For my final project topic, I am considering various forms of sand art. So far, it seems that the most common forms of sand art that are of religious significance are Navajo sandpainting, Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas, and Hindu rangoli. There is something about the temporality of all of these art forms that interests me. They are just as much ritual as they are art work, and they have varying functions across cultures despite seeming so outwardly similar. The obstacle that I am running into is research. I have been able to find a few encyclopedic entries on each of these art forms, but few scholarly works that are available to me. There are some that I’ve found, but the Trexler library does not hold them so I am hoping that they can acquire a digital copy of these sources for me. Despite my very preliminary research not turning up much, I have hope that as I dig deeper, I can find something. I am hoping to also find some sort of primary information from people who practice these art forms, as well as scholarly works looking at their ritualistic functions. My only worry, other than the availability of research, is that this is too narrow of a topic. I am hoping that by including three different versions of this art form, I will have enough material, but I may need to expand to include other forms of temporary art that function similarly.
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