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?
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?
Part one:
Summary:
In my research in finding the answer to this question my thought process
automatically went to man’s desire for everlasting life, and how since the
prehistoric age man tried to immortalize himself by making cave drawings.
Reason:
The reason this question was asked is to find out what has been mankind’s
initiative to make art though out the centuries, beginning with prehistoric man
and ending in today in the 21st century.
Purpose:
The purpose of this question is to fully understand why man has created
art since the prehistoric period and how it truly is related in today’s society.
Direction:
Answering this question has not changed my thoughts on the topic. No one wants to die but, we all know that death
is inevitable, and one day we will be nothing more than dust and bone. “All we are is dust in the wind,” Kansas “Dust
in the Wind.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DeNdF0KPA
This is the same reason man has created music:
to be immortalized in song. This is the
same concept that is found in art. This
is the reason we in today’s society keep photographs, it’s the same reason throughout
the centuries that man has painted portraits of him/herself, so that the memories
of them will live on, a great artist once said:
“In the
future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” - Andy Warhol
If we have our 15 minutes of fame, the memories
of our life have the chance to live on for future generations to see who we were
and what we did, and just maybe have a glimpse in to how we lived our lives. “Art
is not truth, art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that
is given to us to understand.” Pablo Picasso this thing called art intro from
class
This is significant to understanding mans
want and desire to be immortalized, although art is our personalized interpretation
of the goings on and what we see from the time and place we lived. If I were to show you a drawing of a square
with a triangle on top, a rectangle in the center, and two small squares on
either side of the rectangle, you would know that it is a house even though it
is not an actual house, just an interpretation of a house.
With this in mind, man has always interpreted
what he has seen to the best of his ability.
We know this is not truth but we see what is meant to be seen.
Another good example of art is…
“A
horse is not a horse” From the complete works of Chuang Tzu By Zhuangzi
Translated by Burton Watson from this thing
called art intro from class
We know this image is not really a horse but
it portrays the idea of a horse.
“I
don’t want life to imitate art I want life to be art.”- Ernst Fischer from this thing called art intro from class
We portray our life in art to be remembered. Without having some proof we existed, we will
never have existed.
Impressions:
My “aha” moment was that all of mankind wants to be immortalized in one
way or another, whether it be through art, the written word, though battles or kingdoms
everyone wants to leave their imprint in this world. And in some shape or form
have a piece of them live on forever.
Part Two: Prehistoric and modern man are similar for
this reason, man has a want and desire to be immortalized. This is where art
comes in nothing lives forever but some mistrals that are used can surpass the
life span of a human or living thing. Such things as stone, wood ect. By making
art man can be immortalized along with the time period in which they existed. We
as humans cannot live forever unless we make are mark on the world and I believe
human kind’s biggest fear is being forgotten.
