Early forms of graphic story-telling
In class today we took on these areas of interest for earlier examples of telling stories through pictures:
the ancient cave drawing, the medieval tapestry, the mural, the tryptych (great Scrabble word!), and then the 19th century work of photographer Muybridge.
Here you are asked to tell us a little about what you see your assigned area doing in the way of relaying information visually. Tell us what you've discovered, and give us a link or several links to where we will find out more.
*****
As you post, I'll add the links you provide to our list of links. Here are two from Samantha on murals:
Mural: Great Wall of L.A.
Mural: Balmy Alley in the San Francisco Mission District
Here are some from David on tapestries:
Tapestry: Lady and the Unicorn.1
Tapestry: Lady and the Unicorn.2
Tapestry: Hunt of the Unicorn.1
Tapestry: Hunt of the Unicorn.2
Tapestries: general info.1
Tapestries: general info.2
Here's what Amanda found about the photography of Eadward Muybridge:
Muybridge.1
Muybridge via Wikipedia
the ancient cave drawing, the medieval tapestry, the mural, the tryptych (great Scrabble word!), and then the 19th century work of photographer Muybridge.
Here you are asked to tell us a little about what you see your assigned area doing in the way of relaying information visually. Tell us what you've discovered, and give us a link or several links to where we will find out more.
*****
As you post, I'll add the links you provide to our list of links. Here are two from Samantha on murals:
Here are some from David on tapestries:
Here's what Amanda found about the photography of Eadward Muybridge:
posted by James | 9:27 AM
7 Comments:
Murals are used to express various social, political or ethnic issues. They are created on permanent surfaces such as large walls or buildings and are painted using the whole surface with bright and elaborate works of art.
This is a link to the great wall of LA.
http://bomoco.com/greatwall/
I also found this link to a mural created on Mission St. in San Francisco.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Balmy_Alley_Mission_SF2.jpg
There used to be--maybe there still are--walking tours of the murals of the Mission District. You can find them in prominent places like above the BART station--where the BART train is depicted as overwhelming the neighborhood--and you can also find them in narrow alleys, sometimes known only to the folks whose windows look out onto those alleys.
Nice links, Samantha.
Tapestries are woven images intended to hang on a wall and were very common decorations for churches, castles, and palaces and they reached their height in the middle ages although tapestries have been found from c.3rd-4th century b.c.. Because they were intended as decorations many tapestries don't tell a story and are just nice to look at, if you like that kind of thing. Tapestries usually depicted something that had to do with the prince or nobleman who commissioned it such as his exploits and prowess in battle. I found some interesting tapestries about. . . . . unicorns. . . . wtf. . . um ok.
The Lady and the Unicorn
http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/pages/page_id18368_u1l2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn
The Hunt of the Unicorn
http://www.geocities.com/area51/corridor/5177/hunt.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn
general tapestry info
http://www.io.com/~tapestry/#Ancient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapestries
Marcus Baca
English 155d
Jan. 22, 2007
this link is to a website on tapestries that was the most easy and most accesible for learning about tapestries and their history:
http://www.fromtimespast.com/tapestries.htm
tapestries first and foremost use was for warmth as they were used to seal in heat and keep out the cold. but over time theywere used to depict religious and mythical art. and some were used to tell the history of the particular family that owned them. some had threads made of gold and silver. and these tapestries had such vibrant and amazing colors. lot of time and energy was put intot hese tapestries. there are websites dedicated to just the making of tapestries.
Theories abound about the meaning, reasons for and role in prehistoric society of the cave paintings found around the world. Many essays could be written about the factual and historic roles of these ancient cave drawings, but much of that would be better suited to an Anthropology class. Rather, I would like to write about my interpretations of these ancient drawings.
It has been a commonly accepted theory that the idea of a “tradition” in prehistoric society began with oral story-telling. Indeed this is probably true, for a single community. But what would ancient humans have done to communicate a belief, religious or other; a concept or a story to another tribe or group that did not have the same communication? Art.
Far from a universal concept of “good” or “bad” art, it seems to me that effective communication through pictures could be more accurate, especially as a learning tool.
Two hunters from different groups who had a different word for deer, but who needed to work together to find deer to hunt, could work out their plan with pictures. A simple enough start.
From a simple enough beginning such as this could come the next stage of social evolution. After hunting or other survival concepts are communicated, more complex ideas could be shared. Early spiritual, religious or organizational concepts could be passed on in this fashion, opening new ideas to new groups who had never heard them. And using a visual medium could help explain ideas that words could not convey.
After a basic, personal dialogue has been established what happens next would be a uniformity of art; different groups using the same communication to convey a universal idea. To have those established, one would need a set standards that all could learn from. For ancient humans, visual art would be the only universal standard that all could understand. For a bunch of scattered, loose-knit groups, this accomplishment would probably be miraculous, even spiritual in itself.
Cave drawing, though far from establishing a universal dialogue, as that can differ in style, materials and method within a single area, do seem to have universal concepts behind them: the hunt, animals to be feared, revered or eaten; any combination therein, religious rituals and abstract designed, as well as a small sputtering of what could be classified as early “textbook,” detailing a limited understanding of things such as anatomy or botany (though in a primitive fashion).
Drawing these things in dirt or on outside, weather-exposed, stone was far from permanent. Placing them inside protected, isolated caves would mean that future generations could have the chance to “see” what their forbearers were like, and would mean a continuation of a certain way of life.
Another interesting (to me, at least) aspect of cave drawings is the common placement of an outline of a human hand placed near other paintings. Though not a proven fact, the common theory behind this is that the hand outline was a type of “signature” of the cave artist. A difficult aspect of interpreting the true nature of cave art is taking oneself out of the “modern” mindset - swimming pools, automobiles, television, etc. – and getting into a prehistoric mindset: hunting, gathering, warmth- to easier understand what these people were up to.
I would observe that the “signature” hand outline could be a bridge in between whether the aspect of the signature comes from a sense of personal pride, (Grog drew! Grog talented!) or of a more racial pride (We are human, we were here and this is a part of us. Remember.)
It could be seen as an extension of the human desire to leave something behind, to survive in one way if the other fails, as could, I suppose, the entire concept of cave art.
So, with no provable facts regarding the uses of cave art, it is my opinion that early man used visual storytelling as a bridge to cross the gaps between societal groups of different beliefs as a means to survival in the non-hunter/gatherer sense of the word that is a hallmark of the human species. Plus, I imagine they had a lot of fun doing it.
A few links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401459.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578676/Paleolithic_Art.html
http://www.philipcoppens.com/cavepaintings.html
A triptych is a work of panel painting which is divided into three sections which are hinged together. The central panel is the most important one, and this is flanked on either side by two lesser but related paintings. The whole is intended to be greater than the sum of the parts.
The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was the standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Its geographical range was from the eastern Byzantine churches through to the English Celtic church in the west. Renaissance painters and sculptors such as Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch used the form.
here are some examples:
http://www.terbushgalleries.com/pics/tryptich.jpg
http://www.iit.edu/~nash/triptych.jpg
http://www.wanderingfirepottery.com/new%20tiles%20october%202003/sailing%20to%20valinor%20triptych%20october.jpg
Cave paintings have played an integral part in hypothesizing about the lives and societies of early humans. Most all of the paintings that have been found are of animals and other natural occurrences that “cave men” would have come into contact with. Whether for “magic” or luck for hunting, early religious practice, or just for fun, no one can really know for sure why a man would paint a cave wall, but it is safe to assume that the matter of the artwork would definitely be a very important aspect of the artist’s daily life.
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