How Did, Or Did Not Art Evolve?
Archaeologists have long debated the origin of figurative art; the assumption being that art has evolved from most primitive to most refined over long ages. A new find has some rethinking that - it's possible that humans have been capable of creating sophisticated figurative art from the outset of humanity. That the first humans might have been sophisticated artists reminds me of the argument Chesterton makes about the evolution of society in "Everlasting Man" - that what might be labeled primitive has existed side by side with what might be labeled sophisticated all along. Back to art, though, this seems to have a bearing on how we think about changes in art: just because something is new does not mean it is automatically higher up the evolutionary ladder, because for things like this, evolution has less to do with it than the inborn brilliance of the artist.
Archaeologists have long debated the origin of figurative art; the assumption being that art has evolved from most primitive to most refined over long ages. A new find has some rethinking that - it's possible that humans have been capable of creating sophisticated figurative art from the outset of humanity. That the first humans might have been sophisticated artists reminds me of the argument Chesterton makes about the evolution of society in "Everlasting Man" - that what might be labeled primitive has existed side by side with what might be labeled sophisticated all along. Back to art, though, this seems to have a bearing on how we think about changes in art: just because something is new does not mean it is automatically higher up the evolutionary ladder, because for things like this, evolution has less to do with it than the inborn brilliance of the artist.
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