Fluent Essays

I uploaded the slides to help you answer the questions ----------------------------------- _survey_1_quiz_1_2__2__history.docx _surveyi_prehistoric_summer__1_.pptx _surveyi_prehistoric_summer__2_.pptx _surveyi_prehistoric_summer__3_.pptx Unformatted Attachment Preview Survey I, Quiz 1-2, 20 points # 1 (10-12 sentences, 10 points) A number of different theories have been proposed by archeologists and art historians to explain the function of prehistoric female figurines (ex. Venus of Willendorf). These figurines were interpreted as fertility idols, dolls, first self-portraits, or even prehistoric version of pin-up girls. Analyze each of these theories, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Which of these theories do you find more plausible? Explain your position, citing specific visual examples. #2 (10 points) Write 3 extended (with specific visual examples) stylistic characteristics of the prehistoric cave paintings. Please note that in order to get a full credit for this assignment you need to provide three extended answers rather than three bullet points. Structure: stylistic feature + its purpose/importance/explanation + example (this is the only time you can refer to specific artworks). All three stylistic characteristic should adhere to this structure. Remember, the point of this assignment is to discuss general characteristics of a particular style rather than specific artworks. Example: An extended stylistic feature of prehistoric female figurines: The artists emphasized the body parts related to fertility, for example, the figurines’ breasts and hips were exaggerated, and the genitals were colored with red paint (ex. Woman of Willendorf). Prehistoric Cave Paintings 1. 2. 3. -- 1880 Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology (Lisbon) -- Emile Cartailhac of France: “vulgar joke by a hack artist” – walked out of the lecture -- The leading historians refused to visit the cave -- 1888 – Sautuola died at 57 -- The find was dismissed as fake, and was accepted as authentic only in 1902 after other caves were discovered Reasons for such an aggressive reaction by French archeologists (nationalism) -- the paintings were too skillful -- the cave was supposed to be lit by torches, yet there were no traces of smoke on the walls or ceiling of the cave -- Archeological findings: Neanderthal (1856) vs. Cro-Magnon (1868) Cro-Magnons were much more advanced than Neanderthals, yet their remains were not discovered in Spain at the time, thus French scholars assumed that Neanderthals could not create the paintings. Later the remains of Cro-Magnons were discovered in Spain as well. Altamira Cave, Spain, ca. 12,000-11,000 BCE -- The cave represents a herd of bison during mating period -- Possible function -- images meant to enhance the fertility of animals used for food. -- Created sculptural effects by painting over and around natural irregularities in the cave ceilings -- Firstly, painted large areas (animals’ shoulders, backs, etc.). -- Secondly, sharpened the contours of the rocks and added details of the legs, heads, tails, horns. Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 BCE Discovered on September 12, 1940 by 4 French teenagers and a dog • • • • Lascaux II, Replica After WWII, the cave was opened to the public, becoming one of the most popular tourist sites The visitors brought heat, humidity, and other contaminants (1,200 visitors per day, presence of light, changes in air circulation) The cave was closed to the public in 1963 so that the conservators could battle an aggressive fungus The French authorities created a facsimile of it, so that the visitors could see the paintings without harming the originals What was the function of these paintings? Could they be merely decorative? • Highly unlikely (they are located in difficult to reach and remote areas) • People did not live in the parts of the caves where most of the paintings were found. Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 BCE Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 BCE -- Cave artists demonstrate a profound knowledge of animal shapes. Animal figures predominate – maybe it points to ritual significance related to hunting -- Caves were used as places for social gatherings and (perhaps) ritual practice -- Animals are superimposed and repainted (so cave paintings should not be described in terms of a unified composition) -- Complete and convincing images of animals – we can easily distinguish all the animals represented. -- Twisted perspective is used: the heads are represented in profile but the horns are represented from the front. -- How did prehistoric humans work and paint in deep cave formations that would have been pitch-black? They did so by using animal fat lamps -- Materials -- Natural pigment derived from stone and plant, charcoal, and applied using their hands or rough brushes. Some archaeologists believe that pigment may have been mixed in the mouth and then spat onto the walls Rhinoceros, wounded man, bison, painting in the well, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 BCE -- Remote placement -- on the bottom of 16-foot shaft, which contained lamps and spears. -- First narrative scene (very unusual) -- attempts to tell a story -- Human figure is simplified, while the bison is rendered with accurate detail. -- The scene may depict the vision of a shaman, a ritualistic hunt (the bison has been disemboweled, and is about to die) Interpreting Prehistoric paintings 1. Magico-religious motives. Early human may have perceived the image as equivalent to the animal it represented. To create or possess the image was to exert power over its subject, which might improve the success of a hunt. Similarly, artists may have hoped to stimulate fertility in the wild – ensuring a continuous food supply – by depicting pregnant animals Interpreting Prehistoric paintings 2. Shamanism – a belief in a parallel spirit world accessed through alternative states of consciousness. The artist’ or shaman’s power brought that spirit to the surface. 3. Cave paintings are prehistoric versions of street art • Dale Guthrie, The Nature of Paleolithic Art (2005) – new theory Spotted Horses and negative hand prints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, France, ca. 22,000 BCE Graffiti, New York • Testosterone-fueled boys created most prehistoric cave art. • The theory contradicts the idea that adult, tribal shaman spiritual leaders and healers produced virtually all cave art. • Evidence: study of 200 handprints that were left in the caves next to the art. These prints were produced by individuals who chewed ochre, held up a hand, and then spit the colorful orange-yellow spew all over the hand, leaving a wall imprint. • Guthrie analyzed the handprints. The hand lengths, palm widths and the finger widths and lengths mostly match hands that would have belonged to boys aged nine to 17. Shared stylistic characteristics? Shared stylistic characteristics? Neolithic Art • Around 10,000 BC the ice that was covering much of Europe melted as the climate grew warmer. Shift in food production -- from hunting to farming. • Humans radically transformed their relationship to nature, from a dependent one to more independent one. Organized systems of agriculture (surplus of food), domestication of animals, and year-round settlements. • Need for a new type of architectural structures to serve as dwellings, storage spaces, and shelters for animals. Reconstruction drawing of Catal Hoyuk, Turkey, ca. 6,000-5900 BCE (Catal = fork; houyuk = mound) Large Neolithic settlement -- James Mellaart (1960s excavations) - -- First experiment in urban living -- The city covers 32.5 acres -- Composed of domestic buildings -- Average population: 3,000-5,000 -- Layout – mud-brick houses crammed together; no footpaths or streets -- Houses were accessed through holes in the ceiling. Ceiling holes also acted as source of ventilation • Advantages of this design: 1. Structural: each house buttressing the next 2. Defensive: any attacker would have to scale the outer walls before facing the resistance on the rooftops 3. Economic use of available building stone; also design provided thick-walled insulation • All rooms were kept clean – trash was collected and burned outside the city • Roofs were used as streets and spaces for social activities • The dead were buried inside the village. Human remains were found in pits beneath the floor • Egalitarian society (houses did not differ in size and interior décor) Reconstruction drawing of a shrine room at Chatal Hoyuk, Turkey, ca. 6500-5500 BCE • Shrines – distinguished from house structures by the richness of the interior decoration • Bulls’ horns are the most common motive View of Town and Volcano, Shrine, Catal Huyuk, ca. 6000 BCE. Wall painting View of Town and Volcano, Shrine, Catal Huyuk, ca. 6000 BCE. Wall painting • Depicts a row of irregular block-like houses, and probably represents the Chatal Huyuk settlement itself • Above the town, a twinpeaked volcano • First known landscape painting • Portrays a sense of community, identification with a specific place Deer Hunt, detail of a wall painting, Catal Hoyuk, Turkey, ca. 5750 BCE Dance, wall painting, Catal Hoyuk -- A huge animal is surrounded by small humans who are jumping and running; one of them is pulling deer’s tongue -- Emphasis on maleness: erect penis • Importance of hunting • Prominence of humans • Use of twisted perspective (combination of frontal and profile views) Deer Hunt, detail of a wall painting, Catal Hoyuk, Turkey, ca. 5750 BCE Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England, ca. 2550-1699 BCE. • Example of megalithic (“massive-stone”) architecture • Stonehenge uses post-and-lintel construction techniques. The technology used to lift, transport, and maneuver the massive stones is still the subject of much discussion by archeologists today. • Impressive engineering feat: commitment, time, vast amount of manual labor. What now appears as a unified design is in fact the result of at least 4 construction stages (total span 1500 years). First Stage, ca. 3100 BC – a early continuous circle (henge) was dug into the ground -Stonehenge was a place of burial Second Stage, ca. 3000 BC – the avenue and bluestones (brought from the mountains of West Wales – 150 miles away) were added. Third Stage, 2600 BC to 2400 BC – Sarsen circle – these stones (50 tons each) were dragged from 20 miles away. Fourth Stage – Altar stone -- Druids – Celtic priests, but they worshipped in forest temples and had no need for stone structure. Furthermore the druids appeared after the site was constructed. -- Romans (however, it predates the Romans) -- In the middle ages, the construction was attributed to Merlin, the wizard. Merlin directed its removal from Ireland, where it had been constructed by Giants, who brought the stones from Africa. Who built it? Theories Possible functions • Temple made for communal worship • Astronomical observatory: the monument is symmetrically arranged around the central axis. It points directly to the spot on the horizon where the sun first appears on June 21 (summer solstice) • Sacred cemetery • 1972 – neo-pagan rituals. • 1972-1984 --number of midsummer visitors had risen from 500 to 30,000. • 1985 the site was closed to festivalgoers (the Battle of the Beanfield). • Limited opening was negotiated in 2000. Otzi the Iceman -- a wellpreserved natural mummy of a man from about 3300 BCE (54 centuries ago), found in 1991 in the Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy -- Discovered by two German hikers (Helmut and Erika Simon), who assumed that they had found the mummified remains of an unfortunate mountain climber. --The officials also did not suspect that the corpse was that of a Neolithic man – did not handle the mummy with care. -- In 2003, the Simons filed a lawsuit, which asked a court in Bolzano, Italy, to recognize their role in Ötzis discovery and declare them his official discoverers.” Under Italian law, this would entitle them to a finders fee of 25\% of the value of the discovered item from the authorities. • • • • 1,65 m (5.4 ft) tall 50 kg (110 lb) 45 years old Had about 57 tattoos, consisting of simple dots and lines • He wore a cloak made of woven grass and a vest, a belt, a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather. He also wore a bearskin cap with a leather chin strap. • The shoes were waterproof and wide, designed for walking across the snow; they were constructed using bearskin for the soles, deer hide for top panels, and a netting made of tree bark. Soft grass went around the foot and in the shoe and functioned like warm socks. • Do you think that we should publicly display the body of Otzi the Iceman? Is this respectful? Prehistoric Art What does the term “pre-history” refer to? Prehistory is a term that refers to all of human history that precedes the invention of writing systems, ca. 3100 BCE, and the keeping of written records, and it is an immensely long period of time, some ten million years according to current theories. How does the absence of written records impact our understanding of this time period? • Prehistoric artifacts raise more questions than they answer: • Why did prehistoric humans spend their time and energy making art? • What function did these visual representations serve? • What do the images mean? • Art historians often use contemporaneous written texts to supplement their understanding of art; prehistoric art dates to a time before writing, for which works of art are among our only evidence. • Therefore, art historians have to rely on scientific and anthropological methods in their attempts to interpret them. Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 BCE. -- 0.5 pound reddish-brown cobble with natural chipping and wear patterns that make it look like a schematic rendition of human face -- 2 3/8″ (6 cm) wide -- Discovered in 1925 -- It was found at a distance from a possible natural source (at least 25 miles away) -- Not a manufactured object, but could be an example of symbolic thinking and aesthetic sense Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 BCE. -- Associated with the bones of Australopithecus (extinct pre-human species) found in the same cave Reconstruction of Lucy,” the first Australopithecus skeleton ever found Theory: found and brought to the cave by Australopithecus, who recognized the symbolic value of this object. The earliest example of symbolic thinking. If this theory is correct, can we accept this object as art? Duchamp, Fountain, 1917; Waterworn pebble ca. 3,000,000 BCE. Yes, if we are to apply contemporary standards. Ever since Duchamp’s controversial piece (Fountain, 1917), the ready-mades are considered to be art, because creating a concept also requires skills Duchamp, Fountain, 1917; Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 BCE. Paleolithic Art Paleolithic From the Greek, meaning: “paleo” = old “lithic” = stone Paleolithic Hand-Axe. 60,000 years ago. Height 10”. -- Fully modern humans have lived on the earth for over 100,000 years. -- At first they crafted tools out of stone and fragments of bone -- About 40,000 years ago, they also began to make detailed representations of forms found in nature -- What inspired this change? --The new structure of brain (a neurological mutation – capacity for abstract thought) associated with homo sapiens sapiens (displaced Neanderthals) -- Art emerges at about the time that fully modern humans moved out of Africa into Europe, Asia, and Australia Human with feline head, from Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, Germany, ca. 30,000-28,000 BCE. -- Medium: Mammoth ivory, -- Scale: 11 5/8” high (31.1 cm) --The creation of this figure with rudimentary tools was a difficult task -- Process: splitting the dried mammoth tusk; scraping it into shape; using a sharp blade to incise features; polishing -- Standing creature, half humane, half feline (lion, perhaps?) -- Discovered in pieces (was deliberately broken) -- It is unclear what the figure represents -- This sculpture was found with flutes near it, suggesting it was part of a musical ritual or tradition. -- Theory: a human dressed as an animal, possibly for hunting purposes (contacting the spirits via ritualistic performances) Paleolithic female figurines -- The Laugerie Basse figurine (3 inches // 8 cm) -- Discovered in 1864 by the Marquis Paul de Vibraye. -- Carved out of the ivory tusk -- The Laugerie Basse figurine was called Venus Impudique (Immodest Venus) -- Why Venus? Who was Venus? Implication of this title on our perception of the sculpture? The Laugerie Basse Venus, Venus Impudique, ca. 18,000 BCE Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, Roman copy after an original of ca. 350340 BCE. Siberia Czech Republic France Woman (Venus) of Willendorf, from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,00025,000 BCE. Current location: Museum of Natural History, Vienna Discovered in 1908, in Austrian village of Willendorf Woman (Venus) of Willendorf, from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000-25,000 BCE. • Portable object, small scale (4.4”//11. 1 cm) • Why were these figurines portable? Woman (Venus) of Willendorf • This type of female figurines was called “Venus Impudique – Immodest Venus.” This title (“immodest”) suggests that prehistoric Venus makes no attempt to hide her sexuality. Woman (Venus) of Willendorf Let’s analyze this image, discussing its formal characteristics (visual features) • Disproportional figure • Full figure (this isn’t an exact replication of what we know homo sapiens women looked like at this time) • Figurine’s large breasts and swollen belly are very pronounced • Very schematic rendition of the head: absence of portrait specificity; abstracted hat? braids? • Her genital area appears to have been deliberately emphasized. This could suggest that the subject of the sculpture is female procreativity and nurture • Originally the genitals were painted red – reference to menstrual blood • What could be the function of this figurine? Woman (Venus) of Willendorf • Possible functions (theories): -- Fertility idols, or magical charms to ensure fertility; -- dolls; -- first self-portraits (reflect a woman’s view of her own body as she looked down at it); -- obstetric aids, documenting different stages of pregnancy to educate women toward healthy births -- prehistoric pin-up images, prehistoric porn (carried by men during their long hunting trips) Venus of Willendorf, from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000-25,000 BCE. Prehistoric Cave Paintings • Caves with prehistoric painting were known and had been visited repeatedly over many centuries • In 1458 (15th century) Pope Calixtus III condemned Spaniards for performing rites in the “caves with the horse pictures.” • Niaux cave has numerous name graffiti, including the name “Ruben de la Vialle,” left in 1660 • The paintings were seen but they were not studied Discovery of the Altamira Cave -- 1868, the cave entrance was discovered by a hunter, Modesto Cubillas -- 1875, Don Sanz de Sautuola visits the cave -- De Sautuola --Spanish amateur scholar and landlord, interested in the natural history. -- 1878 – De Sautuola travelled to Paris to attend the World Exposition – exposure to prehistoric artifacts; started excavating local caves Don Sanz de Sautuola and his daughter Maria Altamira Cave, Spain, ca. 12,000-11,000 BCE -- First prehistoric cave paintings were discovered by de Sautuola and his 12year old daughter Maria: “Look, papa, oxen!” (1879) -- Sautuola approached Juan Vilanova y Piera, the leading paleontologist in Spain, who confirmed that the paintings were created by pre-historic people. -- Great public interest – even the king of Spain, Alfonso ... 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