The cave artists of the Lascaux Caves seemed to have
been leaving a message for other people to see.
The majority of the cave paintings had animals and some of those
paintings seemed to represent how they were killed while other animal paintings
seemed to show which animals to stay away from. These cave paintings served as
a way to tell stories of what had been going on. Certain areas of the Lascaux
Cave was used more than others; some walls had various paintings while others
had maybe one. This leads me to believe that certain walls were more significant
than others.
There were many animal paintings because it served as
a ‘guide’ as to what animals were hunted and what animals were too dangerous to
hunt. These animal paintings also served as a calendar; hunting season. The
lack of people paintings was probably due to the fact that hunting was very
important and maybe people were only painted if they had passed on. It served
as a way to remember them.
The paintings serve as a story bring told; actions
that happened to both animals and people. The paintings give some sort of
detail; how certain animals should be hunted, which animals were too dangerous
to even get near, and the paintings also served as a type of memorial for those
that have died.
Difficulties these early humans navigated in order to
paint these pictures was the horrible lighting (they used torches, which were
not always the brightest), dangerous caves (certain areas were steep and unsafe
to walk through), and making the materials to paint. This art to early humans
was a way of keeping record of their life. It served as a type of guide for
other people as well. The paintings of animals depicted the seasons and the
hunting season as well. It was a way of keeping track and learning what early
human society was like.
Modern art and art from the Lascaux Caves are very
similar. Art is a type of method to tell a story, leave indication of what life
was like during that era, and how the artist viewed their life. Art makes
history and history is told by the individual. In a sense, art is like having a
diary; you are able to create different emotions using specific colors and
instead of using words, the paintings are expressing what the artist is feeling
or the painting are representing an event that occurred.
My favorite type of art is photography because as the ‘camera
man’ you are able to capture moments you think are special/important.
Photographs can represent people’s emotions, beautiful environment/scenes , and what life
is/was like for people in different eras. This type of culture lets you define
what you believe is worth looking twice at. There are proper ways to go about
taking pictures in a professional manner. Such details include lighting. The lighting
makes a big difference with how you want to showcase someone or something. Also
having the right angle makes for a beautiful picture. This type of art form benefits
society because the specific moment of time is being captured forever and
remembered; picture. That picture is saying so much and can be used in books,
newspapers, magazines…etc.
Good discussion on the possible message of the caves. Just keep in mind that given how difficult it was to create these images, their function must have been important enough to justify the time, energy and effort, right? I agree that this probably told instructive stories. Other possibilities include record keeping. The text version of this site explains how each of the three rooms of the cave seem to represent the three primary hunting seasons of that region, so they may be tracking migration patterns or recording successful hunts. Think of the benefit of being able to discern a pattern in the migrations and be able to predict when certain animals would be available for hunting.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion on the reason for the prevalence of animals and the lack of people. It may also indicate the relative scarcity of human populations, compared to the animal populations. If human populations were denser, forcing more conflict interactions, I suspect we might see more people on the wall, perhaps helping them to remember who and where to avoid.
Good discussion on the other cultural aspects illuminated by these paintings as well as the difficulties they faced in creating these images.
Thoughtful discussion of the possible functions, particularly including the idea of it representing some sort of hunting calendar.
I agree that story telling and recording history are two very important similarities of both modern artwork and this early form.
Good coverage of the art form of photography. Let's expand the discussion on the positives and the negatives photography brings to society. It is a very powerful tool in it's ability to capture reality for future generations. If someone makes a claim and you can produce a photograph debunking their claim, that can be very useful in a world where people can be inclined to lie for their benefit and to the detriment of others.
On the other hand, images can be misleading. The camera can catch people not at their best, and those images can be used as propaganda against them, even if that propaganda is actually based upon false premises. Humans are very visual people. If we see something, and we are told that it represents something that isn't actually true, our eyes can convince our brain that it actually is true. We see this all the time in war propaganda and in our current political presidential primary. During the 1988 presidential campaign, Michael Dukakis was attached by Republicans as being soft on crime and they posted an image of a rapist/murderer named Willie Horton, who was released on a weekend furlough and ended up raping and murdering new victims. Was Dukakis responsible for Horton's release? No. But that image of Horton contributed significantly to Dukakis' eventual loss in the general election because the photograph of Horton and the mental image of his crimes stuck in the heads of voters.
It is difficult to find negatives in some art forms. Unfortunately, given the very nature of how easy it is to take a snapshot of time, photography can be used negatively to further agendas, both good and bad.