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Look, for a while I did not care about prehistoric art. It was hidden beneath the veil of primitivism. Let‘s rewire our contemporary brains and try to view the past a little differently.
When looking at prehistoric art, how do you feel? Does it make you excited to imagine a world before your time? Does it seem boring or even uninspired? Maybe you feel confused or disconnected due to the history between yourself and the work that stands before you. No matter how ancient works of art make you feel, it is crucial to learn and recognize the value and importance of these pieces and how they relate to the world around us.
Why is it so important? I mean, we are living in the future! We have 3D printers, self-driving cars, and infinite knowledge at our fingertips. Why should we be looking to the past? For starters, we can learn about ourselves by seeing what our ancestors did 10,000 years ago. Prehistoric art is a major influence on contemporary art. Ever since the discovery of cave drawings and ancient Egyptian tombs, artists have been inspired by their primordial selves.
The value of looking back is to learn about how it has inspired our own art. What we would consider art from the past, is influenced by the art of an even more distant past, and so on. We can learn about humanity and how we view the world just by looking at how we lived and created art throughout history. It is important to see where we started out so we can see where we are going in the future. Ancient art reveals historical details that we may not have been able to understand had it not been for the art created at the time.
All this to say remind yourself that people in the past were people like us, living life and making art. We aren’t so different from our historical siblings.
When looking at prehistoric art, how do you feel? Does it make you excited to imagine a world before your time? Does it seem boring or even uninspired? Maybe you feel confused or disconnected due to the history between yourself and the work that stands before you. No matter how ancient works of art make you feel, it is crucial to learn and recognize the value and importance of these pieces and how they relate to the world around us.
Why is it so important? I mean, we are living in the future! We have 3D printers, self-driving cars, and infinite knowledge at our fingertips. Why should we be looking to the past? For starters, we can learn about ourselves by seeing what our ancestors did 10,000 years ago. Prehistoric art is a major influence on contemporary art. Ever since the discovery of cave drawings and ancient Egyptian tombs, artists have been inspired by their primordial selves.
The value of looking back is to learn about how it has inspired our own art. What we would consider art from the past, is influenced by the art of an even more distant past, and so on. We can learn about humanity and how we view the world just by looking at how we lived and created art throughout history. It is important to see where we started out so we can see where we are going in the future. Ancient art reveals historical details that we may not have been able to understand had it not been for the art created at the time.
All this to say remind yourself that people in the past were people like us, living life and making art. We aren’t so different from our historical siblings.
Jun 2, 2025
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I think the movie The Cave of forgotten dreams by Werner Herzog is such an amazing work that helps us to connect with pre-historic art. Not only because of its documentaries merits showing the effort to study these works, bot for it poetic value as well, it carries such an amazing sensibility
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👣was at an art museum today just totally lost in thought about how alive everything was and how hundreds of ancient hands touched the things i was seeing and being someone who makes things myself i reflected both on how hard it was but also how we’ve been doing things like ceramics the same way for lifetimes now. art is so alive because of all the hands it took to make it and because of its very human purpose. i comb my hair and someone also combed their hair and drank and fought and loved it’s just their objects are on display for antiquities purpose and mine aren’t. we’re all just little walking museums full of interiority and maybe one day these words will be indecipherable to someone. empires rise and fall but we are all still combing hair and building things making with our hands. humanity is really so beautiful when we aren’t killing eachother.
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I understand the stop-at-whatever-catches-your-eye style of visiting museums and galleries but it makes me sad to see people rush through. The real joy of art is the breakthrough that occurs after engaging with a made thing.
Some helpful questions to ask: -What is the title of the piece and how does it relate it what I see? -Why did I stop/hurry past? -Why is it here? Does it belong to the space or to a theme? -What does it allow me to do/see/think/play with?
Some helpful questions to ask: -What is the title of the piece and how does it relate it what I see? -Why did I stop/hurry past? -Why is it here? Does it belong to the space or to a theme? -What does it allow me to do/see/think/play with?
May 19, 2024
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Just watched Hank Green’s video about neanderthal art discovered in Spain and I think it’s so incredible to imagine people who aren’t homo sapiens making art and even just existing. We feel so superior and unique, but the fact that neanderthal and other species of people used to exist is fucking rad!
Dec 7, 2024
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