it comes to cases like these, its benefits can be experienced in a number of ways of ways, whether it ends up in the kitchen or in the bedroom.
A stacked stone fireplace is an architectural marvel, where a timber frame clad with fibre cement sheet can be used to create. A 12mm Standard mortar joint can be used to fit the Craft Stone Stacked Ledgestone Merlot for the construction. The best part is the whole thing usually just takes one day to construct which brings to light the astounding cost and labor saving incentives that this brings to the table. It’s obvious - less construction time means less labour costs, and fewer expenses in general.
With clear benefits like those mentioned above, it’s no wonder the stone cladding method is becoming more and more popular. Add the fact that resulting designs can compliment just about anything, and suddenly it’s not so hard to understand why people say it’s the perfect design feature. Stone cladding is what dream homes are made of!
For more information about stone cladding, stacked stone and rock wall building options, please contact Craftstone Australia.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Importance of Decorative Night Lights in Interior Design
Lighting is a very important element of any room. It takes a great deal of effort and research to choose the right night lights, as it can make or break a room. Decorative lights liven up a space, regardless of how vibrant the furniture is. Lighting plays a crucial role in orchestrating the ambience in a room. Where you place these lights should also be well researched, as wrong placement can ruin the mood in a room.
Interior design has significantly changed throughout the years, as decorative pieces and furniture have come to present a more modern look to them. With the advancement of interior design trends came the similar evolution of lighting. Designer night lights have become one of the most crucial aspects of any interior design project. Choosing decorative lights that make a statement fulfills both the aesthetic and as well as the functional side of the designing process. Whether you want classic designs or contemporary ones, there is always a lighting piece that will suit your needs and preferences.
Adding a lampshade or two in a bedroom can make a crucial difference. Drop lights are also welcome additions to the living room or the dining room and string lights are now becoming a necessity when decorating. There are so many different designs for night lights these days that it can be rather overwhelming to make a decision. Decorative lights provide an attractive touch to the room and depending on the kind of light you decide to use, it can create the overall theme of the room. More contemporary designs include LED colour changing lights, large drop lights and metallic lighting fixtures. No matter what your desired theme is, you can find a lighting fixture that will complement it. This even extends to the gardens and ponds with outdoor lighting.
A lot of the modern lights these days are also more cost-efficient as they don’t consume as much electricity as they used to. It is preffered to decide on one center light and add several accent lights so that you can dim the lighting in the room should you meed to. Warm lighting can greatly influence the ambience in the room, as it is a lot more comfortable than white lights.
Chandeliers have also greatly evolved through the decades. From elaborate tear drop designs, they now come in a variety of varying designs and colours. Dark wrought iron chandeliers offer more minimalistic options for homes, as they are not as extravagant as traditional chandeliers but can be just as beautiful in look and lighting. Decorative night lights are certainly a wonderful investment, as they can improve the aesthetic value of any home.
Sphere: Related ContentPlastic Packaging Facts
Because packaging helps to monitor the immediate environment of a food product, it is beneficial in creating conditions that extend the storage life of a food. Packaging materials that are normally used for foods are usually classed as flexible (paper, thin laminates, and plastic film), semi-rigid (aluminum foil, laminates, paperboard, and thermoformed plastic), and rigid (metal, glass, and thick plastic). Plastic materials are widely used in food packaging because they are relatively cheap, lightweight, and easy to contort into desired shapes.
The selective permeability of polymer-based materials to gases, such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, as well as light and moisture, has led to the development of modified-atmosphere packaging. If the barrier materials are carefully selected, a packaging material can maintain a modified atmosphere inside the package and thus extend the shelf life of the food product.
Dehydrated foods must be kept apart from moisture during storage. Packaging materials such as polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, and polypropylene have low moisture permeability. Similarly, packaging materials with low gas permeability are used for fatty foods in order to minimize oxidation. Because fresh fruits and vegetables respire, they use packaging materials, such as polyethylene, that have high permeability to gases.
Smart packages offer properties that meet the unique needs of certain consumables. For example, packages created with oxygen-absorbing elements remove oxygen from the inside of the package, thus guarding oxygen-sensitive products from oxidation. Temperature-sensitive films exhibit an abrupt change in gas permeability when they are subjected to a temperature above or below a set constant. These films morph from a crystalline structure to an amorphous structure at a set temperature, causing the gas permeability to change substantially.
If you are looking for shrink packaging film and shrink wrap equipment, talk to Redblade. Redblade are the experts in plastic packaging and Cryrovac film.
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