Spelunking for Answers Part 4

Photo: Antonio DePietro/ Doolin Caves

Myth #4: We can reach higher worlds by physically going higher. We live in a city that prides itself on building the highest skyscrapers. Masters of the universe aim to transcend by residing in glass cubes in penthouses. We've spent a century sending rockets into space, and learning to fly high in the skies. Paleolithic people spent 25 millenia forging ahead with their mysticism down in the caves. The way that they painted and worked on the walls existed for four times as long as history has been recorded. To me, (and all the experts), this suggests that whatever they were doing in the caves was working for them. Imagine this: 25,000 years doing the exact same kind of art work, probably for religious reasons. Possibly, our route to transcendence won't come from the sky, but instead right here on and inside the earth. Last night I watched the gorgeous film, Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), directed by Werner Herzog, who acquired access into the Chauvet caves and brings to life the paintings inside. The film examines the ancient artwork (which was originally shown in theaters in 3D), by connecting these relics with the human experience. Archeologists, scientists, and historians are transfixed with these images and the mysteries that they open up. Herzog's awe is contagious, and by the end of the film I was haunted by the beauty of our ancestors.

The hardest part of becoming obsessed with the caves is that this is a puzzle that can never be solved. The paintings themselves are symbols of us, as humans and as organisms living on earth. Who are we? How did we get here? What is our purpose? The artwork are the questions, the clues and the answers; circling around to leave us with only more questions.

Spelunking for Answers part 3

photo: Antonio DePietro/ The Great Stalactite, Doolin Cave

Myth #3: Paleolithic humans lived in caves. Again, I think my source of this "common knowledge" comes from The Flintstones. Early mankind did not use these dark, cavernous places for living. We know this for archeologists have been studying the bone remains found in these ancient sites. This is agreed upon unanimously. But the mystery revolves in what were humans doing in these caves then? Most of the paintings in paleolithic caves are not to be found in the outer chambers, close to the light. The artworks are found deep in the inner chambers, sometimes in places where adults need to even crawl to get through. Lit only by torches, these locations would have been only accessible with effort and purpose.  But, what purpose?  Last Spring, my family and I took a vacation to Ireland where we had the chance to go into Doolin Cave and examine one of the world's largest stalactite. I commented on how in America, a 4-year-old equipped only with a wobbly hard hat would legally probably not be able to hike through a slippery dark cave to look at a 25-foot-long crystal. But off we marched, down hundreds of stairs, carefully treading on ladders and catwalks, through a maze of tunnels and damp dungeons. My son and I lagged behind, each step precarious, with his large helmet toppling to the ground a few times. I held tight to his upper arm, not trusting the metal grates and railings overlooking 10 foot drops. Eventually, we caught up with the tour and the guide called to us to make sure we were okay. He warned us that he was about to turn off the lights, and to prepare for the engulfing darkness. With an intake of breath, the flashlights flickered off-- we were left in an oppressive darkness making our eyes strain. I squeezed my son's hand tighter and I thought he may be apprehensive or as nervous as I was, but he seemed calm. Something about the cave had sedated us both- perhaps the carbon monoxide that seeped through. My hands were pools of sweat and I was afraid I'd lose my grip on my son's arm.  "Before I had this job, I wasn't sure if I believed in God. Now I'm sure," the guide pronounced as he switched on the light and we turned around to see the magnificent stalactite; 25 feet of dripping, alive, crystal. The feeling I had was of realizing that aliens have landed on our planet, or rather that some secret of the universe had been revealed. Eliette Brunel, upon discovering the paintings in the caves of Chauvet, was said to have exclaimed, "They have been here!" These secrets transcends language and are understood only at the soul level. It makes sense that these dark caves were used for religious reasons, as there is something very profound in the setting.

Spelunking for Answers part 2

photo: Peter Essick/Aurora/Getty Images

Myth #2: Cave paintings were made by men to increase their luck hunting. One expert decided that these paintings were made by hunters only interested in feeding themselves and other practicalities of life. This interpretation was accepted for a very long time, until other interpretations came to light. The most recent "discovery" contradicting this very basic interpretation is outlined in an October 2013 issue of National Geographic. Archeologist Dean Snow used a new study on hand sizes in gender, to re-examine the handprint stencils found on these cave walls. He found that most of the prints were made by women. Is that a surprise that women would have participated in community events of Paleolithic times? The biggest surprise is that it took so long for someone to even make the suggestion. What other theories have not yet come to light?

Spelunking For Answers Part 1

Recently, I have become entranced with prehistoric art, and specifically the cave paintings found in Europe (although similar prehistoric artwork was found all over the world.) These artworks represent the origin of mankind, as well as the origin of art, and possibly the start of mythology, religion or naturalism. We'll never be sure to what the exact meanings are behind the paintings, but these could be the most important works of art to date. For some reason, I never grasped the importance and I'll try to breakdown my own ignorance here.

Photo: Banksy

Myth #1: There is a predominant notion that prehistoric art is simple and crude; the earlier the artwork, the less refined the technique. How would our paleolithic ancestors have developed painting techniques, beyond the stick figure, before inventing lightbulbs or refrigerators? I always believed that hunter-gatherers were so preoccupied with their food sources that there would be no time for fine art. Of course, I gathered most of my information from growing up watching the Flintstones and had never paid too much attention to the idea of cave drawings. Recently, I've become fascinated with the findings at the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc in southern France, discovered only in 1994. Like most mysteries, once you stumble across it, the ideas take hold and it is impossible to let go. The images that were found: naturalistic paintings of horses, bison, bears, cave lions, wooly mammoths and bears continue to dance in one's head, reverberating deep in the ancestral heart. The humans depicted are often crudely depicted, which in contrast to the beautifully rendered animals tells us more about their values. Note: that no human conflict is ever captured on these walls.) In Judith Thurman's fascinating 2008 article in The New Yorker about the cave, she writes how in these halls the artists invented perspective, animation, scaffolding to reach high places, stenciling, pointillism, powdered colors, brushes, stumping cloths, and blowing pigments with the mouth. The techniques are astonishing, and anything but "primitive". These marks upon the walls are not just the origins of art, but are in fact astonishing works of art in and of themselves.

Jeff Koons at the Whitney on Brooklyn Based

A review on the Jeff Koons retrospective that I just wrote for Brooklyn Based has posted!  It really is a magical show...for all ages!

Coming Back To The Blog

I can't believe that it has been almost a year since my last post. Despite my passion for art and seeing copious amounts of shows with my son, I have found blogging to be a tad overwhelming to keep up with alongside my other work. I hope all of my readers have kept up with our art journey at Brooklyn Based where I write often about our gallery visits.

I've had to rethink what I want to accomplish with this blog and how to separate it from my other work. The question I ultimately came to, was what is my unique perspective and how best to share it with my readers? I'd love any suggestions on what you'd like to hear about, I'm all ears. I have some great brainstorms for upcoming posts, continuing my family's art path, as well as my personal creative life learning. In the meantime, I'd like to share my week's media (reading and podcast links).

Podcast on Heritage Radio-- Lisa Congdon, author of Art, Inc-- I just found out about this wonderful Inc. series by Chronicle Books which gives practical advice to start your own business in crafts, as a mom, or this one, as an artist.  I'll definitely be ordering a few of these books (Blog, Inc for one!). But today, I enjoyed listening to this podcast with the San Francisco- based artist and author of Art, Inc.

Creative Block by Danielle Krysa-- This book is by one of my favorite art bloggers, Danielle Krysa aka The Jealous Curator. I found it in the Whitney bookstore, after visiting the Jeff Koons show this summer. Although I'm only a few projects in, I can already tell that this book is potentially life changing. It's like a project based graduate school in a book, with over 50 cool projects suggested by the coolest artists. I'll be posting more about this in the future, and will be documenting part of my own creative process. I'm just seeing that this is also published by Chronicle, so obviously I need to explore their website for more great discoveries.

Art History Course on Khan Academy- If you are a big nerd like me, you will LOVE this free course in art history at Khan Academy. I hope this is just the beginning of their curriculum, because I would love to even dive deeper. The format with some reading, and lots of videos, makes the learning fun-- and very different than sitting in a dark room looking at slides (which is what my college art history experience was.)