THE ORIGINS OF ART Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THE ORIGINS OF ART - Case Study Example Nowadays, the situation is not different. This is evident in televisions, billboards and magazines where men and women with ‘perfect’ bodies are used to advertise goods and services. Through this concept, we can conclude that ancient man and modern man are not different. However, using modern culture to explain a past culture may not be entirely reliable. First of all, there are special cultures that were totally different from us. Take for instance the Egyptians. They were not affected by peak shift and did not see the need to design unrealistic human forms. Secondly, all artists are different. Though they are connected by the desire to create art, artisans differ in many ways; for example they have different sources of inspiration, what works for one might not work for the other. The sources of inspiration for ancient artists are not the same as modern artists. It is therefore not plausible to use modern art to try to decipher ancient art. Prehistoric paintings are not depictions of shamanic trance visions. The paintings were based on creatures that were present the time like horses and reindeer that were in existence in Europe. These were creatures that were either eaten, used or seen by the ancient man. It is worth noting that different archeological sites had different set of animal paintings. The paintings in Europe comprised animals that were there at the time, Africa had its own set of animals and paintings, as was the rest of the world. If they were trance visions, then we could expect paintings of alien creatures in various archeological sites. For instance, we could expect to find paintings of American animals in African sites. No, it does not. It is difficult o deduce this issue due to the amount of time that separates modern times and the prehistoric times. No amount of thinking will enable us to know what made them start