Art as a culture
1. A.
I believe the artist’s were building a place of worship. The artist was
painting the animals that provide food for them and a few of the animals who
could be dangerous to the people, such as a bear or large cat. The artist was
trying to honor the gods, so the gods would provide food for the tribe and
honor the spirits of the animals. I believe also the predators that were
painted were painted so the magic could protect the people from the predators.
b. I believe the animals that were painted
on the wall, were animals that the tribe had killed for food and the tribe
honored their spirit by painting them. I believe this because the cave was
underground and so many lamps had to be used to paint the animals. The lamps
used animal fat for fuel and the animal fat was difficult to get. So the tribe
had to supply the fat. The paintings had to have something to do with shamans
and spirits, People were not used for food, so it wasn’t necessary to paint
them.
C.The paintings tell us that the people had
skills for producing light for long periods of time. Which proved that they
lived in a tribe; it would take more than one person to provide light and fat
for the lamps. That they probably had a religion or belief in something divine,
the caves were used for other reasons then living in. This tells us that the
caves were painted for a particular purpose and not just for decoration. It
would be too work intense, to paint the caves without a specific reason. The people who painted the caves were intelligent,
because the paintings were detailed and painted with certain advanced
techniques. The people were aware in
detail of the animal life around them.
D.The first difficulty would be to find the
pigment and make it for the paintings. Another difficulty would be to find a
way to reach the ceilings and the paintings that are located too high. The
painters would have to build some kind of scaffolding or a ladder. It would be
difficult to provide the lighting for the caves, so the painters could see to
paint.
3. 1.The artists could be painting a place
to do magic in. The shaman could use the paintings to invoke the spirit of the
animals.
The
paintings could be used to tell a story about the hunt and let other people
know how the animals were killed, which animals were dangerous.
The
paintings could be used to decorate their life and as a thing of beauty. Maybe,
the cave was a special magical place to help the people with getting food, by honoring
the spirits of the animals or bringing game to the area.
The
cave paintings and the Sistine chapel could have the same function. The Sistine
chapel lets us feel that we are in a holy place and in awe of God. The chapel
also tells the story of our God and the paintings honor are beliefs. The cave
paintings could have been used for the same functions. When we are praying we
are invoking the divine. The cave paintings also could have
been used in a ceremony to invoke the
divine.
There is some speculation that the cave
paintings were not painted by humans, but Neanderthals. Some of the carbon
dating of items found in the cave,shows this could be a possiblilty.
1.
My art form I would like to introduce is the
making of a katana or Samurai Sword. There are only a few sword masters left
and the katana is unique and beautiful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwQqtf86qOc
.
While there is a possibility that spirituality was involved here, there really is no evidence of religion or of gods. Make sure you don't make jumps in logic that can't be supported.
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any other reasons why the paintings might have been created that represent a more materialistic function? Think of children who draw pictures their parents stick to the fridge. Why do they draw pictures? Does it need to get to the level of complexity of spirituality? Or can their be a simpler, less complex explanation? Occam's Razor comes into play here.
Great introduction into the art of the Katana. Great discussion on the culture in particular.
I believed the cave was a place of worship because it evidence showed that humans did not live in the cave. To use the cave as a canvas to show and experience the creativeness of the artist,wouldn't the artist use a cave that was lived in, so more people could enjoy the fruits of the artist labor?
ReplyDeleteHumans don't live in libraries or museums either, do we? :-) Open up your options to all available, not just the first one you think of based upon your experiences or assumptions.
DeleteThank you for the reply.
Good job on your post very interesting. I really liked the sword making that was really cool. I would have never thought of sword making being an art, but after thinking about it, it was amazing just thinking about it. Just the thought of making a sword would feel so relaxing, and emotions would be put into the sword. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of the cave to be a place of worship but you bring up a good point. I'm not so sure about the whole magic part but hey it could have been possible as well although a shrine of worship seems like a more plausible explanation to me. Did you consider the thought of maybe the paintings being used as a way of telling a story or keeping their history? I like how you brought up finding the pigments as one of the difficulties that these cave painters faced, that hadn't crossed my mind. good post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice and thorough post. The idea that it would take a group and not just an individual to make the cave paintings is an interesting one. A person alone could paint on a wall in theory, but others would be useful to acquire the materials for the lamps and ladders and such.
ReplyDeleteIn my post, I had considered the caves to be connected to rituals but only to the extent that it gave instruction for it. I never considered that the cave itself could have been the ritual and place for magic. And a group effort for the paintings would have been likely since it would have taken a lot of effort to even start, get materials, get a light source, and also consider that some paintings were done high up. All things together, effort and thought would have gone into a project like cave painting.
ReplyDeleteI did not come close to thinking of the caves being like a museum or library. My assumption was that early man would not value a thing of beauty unless it was functional. Ethnocentrism strikes again. Thank-you for pointing this out
ReplyDelete