How do we tell one shape from another & different colors? We rely on pictures, shapes and colors to get through ordinary life. In the past it was imageless. Images have created our world today. 2D images are the collection of pencil lines on paper so you can see what you want everyone to see. We don't know how prehistoric artist found the ability to create images. 2000 years ago we had no problems drawing 3D pictures and almost 1200BC people knew how to draw.
Northern Spain - Altamira
In Northern Spain, Altamira a 9 year old girl, Maria, made a discovery. Maria and her father went to a unknown cave. They thought it was incapable for people to have lived in this cave. Maria made the discovery which made the country famous. She discovered cave paintings. These cave paintings are one first gallery of prehistoric art. The art mainly consists of an animal, orox (spices of ox that's extent). These images were so good it was unthinkable that cave people did it, the paintings were ancient. "The cave walls were festooned with striking pictures of horses and bulls that date from the Ice Age, all rendered with exquisite sophistication and symbolic force. Upon exiting the cave, an awed Picasso declared, "We have learned nothing in twelve thousand years." "
- Cave Paintings in Spain
Now a days we paint anything. Prehistoric artist loved painting animals - horses, reindeer etc. Their subject matter not just anything. We believed their paintings were about hunting, maybe they thought it would improved the chances of a good hunt (if you capture the animals while painting, you can capture it while hunting). But, this doesn't match up as they are not painting the animals they are eating, they painting other animal (mammoths or rhinos, but they are eating goat and deer). Therefore the "hunting" theory was wrong. Prehistoric artist painted in narrow caves, where no one can see them, they are not outside where everyone can see them. Whats more wired is that all prehistoric artists are painting the same thing all around the world and they have no connections. They use squares and circles (which didn't exist in those times), spots and other shapes on top of horses and other animal paintings.
You need to know how to paint a picture in order to paint it. A picture represents something in the world and someone who has never seen a picture can't understand what a picture is, unless you've seen it before. How did prehistoric artists know that collection of line dots and colors can make something?
South Africa, Darkensberg
In South Africa, Darkensberg there was also prehistoric art. It was not thousands years old, but was done couple of 100 years ago. The San people were responsible for South Africa's prehistoric cave art. They had strange points in their paintings, like animal heads in human bodies etc.. Their religion was built on traveling to a spirit world, which still happens today, when is someone sick, you go help them in "another" world. Shaman is the leader who performed the ritual.
The rhythm makes you go into a trance then you fall down to ground unconscious and this is where they supposedly visit the spirit world. There are parallels of the men and the animals dying, the paintings were about their spiritual traces. They are drawing what they see while hallucinating. People were familiar with the visuals they saw while hallucinating - this is how they new how to do 2D paintings.
The cave paintings are nailing down there visions they see when they go into a trance
No comments:
Post a Comment