Art and Its Role in Defining History
Art has played a significant role in defining history more so in the American society. It is important to note that early humans conceived and executed art differently compared to the manner people look at museum art. The variations that exist arise owing to the use of colors, the emotions presented in the pieces, the moods, and attitudes (Atkins 16). On the other hand, the execution and conception of art in both contexts depend on age, group size, and gender. Concerning museum art, different effects result from the viewing and processing of paintings since the perception, understanding, and elaboration abilities vary from one individual to another. However, most of the museum-goers attest to the fact that the art they have seen is incredible, outstanding, and breathtaking. Art during the early years reflected in-depth details of wild animals, and they considered the paintings in caves as a way to preserve history. For this reason, people in the modern world view the details differently in museum art compared to how the early humans did.
How they View the Pieces of Art
There are both differences and similarities when it comes to how early humans viewed art and the manner museum-goers conceive it. The ancient painting below depicts Egyptian women having a conversation. It is important to note that the people in museums would view it from the perspective of changes that had taken place in the society (Stallabrass 35). For this reason, they will conceive it as a shift in the position women occupied in the society and conclude that the artists in the ancient days had figured the factor of modernity. Thus, the role women played in the society indicated that the ancient culture was deteriorating. The museum-goers having seen the faces of the women in the painting will see this as the freedom women had during the ancient days. Further, the museum art will be viewed from the perspective of the effect of light. Hence, women had the freedom to hold meetings separately showing the freedom that existed in the society. However, this piece of art in the early days intended to show how various shapes and color can yield different moods and scenarios (Stiles and Peter 45). There are similarities of how the art was perceived by the early humans and the museum-goers as there is a depiction of a transition period in the painting. In particular, the use of warm colors in the background was to indicate an ambient environment and different shapes were intended to show civilization and modernity during the time.
Painting of Egyptian women conversing
Reasons for Making the Pieces of Art
The early humans had different ways of making their paintings which included drawing fixed images such as the one below that museum-goers perceive differently (Buskirk 17). Therefore, there could be reasons that made them come up with these impressions during animal paintings. In particular, one of them was to increase the levels of success during hunting and assessing whether the animals would be sufficient for eating by their families. Besides, the lives of the early humans revolved around animal rearing and hunting. For this reason, the animal paintings served as an expression that the early artists had the power to create. Similarly, the early humans considered this as a discovery they had made. On the other hand, museum-goers consider the animal paintings were a form of creativity by the early humans. The primary reason for this was because of the circles, chevrons, and dots that dominated the pieces of art. Besides, the intention of the artists was to use different colors and shapes to depict were used in making the paintings more appealing and realistic. Therefore, there is a similarity when it comes to the thematic meaning of the ancient animal painting when it comes to the manner early humans and museum-goers different meanings and occasions. Regarding the differences, the museum-goers speculate that the inventions made when it came to the painting by early humans played a significant role in determining their style of art (Buskirk 24). However, the early humans wanted to reveal visual internalization of different colors in a bid to stimulate progress in structural development. Thus, this contributed to how the early humans painted fixed images of animals and thereby leading to different perceptions held by museum-goers.
Fixed Image of a horse
Methods Used in Making the Art
Despite there being similarities, the early humans executed their pieces of art differently compared to how museum-goers think. For example, in the hyena painting below, it is important to note that some of the pieces of art by the early humans were mostly on carefully-crafted stones (Bourriaud, Caroline and Jeanine 28). In making these pieces, the artists used tools such as ocher sticks and ocher mudstone. The execution of the art entailed polishing the surfaces of the stone and proceeding to draw the geometric design on these surfaces. Moreover, there was the use of lines in the images drawn. On the other hand, there was the use of shell beads which were mostly found in the caves. Therefore, the early human artists pierced them and placed them in a single string which was later used to form different shape outlines. For this reason, the early human artists executed their art in this particular manner since they had no practical, utilitarian usage of items such as shells and others which serve as jewelry in the modern world. The museum-goers view the execution of early human art using beads was meant to express symbolism associated with modern human behavior. Besides, the ornaments used came to play a significant role when it comes to the delivery of modern art. The use of some of the paints such as mudstone reveals that the early humans used complicated cognition in the execution of their pieces of art. Thus, the museum-goers conclude that the process of completing the pieces of art required multitasking and the artists held abstract thoughts that yielded in this type of art (Bourriaud, Caroline and Jeanine 32). The similarities that exist when it comes to how the early humans executed their art and how museum-goers view it is because both consider the use of simple and abstract shapes. Concerning the differences, the early humans the early humans executed their pieces of art in this manner since they considered it stylish whereas the museum-goers consider the method used to deliver the drawings on the grounds of the capabilities of the artists. Specifically, the museum goers believe the early human artists complicated cognitional capabilities. Hence, the early humans executed their pieces of art in a different way compared to how museum goers think.
20,000- Year- Old Cave Paintings of a Hyena
Conclusion
Art has played a significant role in defining history more so in the American society. In particular, art during the early years reflected the in-depth details of wild animals and the artists considered the paintings in caves as a way to preserve history. Currently, there are both differences and similarities when it comes to how early humans viewed art and the manner museum goers conceive it. While museum goers view the paintings of Egyptian women as a way of expressing their freedom at the time, the early human artists saw this as one way of expressing the use of different colors. On the other hand, the early humans executed their paintings by drawing fixed images which museum goers perceive differently. Lastly, despite there being similarities; the early humans executed their pieces of art in a different way compared to how museum goers think.
Works Cited
Atkins, Robert. ArtSpeak: A guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1945 to the present. New York: Abbeville Press, 1997.
Bourriaud, Nicolas, Caroline Schneider, and Jeanine Herman. Postproduction: Culture as screenplay: How art reprograms the world. New York: Lukas & Sternberg, 2002.
Buskirk, Martha. The contingent object of contemporary art. Massachusetts: Mit Press, 2005.
Stallabrass, Julian. Art incorporated: The story of contemporary art. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Stiles, Kristine, and Peter Selz. Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of ArtistsÕ Writings (Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles). Univ of California Press, 2012.
