Week 7 Art in culture

I would venture to guess that the artists were telling a story about animals and how important they were to the artists. I might venture further and say the artists were attempting to show us how important these animals could be to everyone.

It would seem that the artists worshipped these animals and portrayed them as special entities which should be respected, the story they drew was more about the animals. Therefore they did not draw many people, because that would have redirected the importance to the humans.

I could perhaps say that with all this art work they may have had a lot of time on their hands, but I can’t be sure some of their art may have taken hours, days even or it could have taken only a few moments, there is also the possibility the elderly who had nothing but time, made the art. If I’m being honest there are many different directions into their life that the art could show me, but I could never say for certain just what the art was intended to say about them. My best guess would be that their life revolved around the animals they depicted, for food and possibly for worship.

Well the area where the paintings are located is a problem in itself, the majority of the paintings are either high on the cave walls or on the ceiling of the cave. I don’t believe that logically any of these early humans were tall enough to reach such places, they would have had to find a way to reach. I would speculate the possibility of one member riding on another members shoulders in order to reach such heights. Then there is the more basic matter of finding a mixture to use as paint and then changing the color for different animals, I would assume plant life was used, possibly mixed with dirt, clay, or even perhaps animal blood.

I might speculate the possible reasoning for this art to be storytelling, possibly a way to record historic events, or it might also be simply art for the eyes of their tribe and future tribes, like us, to enjoy.

Like the art in Lascaux caves, we still today sometimes make art that tells a story, some may even argue that all art tells a story. Also like the prehistoric art, we have art that depicts large portions of our history a prime example might be paintings made that show the death and gore of the civil war. Early humans may have used art much in the same way as we use it today, to tell stories and to show a visual depiction of historic events. We have developed over time things to actually draw on, rather than using the land or buildings for art, in most cases. For early humans the land was all they had to show us pieces of their world and their lifestyle. We still paint as they did, we just have a different sort of canvas.

An American Painting of the Civil War.

I find that after watching my very first acapella movie, Pitch perfect and Pitch perfect 2, that I am addicted to acapella, it is amazing to me to see what just a few people can do with only their voices to use for sound. Before reading these instructions I will admit I had spaced out music as a form of art, not sure how I could forget as much as I enjoy music, but all the same.

First Link is a video of the Pentatonix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P95_pCbCPZw

Second Link is from Pitch Perfect 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3U2ew2-LOQ

In the second link you can actually see a contest between 

multiple acapella groups known as a "Riff Off."

Acapella Groups such as the well-known Pentatonix, use their voices to create or re-create music. It is a form of entertainment for most, but there are even events where groups compete to see who is the very best, such an event was depicted in the Pitch Perfect movies. They attempt to communicate just how powerful voices can be, they can replace instruments along with the well-known ability to sing.

Acapella is pretty universal culture wise, there is not one specific culture that does it, however it may have originated in one specific culture before it spread world-wide. Generally the singers dress according to what they are singing or where they are, there is no specific form of dress. I have only heard acapella done in English, but I am sure it is done in other languages as well. As for behavior, not really although sometimes and especially during competitions they must choreograph a dance set to go with their singing.

 I might get a bit of negative feedback for this, but honestly I believe that Acapella is very beneficial to newer generations, because it gives some of them something constructive and beneficial to them to look forward too. Instead of another Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus, pop stars who can get away with almost anything are not very good role models. However Acapella gives viewers not only something to watch, but if they decide to try it. It will help them become active with dance moves as I mentioned before and it will help them learn how to exercise their vocal cords to different things such as mimicking instruments and other sounds. Kids get to see people who worked very hard to be able to do what they do and the hard work doesn’t end, they are constantly improving and learning new techniques to compete with. I would love to see a lot more kids doing this than playing video games, shooting up neighborhoods, doing drugs, dropping out of school, etc. I think they just need something constructive to become interested in and to help them see a different way to go. Other benefits are a form of entertainment and a healthy outlet for people interested in dance and music. I can’t really think of any detrimental effects of it, other than gaining a new way to use your voice for more than just talking or singing.