ESSAY 1A: Them and Us

PART I 

ESSAY #1A

ESSAY TITLE: Them and Us

QUESTION: How artistically similar, or different, do you think prehistoric people were compared to modern man and, what singular force or need continues to drive the artistic needs and human expressions of the 21st century? 

SUMMARY: When I answered this question, I discovered about halfway through that my opinion had evolved. What the answer ended up being was a hybrid of what I had originally thought and what I learned throughout the research process.

REASON: The reason behind this question is what all these topic questions force: an opportunity to learn something new. This question in particular pushed me to formulate an opinion on the way I see art.

PURPOSE: I believe that upon researching this subject, I was to understand that we are not so different from our ancient ancestors.

DIRECTION: As stated in my summary, I did have some difficulty sticking to a main point. The reason being that I had too many opinions. The beginning of the essay was written using mostly textbook references while the second half focused mainly on information I read on the internet about cave paintings.

IMPRESSIONS: About a year ago, I had watched a documentary film called "The Cave of Forgotten Dreams". I was fascinated by the film and am grateful to have been able to research the Chauvet Caves even more in this essay. 

PART II

ANSWER

According to the Course Text, it is modern man’s ability to create and understand the use of symbols and imagery that sets us apart from our ancestors. “We are defined as a species by our abilities to make and understand art.” (Course Text, Chapter 1, Page 2) I delved deep into this statement to find out why, upon first reading and possessing little knowledge on the subject, I agreed. Come to find out, this definition is just the tip of the iceberg. I believe that the process of becoming who we are today, artistically, was aided by the evolution of man and his environment. On top of the perpetual need for expression, what we also have in common with our prehistoric ancestors is the ongoing force to make something that is aesthetically pleasing.

            While the above quote may be true of our separation from our ancestors, they did move out of their focus on structure and function to a more expressive form of art. During the Lower Paleolithic period, human beings were building simple tools made of stone for use in everyday life. They formed sharp edges to skin game, to cut wood and other material. It wasn’t until the discovery of certain sites across Eurasia that things began to take an artistic turn. One such site is located in present day Olorgesailie, Kenya. This particular site contains hundreds of hand axes which far exceeded the need for functionality at the time and suggested that they served the purpose of announcing an individual’s status, skills and standing in the community (Course Text, Chapter 1, Page 3). As little as this may seem, it was actually a giant step toward visual art. These pieces were not just used as tools but also to show off, i.e. a means of expression.

("Dr. Rick Potts studies one of more than 500 stone handaxes, made by Homo erectus, uncovered in Olorgesailie, Kenya". (Source: https://tv.azpm.org/s/6926-nova-becoming-human/)

From this point in time, evolution only became more powerful as a driving force toward what we now consider visual art. In Blombos Cave in South Africa, archeologists discovered pieces of decorated ocher which were most likely used as crayons. They also found bits of shells and ostrich eggshell beads probably used to be hung from clothing or a person’s hair (Course Text, Chapter 1, Page. 4). Our ancestors began using earth’s raw material as a means of displaying individuality.

            Beginning in the Upper Paleolithic period, humans began using their imaginations to build home structures. Some people object to the use of the term “Architecture” being used in connection with our ancestors because they don’t believe it took enough of their imagination or planning (Course text, Chapter 1, Page 4). This baffles me because these simple acts of shelter building are the roots of not only modern day building and architecture, but also some of our visual art.

As reviewed in the course text, small animal and human figurines have been found and estimated as being produced as early as 30,000 BCE. The Lion-Human is a confusing piece, carved from ivory, and portraying a human with the head of a lion. There are many guesses as to what the carver was thinking when this was made. “Was the creature intended to represent a person wearing a ritual lion mask? Or has the man taken on the appearance of the animal?” (Course Text, Chapter 1, Page 5) Archeologists now believe that our human ancestors believed that they thought of themselves as living alongside animals in a unified earth. But is this really true? Or is it possible that they wanted to convey a thought in their imagination. Either way, the ability to produce something like this without some kind of reference is proof that, like us, our ancestors were constantly and artistically evolving. This figurine was a reflection of the artist as a person and a symbol of what they found to be aesthetically pleasing.

(Lion-Human. c. 30,000 - 26,000 BCE. Mammoth ivory, Source: http://www.theslideprojector.com/art3/art3lecturepresentationssummer/art3lecture3.html)

Cave drawings were only stumbled upon in recent history and what a huge discovery they were. Multiple archeologists and scholars were dead set on concocting a legitimate theory on the function of such paintings. There had to be some practical use for such hard work, right? French archeologist Salomon Reinach believed cave drawings were created for sympathetic magic, that if they were to paint these animals, then they would surely have a good hunt in the near future. Abbe Henri Breuil thought that these caves were used as places of worship among other things. Both of these theories were discarded only to conclude that there is no conclusion.

            Caves like The Cauvet cave in Ardeche Gorge, France were far from the living quarters of prehistoric peoples. This is curious as far as drumming up a theory of having been used for ritualistic purposes. It seems more likely that this cave in particular was used as a kind of personal gallery for the cave dweller. The drawings seem to the product of the artist’s imagination. What I believe is the most notable piece from this cave is The Venus and the Sorcerer. This drawing is erected covering the majority of a piece of limestone which hangs from the ceiling of the cavern and comes to a point toward the floor. The artist obviously used some degree of thought when he drew the pubic area of a woman around this piece. The interaction of the shape of the limestone with the shape of his drawing shows a level of intelligence in the area of aesthetics. 

(The Venus and the Sorcerer, Chauvet Cave, France, 

Source: http://everymagicalday.wordpress.com/tag/chauvet/ )

Because this Chauvet Cave is the one of the oldest and most fascinating examples of cave art, it is easy to find examples of beauty inside.  The cave itself contains at least 13 species of animal, some of which do not even exist today. This leads me to believe that whoever painted in the caverns had a great eye for detail and a broad imagination. The artist’s ability to suggest movement among his paintings is also astounding. In many of these depictions, animals are drawn in charcoal superimposed on each other and containing multiple legs, a method still used by animators today. These paintings are not only pleasing to artist’s eye but have awed cave explorers and the like to this day.

("A clip from the documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" by Werner Herzog." Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcAwlnhRn2g&feature=related)

The need to create something based on expression as well as beauty is something that I believe will never subside. The timeline between the use of prehistoric tools to ancient cave drawings and today, a variety of mediums and processes in art has truly shown that we all have a common ground: the need for pretty things. Not only that but, based on Paleolithic cave paintings, we also share an ability to convey expression of what we personally find aesthetically pleasing. This fact will never change. It will only evolve with time.