The Lascaux cave paintings are located in France and they were created by the Cro-Magnon people thousands of years ago. With hundreds of large scale drawings, the cave artists were trying
portray their feelings and thoughts
about their life, and the supernatural .
It is very rare for European
cave paintings to depict humans and the Lascaux cave is no exception. The art
is depicted from a mans perspective in regards to the flora and fauna
surrounding him.
Paintings of the predatory animals were thought to give
protection from them. The paintings
tells us that the paleolithic people were spiritual and practiced fertility
magic. They had most likely spent a lot of time in the winter months in the
cave.
The cave paintings
were found deep in the cave in dark areas thought to be spiritual areas. There
are many other designs depicted on the cave walls other than animals, they are
geometric shapes and symbols, thought to be due to the effects of being in the
dark and seeing things with your eyes from just being out of the light.
I believe that the
functions of this art to early humans show which animals are predatory and
which ones were not, their belief in the supernatural world and gives a glimpse
into what was going on in the minds and lives of the people of that time.
Some of the commonalities in function of the art of early
humans and the art of modern humans is that the art depicts the thoughts and
beliefs of the people and of that time with fertility art, religious art,
spiritual and supernatural art.
I would like to introduce
you to one of my favorite artists, Nina Simone. Nina is a blues singer and
musician. She is known for her protest songs and amazing voice.
Blues music tells stories and represents black people’s culture, their life, love, pain and suffering.
People who play or listen to the blues are given the opportunity to learn about Black culture.
Black people would turn to blues music to express themselves about slavery and equal rights and heartbreak. I think that the Blues gives black people a voice that was otherwise unheard unless through music.
It is a way for history to be passed down through generations in song.
Blues music is something that I am very passionate about and I feel Nina Simone represents it the best for me.
I would like to focus on one of Nina’s songs, Four Women. This particular song represents four different women each with their own unique story. Please listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmzQ39sXTQ&feature=related
I would like to introduce
you to one of my favorite artists, Nina Simone. Nina is a blues singer and
musician. She is known for her protest songs and amazing voice. Blues music tells stories and represents black people’s culture, their life, love, pain and suffering.
People who play or listen to the blues are given the opportunity to learn about Black culture.
Black people would turn to blues music to express themselves about slavery and equal rights and heartbreak. I think that the Blues gives black people a voice that was otherwise unheard unless through music.
It is a way for history to be passed down through generations in song.
Blues music is something that I am very passionate about and I feel Nina Simone represents it the best for me.
I would like to focus on one of Nina’s songs, Four Women. This particular song represents four different women each with their own unique story. Please listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmzQ39sXTQ&feature=related
Great post!! I like that you touched on that the paintings were from a man's perspective. That is something that I did not even think of-the artists' gender.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the song that you included. Such a powerful expression of feeling! I had not heard that one before.
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ReplyDelete"The art is depicted from a mans perspective in regards to the flora and fauna surrounding him." Good observation. I'm going take this another step and say that this was literally a "man's" perspective as men were likely the artists. Was there really that much "flora" depicted? Do you think this would have been different if women had been the artists?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think images of people don't often come into play in cave paintings? Do you think there are more materialistic functions for the paintings? Record keeping, teaching, seasonal mapping, tracking herds? Your emphasis on spiritual issues tends to overlook some of the more nuts-and-bolts, hands-on functionality of both cave art and modern art.
Good discussion on the function of blues. Can you describe some of the specific cultural features associated with those who spent their lives expressing themselves through this music style? Did they have a language, behavior patterns, philosophy, and clothing associated with this culture?
I do think that men were likely the artists and there is not much flora depicted but mostly fauna. If women were the artist we would most likely see women and children represented in the paintings and most women artists of that time primarily focused on the Venus form which is an exaggerated form of the female body with emphasis on the breasts, buttocks, and the womb of the female.
DeleteI think that there could be several reasons that the images of people do not often come into play in the cave paintings, one could be that the paintings are used as a teaching tool,to learn about the different animals, another could be a way to track the time and days on a calendar with the use of the grid and dot patterns that are present on the cave walls.It could of also been used for fertility/religious ceremonies.
Some of the cultural features associated with the blues are poverty, slavery,their belief that there was more to life than what they were living. Black people lost their native language and their ancestral name when they became slaves. They were forced to speak English and were not able to freely live. The clothing associated with the blues culture was of modest handmade dress. Nina Simone represented the black culture by sometimes wearing African tribal prints. My family were slaves and my madien name is a slave name. When my ancestors became slaves they were stripped of everything they had and mostly of the things that they knew. This struggle and their will to be free was shared through blues music.
Thanks for the reply!
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