Art as a culture

The Lascaux Caves

A.      The cave artist in my opinion was trying to tell others what they cherish. I think in drawing the horses first than the bulls and so on show that the artists were trying to show which animal ranks the highest. All the animals were drawn in different proportions but some horses and bulls were huge in size up to 5.6 metres (meters) long.

B.      I believe there are more animals depicted in their drawing over other plant life and humans because animals were important to them. Important to their survival by using their flesh for food, their skin for warmth, and the fat for fires. Their lives evolved around the wildlife. Not even plants were drawn because they didn’t eat much of them.

C.      The paintings tell us how advanced the people were. It was assumed that they were not capable enough to figure out a way for a light source but soon hundreds of handmade lamps were found in the caves. Also the drawings Show the artists as being creative when it came to showing their talent in drawing a horse rolling on the ground or using the walls to their advantage when drawing depths in the animals or wanting to give a certain appearance.  

D.      It had to have been very challenging for these artists to paint. First lighting was an issue. There is no light in caves. So they made a kind of lamp to help and torches to light the way. Also, the walls in the caves were not flat like a canvas. The artist had to adapt the every section of the walls. Different techniques had to be used. Either by using a brush, engraving or using a spray technique. Even getting to the paintable surfaces was challenging. There are not only paints on the walls but high up and even on the ceilings. It was said that scaffolding had to be used.

E.       I believe they used this art as a form of teaching others of the wildlife. They are showing the animals of importance down to the least important like the bears and felines. I also believe that it might be a way of keeping a record of the animals. Almost like a time capsule to remember. Last I think in some of the pictures like the charging animals and the rolling horse to the arrow with the collapsed stag are a form of storytelling.

It thinks even in modern day people still draw things that mean sometime to them. Life is more complex now compared to early humans. To them it was about survival and wildlife was their key. Don’t get me wrong survival is important to us but so is our music, love, and self-expression. These are things that we draw, sculpt and sing about. We want to remember and teach others. Cherish and pass on like records to the next generation.

I love Urban Art! I love going down to Venice and watching the street artists or driving in Hollywood and seeing all the art people have made on the sides of buildings and under freeways. And NO I don’t mean gang signs that are indecipherable letters or numbers scribbled on the side of a trash can or porta potty.

A.       Urban art was born and represents city life. Like most art it’s a form of expression. You draw what you feel. It can be a simple random thought or a feeling.

It can also be a quick image in your mind of something beautiful.

Sometimes you could be screaming in your head and have to get it out in a flash of colors.

Or you want to get the word out on a political subject.

This form of art has an international cultural following from the U.K to Berlin. There are annual art shows all over the word representing this form of expression. Banksy is a famous urban street artists who have sold his work for millions of dollars to people like Brad Pitt and Angelina.  Urban artist tend to travel the world creating images for everyone to see. Its function is to represent city culture and sometimes spread the word on political or environmental issues. This type of art is relatively newer than most art forms and some people consider it to be vandalism. It tends to be illegal because most of the time they paint on other people property without permission for all to see. Sometimes they create in galleries, but what they create is beautiful and full of expression and feeling.