Lascaux, France - cave paintings- link to cite
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 1:
Summary: I chose to answer this question because I think art is so important to the individual even since the beginning of civilization. Whether art is used for utilitarian purposes or self expression, its importance to man will live on. I knew I wanted to express this in my essay so I began thinking how I could support my opinion on how artistically similar prehistoric and modern people are.
Reason: The reason I think this question was asked is because in a nutshell this question is why we study the history of art. We want to know why we have a natural drive in us to want to create beautiful, subjective images. By studying art from the beginning of civilization we can better understand and realize art has been in our blood for thousands of years.
Purpose: The purpose of asking this question was to stimulate thought, and to make the connection between prehistoric and modern people, artistically. Also to look into our text and other sources to back up our opinions, in hopes of finding something interesting and learning something new!
Direction: I wanted to show that prehistoric and modern people are artistically similar and that there is a singular force that drives our artistic needs. To be honest I first began with myself before opening my text book. I began pondering my artistic needs and how they are similar or different from prehistoric people and the time gap in between from what I have learned so far. I personally think the answer to a lot of questions lies within us we just have to be stimulated to look inside our minds. Then I opened my text book, which was very helpful, and began to construct my answer.
Impressions: My favorite part of my research was when I stumbled upon a comparative theories essay by Carlisle Bergquist. The opening quote was "Creativity is the step child of psychology". (Bergquist) I found that humorous but true. The reading was very interesting and helped me answer the second sentence in this question.
Part 2: The Answer:
As much as prehistoric people are different from modern people, they are more similar artistically than we realize. Yes, living in a cave or in a clay dwelling during the first civilizations in Europe is worlds different than how humans live today. The amount we have evolved is so tremendous most people assume we as humans and our desires are not comparable, but they are. The need for harmony, love, stability, knowledge, reproduction, nutrition, etc has remained the same since the beginning of time. Art, like humans, has evolved. Though the tools and mediums of art we use today are different then prehistoric times, the purpose of art remains almost identical.
The most obvious difference of prehistoric art and modern day art expression is also the most hidden similarity, in my opinion. What we recognize today as “art” in prehistoric times started off mainly as a utilitarian way of expressing necessary things like hunting.
The more well known works of prehistoric people are found in caves in central and southern France and northern Spain. The Chauvet cave, near Vallon-Pont-d’ Arc in southern France, is the earliest known site of prehistoric cave paintings. These dramatic cave paintings included vital animals like horses, bison, bears, mammoths, deer, owls, etc. As well as handprints, humans, grids, circle and dots. Also the most well known cave art, in Lascaux, had about 600 painting and 1,500 engravings with more detail and emphasis on animal characteristics. (Stokstad and Cothren)
So prehistoric art being seen more for utilitarian purposes than a form of expression is a lot different than art we see today right? Not really. Although the cave painting are beautiful and complex for that time, modern people still use art and imagery in a utilitarian way. Sight being one of the five senses makes humans very visual creatures. Road signs, billboards, and other instructional images may not be seen as beautiful works of art but they do serve a similar purpose. Have you ever read a cook book with a lot of images showing you what to do and how the ingredients should look throughout the cooking process? This is similar to cave painting that show how to hunt bison or deer.
As for the force or need we still have in the 21st century to express ourselves artistically it all comes down to self actualization and the psychological aspect that produces the desire to create something aesthetically pleasing. For me personally my niche is photography. Using a technical device to capture images how I see them, then using my own style to manipulate photos to create an image that makes you look deeper. I also have began to explore drawing the human body and painting. To me art is therapeutic, interesting, challenging, relaxing, and mysterious all at the same time. When a person can express themselves artistically, they are seeing the world around them in a new light, and for some maybe that is the only way they can digest the world around them. Even though the prehistoric people may not have realized or grasped this idea of artistic expression, I believe it was still a natural instinct they had; thus producing some of the world most beautiful painting by chewing fat and pigment and spitting it out onto a cave wall.
The above quotation shows the esteem with which humanistic psychologists view human nature. There are many individual theories within the field but the human capacity for growth is central in all of them. Creativity is essential to growth as the individual learns, and adapts to his environment and to an inner sense of values. As Maslow's statement indicates, this is part of being a healthy human being. Viewing human nature as a conscious, self-directed, self-actualizing, healthy process distinguishes humanistic psychology from psychoanalytic and behavioristic psychology. These latter psychologies see humankind and creativity in terms of base instincts and conditioned responses respectively. They see creativity as a way of compensating for areas otherwise lacking in the personality (Alfred Adler, 1956, cited by May, 1975, & Frager, Fadiman, 1984). Humanistic psychology brings a wholeness to the human being and the creativity process. Creativity infuses all of life." (Bergquist)
