Art as a Culture
Lascaux Caves in France
1. Functions of Early Art: The cave artists were trying to express what they saw in the wild when they hunted. They likely had these images in there head based on the time of the year and would draw the different animals like horses, bison, deer, and aurochs. They likely did not draw people because they were focused on hunting and all the types of animals depicted were likely hunted. There have been theories of a spiritually meaning behind these paintings and if so then it would make sense to not draw as many people since they possibly believed this was a way of bringing a greater chance of getting a successful hunt. The painting could tell us that maybe they had a successful methods of hunting and gathering that led to them having the time and energy to focus on these paintings since it did require a good amount of effort due to the obstacles of drawing in a cave. These painting could also tell us that they might of had a spiritual aspects of there lives since early humans also had beliefs about life in a deeper sense due to our big brains. The obstacles were how the caves were dark since they painted in deeper parts of it, also how they painted on the ceilings of the cave which were 2.5-3.5 meters high which likely meant that they had to use scaffolding of some sort. As for painting in the dark they had tools that likely contained deposits of animal fat-based combustibles that would burn and are the first known lamps. Another difficulty would be that surface of the cave was sometimes very bumpy and difficult to paint on so they had a variety of methods to paint. They would use rocks, swabs, brushes, and stencils cut from hides. One possible function could be that it was simply art for the sake of art and maybe they had free time and people started to figure out the methods for marking rocks with pigment and they just spent time drawing while other hunted or after hunting. Another function could be spiritual since they had mainly animals that were not predators, they possibly hoped that these drawings would bring them more success in hunting or keep there hunting at a good level. Lastly another function could be decoration since they possibly stayed in the caves, they wanted to have a way of marking there cave and people who were skilled in art maybe did it for the sake of wanting to personalize there living space like many of us do today.
2. Commonalities in Function: Modern art has many functions like sending a message of some sort or possibly just a beautiful image or maybe just sheerly representational and is just imitating things we see in reality. Religions also have a great deal of art in many forms like statues, paintings, and even amazing architecture. Some commonalities would be that some modern art is imitating objects in real life and this is what is likely the cause of the art of early humans. Since they mainly painted animals and other objects it is likely just the act of art for the sake of art and a way of passing the time while nothing of survival would be necessary like hunting or running from predators. Also there could be commonalities in the spiritual sense like much of art today it is triggered by beliefs and ideologies of the supernatural and ways of showing there belief and acceptance of there role as smaller parts of a superior power. But they also decorate homes like stated earlier, today we use art to decorate so these early painting could possibly be the very first examples of this.
3. Introduce Us to Your Favorite Art: My favorite art form would be music. Specifically rap but not they type that sends the message of doing drugs and other bad things, but in the way of storytelling and provoking the imagination and thought of something else. Similar to how a book may be perceived. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5m_pyNTkqE this is a song that recently came out and I have found to have an amazing story and also the music is very appealing to me in all forms. The culture of this type of rap would be African American culture in Atlanta where they do not have much opportunities and have been stuck in a impoverished setting due to years of the government offering zero help after terrible events like slavery, redlining during the great depression, and the housing federation keeping African Americans in a tough economic situation. This art benefits society since it is expressing the point of view in a way that is not very hostile and more of a storytelling method that is very impressive and may lead to more people supporting these communities since there story is being told in a skillful and thought-provoking way.
Section 1: "The cave artists were trying to express what they saw in the wild when they hunted."
ReplyDeleteYes, but why did they need to communicate this message? They lived it, so why did they need to record it in some way?
I agree with your initial explanation for more animals than people. Careful going the route of spirituality. Do we really need to opt for a religious function here? What evidence do we have for that? I know that the original researchers claimed a religious function, but later researchers opposed that jump in logic, which said more about the biases of the researchers than the intent of the paintings.
Are you familiar with the concept of Occam's Razor? It suggests that if simpler explanations work in understanding the function of a behavior or an event, then there is no need to opt for more complex driving forces. This applies here. Do we need to resort to religion and faith and a supreme being to explain the function of these paintings? Or can they be explained by "simpler" concepts, such as gaining resources, survival, and teaching future generations about these herds? This doesn't rule out a religious explanation, but recognizes this just raises more questions... such as where is the evidence that it IS religious in nature. We can't just assume that.
Well, yes, it does tell you about hunting but doesn't it also give you information based upon what is missing? This really only tells us about creatures seen when hunting, correct? There are no berries, no mushrooms, no birds, no fish and no eggs, things that would be part of the "gathering" process. So who is painting this pictures, men or women? Does that tell us anything about the gender roles of this culture?
Great discussion on the numerous difficulties these early people had to overcome to produce these paintings.
RE: Functions... See my comment above the problems with using "religion" as a function here. With regard to "free time" and "decoration", remember that these caves were difficult and even dangerous to access. How much return on that risk do they get by only getting the benefit of filling up free time and decorating the cave? Can we think of more concrete, productive benefits? How about education young hunters? Recording key events? Keeping seasonal records of hunts?
Section 2: Again, you aren't wrong in terms of the possible functions of both modern and archaic art, but art can also function in more significant ways to the benefit (and even detriment) of society. It is can communicate information and ideas or record events for future populations. It can generate anger or support or passion. It can inspire others to act or bolster a person's courage. It can teach and inform and make people aware of important issues or concerns. One great example of this is photography, which is used to communicate and inform people of events, positive or negative, and can be used to inspire people to act or warn of impending horrific events. It can also be used negatively, as in the spread of propaganda. Think a bit more deeply on this. How many of these functions can also be applied to these cave paintings?
Section 3: I see the link to the YouTube video, but Blogger allows you to embed a video right in your post. Might have been a better way to present it?
Interesting background and telling of the story. I appreciate the connection with culture as well.
Good discussion on how this form of art benefits society. Any possible detriments?
Hello Augusto, I thought you put really good thought into this post and gave good information, I never thought that the cave paintings could hold a spiritual meaning but given how early people were that makes a lot of sense and such an interesting thought. Music is also my favorite type of art with rap being one of my favorite genres as well. I agree while a lot of rap songs are catchy they really don't promote a positive message anymore most of the time. One of my favorite old school rap groups is De La Soul.
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