Sigh, Will we find that the Chinese invented the tempered scale a thousand years ago as well?
REH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 8:40 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] What does art say about cultural development? > Ed Weick wrote: > > > Interesting. I consider the art of Lascaux and Chauvet so sophisticated > > that it was probably based on generations of development, much like the > > medieval art of Europe was. It could not have been created instantly, > > but had to be part of a long tradition. Somewhere, there must have been > > other caves, or perhaps if one scratched away the upper layers of paint > > at Lascaux or Chauvet, one would find earlier, more primitive, renderings. > > As the article urges: Perhaps we need to think about human existence > on a different model than the objective processes which form > a large part of the "content" of human existence. Darwin > (and some others) invented "evolution". I do not believe the > theory of evolution evolved over generations like Darwin thought > the evolving species did (and even this has been called into > question by the more recent notion of "punctuated evolution"). > > Man is not a thing in the world but rather a perspective upon the world. > > The article says there is indeed progress, in a kind of Kuhnian > sense of paradigm shifts. But, within a paradigm, sophistication > may come early. > > The article is, I believe, wrong on one point: The Chinese discovered > perspective in painting before 1400CE, albeit the exact extend of precedence > is in question due to scholarly disagreement whether > the epochal painting in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum > of Art (NYC) is a forgery. > > Greatness is in the beginnings. > (--Heidegger/Holderlin) > > One of the most amazing things about human beings is > how degraded a self-understanding of themselves they > often work very hard to have. > > \brad mccormick > > > > > Ed > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Karen Watters Cole <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > *To:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > *Sent:* Monday, January 12, 2004 6:04 PM > > *Subject:* [Futurework] What does art say about cultural development? > > > > Thought this might be interesting from a scientific POV as well as > > the comments about art itself. - KWC > > > > *Exquisite Cave Art Offers New Perspective on Development* > > Sophisticated Ancient Works Suggest Talent for Art Is Not Tied to > > Evolution > > > > By Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, Jan. 12, > > 2004 @ > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8312-2004Jan11.html > > > > What does it take to become an artist? Do you need to study it > > first, or do you just pick up a brush or a knife and do it? > > > > This question lies at the heart of a prolonged debate among > > archaeologists and anthropologists over the origin of figurative art > > -- drawing, sculpting or otherwise creating recognizable images of > > figures or objects -- and what it implies about human cultural > > development. > > > > For years, scholars regarded the appearance of figurative art as the > > initiation of an evolutionary process -- that art became > > progressively more sophisticated as humans experimented with styles > > and techniques and passed this knowledge to the next generation. > > > > > > > > <javascript:void(0)> > > Small bird figurine of mammoth ivory found in Germany's Hohle Fels > > Cave was likely carved 30,000 years ago by Europe's first modern > > human inhabitants. > > > > (Hilde Jensen -- University Of Tuebingen Via AP > > > > But a growing body of evidence suggests that modern humans, > > virtually from the moment they appeared in Ice Age Europe, were able > > to produce startlingly sophisticated art. Artistic ability thus did > > not "evolve," many scholars said, but has instead existed in modern > > humans (the talented ones, anyway) throughout their existence. > > > > Last month in the journal Nature, anthropologist Nicholas J. Conard, > > of Germany's University of Tuebingen, added to this view, reporting > > the discovery in a cave in the Jura Mountains of three small, > > carefully made figurines carved from mammoth ivory between 30,000 > > and 33,000 years ago. > > > > The artifacts at Hohle Fels Cave -- of a water bird, a horse's head, > > and a half-human, half-lion figure -- made up the fourth such cache > > of ancient objects found in Germany. All are more than 30,000 years > > old, and, taken together with cave paintings of a similar age in > > France's Grotte Chauvet, constitute the oldest known artworks in the > > history of modern humans. A handful of other sites more than 30,000 > > years old are under study. > > > > "It was a big cave, filled with ivory-making debris," Conard said in > > a telephone interview from his Tuebingen office. "We found 270 > > pieces of ivory waste, a half-dozen beads and a good number of bone > > and ivory tools. Whoever made the figurines spent a lot of time there." > > > > And did remarkable work with primitive implements. All three > > figurines are skillfully shaped, and the water bird is exquisite -- > > its long neck extended in flight and its wings swept back with > > decorative ridges to mark layers of feathers. > > > > "It confirms the sophistication of the art of that early period," > > said archaeologist David Lewis-Williams of South Africa's Rock Art > > Research Institute and author of "The Mind in the Cave," a > > discussion of the origins of art. "If there were earlier periods > > when they made cruder art, why haven't we got them?" > > > > Also, noted Lewis-Williams, Conard and others, the Hohle Fels > > artifacts and the Grotte Chauvet paintings are as sophisticated as > > art produced thousands of years later. "Those who argue for > > development from primitive scratches are perhaps unconsciously > > extending the idea of human evolution to encompass other forms of > > human endeavor," Lewis-Williams said. > > > > Still, though the development of figurative art may not be a marker > > for biological evolution, many experts suggest that its emergence is > > a major "threshold event" for cultural development, comparable > > perhaps to the invention of agriculture, the domestication of > > animals or the development of metal tools. > > > > "The crucial move seems to be when humans make something that stands > > for something else," said Oxford University art historian Martin > > Kemp. "It usually starts with 'indirect tools,' implements that go > > beyond simple sharpened tools or a needle and thread. This > > conceptual step is the evolutionary aspect of ancient art." > > > > Also, noted Kemp and others, art itself does indeed "evolve," but > > these changes are more likely to be dictated by the purpose served > > by the art, or by advances in technology or materials, than by the > > supposed attainment of progressively higher levels of "talent." > > > > "What these people achieved is amazing, given the bare subsistence > > in which they lived and the tools they had," said Cornell University > > psychologist James E. Cutting, a specialist in perception. "There's > > a sense that they were just as smart as we are but didn't have > > societies in which information could be passed, or places where they > > could work. It's not easy to paint on the walls of a cave." > > > > But while "cave artists often drew better than anyone today except > > those trained highly in drafting or technical illustration," other > > elements of artistic technique are virtually absent in prehistoric > > work, added John M. Kennedy, a perception psychologist at the > > University of Toronto at Scarborough. > > > > Chief among these is perspective, the ability to create the illusion > > of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. There are several > > techniques involved, but common ones include drawing a figure that > > is smaller and higher on the surface of the image than the principal > > foreground character, using an imaginary "vanishing point" to create > > the illusion of depth or receding distance, and using shading to add > > three-dimensionality to a figure or object depicted in two dimensions. > > > > So far, the only perspective technique found in cave painting is > > "occlusion," in which one foreground object partially obstructs the > > viewer's ability to see what's "behind" it. Cutting suggested that > > occlusion, which is also frequently used alone in Egyptian art, may > > have been the first technique employed by humans to depict depth. > > > > But Kennedy noted that cave painters "never painted 'scenes' -- they > > did not set themselves the problem of placing multiple objects > > around an observer." Asking why they did not use other perspective > > techniques "may be the wrong question." More important, he said, was > > what the art meant to them -- quite likely a question that will > > never be fully answered. > > > > Also, several experts noted that formal perspective did not exist in > > art -- not in Egypt, Greece or China -- until the Florentine artist > > and architect Filippo Brunelleschi demonstrated in the early 15th > > century that a rigorous application of geometric principles in a > > painting could create an illusion in two dimensions that rivaled > > what people see in the physical world. > > > > "Perspective is very exceptional in the history of art, because it > > is one of those rare things that is both precise and teachable," > > Oxford's Kemp said. "Anybody can learn it, but learning it doesn't > > mean you're going to produce a painting that's going to be > > attractive to anybody." > > > > In an evolutionary context, Kemp said the invention of perspective > > was akin to the impact of jazz alto saxophonist Charlie Parker after > > World War II. Anyone who came after Parker had to know how to play > > scales like Parker, but his genius did not make Parker "better" than > > those, such as Louis Armstrong, who preceded him. > > > > "Within any given period of art, there is amazingly sophisticated > > use of the techniques available at the time," Kennedy added. "At any > > particular time, the practitioners are usually as good as their > > techniques will allow them to be." > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > -- > Let your light so shine before men, > that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16) > > Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21) > > <![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/ > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
