"We do not know how art began any more than we know how language started." - E.H. Gombrich
If we take art to mean such activities as building temples and houses, making pictures and sculptures, or weaving patterns, there is no people in all the world without art. If on the other hand, we mean by art some king of beautiful luxury, something to enjoy in museums or as a precious decoration in the best parlour, then we must realise that the use of the word in that way is a recent devolpment.
It is impossible to know how and why art was used in prehistoric times. It is thought that pictures were used to envoke positive attitudes about their up and coming hunts. Or to remember a successful battle with a rival group or merely to envision negative things happening to them.
Totem poles where used in ancient America to tell stories:
"Once there was a young man in the town of Gwais Kun who used to laze about on his bed the whole day till his mother-in-law remarked on it; he felt ashamed, and went away. He decided to slay a monster which lived in a lake and fed on humans and whales. With the help of a fairy he made a trap of a tree trunk and dangled two children over it as a bait. The monster was caught, the young mandressed in its skin and caught fishes, which he regularlyleft on his critical mother-in-law's doorstep. She was so flattered at these unexpected offerings that she thoughtof herself was a powerful witch. When the young man undeceived her at last, she felt so ashamed that she died."
No comments:
Post a Comment