We have begun an odyssey in the world of football/futból/soccer. We haven’t had anyone playing for a couple years so, while not an entirely new experience, we are seeing with new eyes. As with our eldest son, the youngest is playing on the sidelines while his older brother has practice or plays in the game. This is where the adventure begins.
The fields are vast: a configuration of 18 fields, each of which is built at a different level of height. There is no wind break, and I can tell you that even if you are scheduled to play on the pitch between two hills, it doesn’t really make a difference when it comes to the wind. The spectators go home exhausted just from the effort to keep from being blown over. That is not to detract from the beauty of the green rolling hills punctuated by goals and flags. Living in a town, this is the greatest stretch of open land one has the opportunity to see.
Amongst the hills is a rather spectacular drainage system, one they have developed since Eldest was playing (association) football. It is spectacular in the way that it outlines the side of the fields we use the most. A shallow concrete trough suitable for walking when dry, all points lead downhill to a drainage tunnel large enough for even an adult to crawl through. Youngest (T3) has informed me that this tunnel is his basilisk. Or, where his basilisk lives. It varies.
We were exploring the basilisk’s territory one night during futból practice, and I had an opportunity to snap some shadow play from our position atop its lair. (Conquerors, we!)
We take advantage of shadows when we can. The illusions that are created by shadows, or those which we can create with them are so much fun to see. Looking at our shadows in the late day sun reminded me of the ancient paintings discovered in caves. Do you know what I’m talking about? The images of people, in particular, at least in the images I’ve seen, always seem elongated, reminding me of shadows.
So that got me thinking about the way humans have been portrayed through time. We see the somewhat simple, flat-looking designs of the cave dwellers and even Egyptian artists. I am referring to the actual, literal resemblance to people. Comparing to more modern artists who have produced almost photographic quality images of their subjects. My disclaimer here is that I am definitely not an expert on art, nor artists, and I am strictly speaking generally, and as specified. I consider all the images to which I am referring, to be far more complex than what one might think at first glance.
I was thinking of what type of light source was available for the cave artists, and whether they always worked from memory and imagination. Did the light source affect how they formed their paintings? Would the paintings be different if they had different type of lighting? Did artists sometimes portray what they saw in shadows? I would love to know what was going on behind the scenes, what they were thinking.
6 comments:
I blame Howard Keel for all that wind.
Young t3, the green knight of Arthurian legend? Battling his basilisk, resplendent in his green armour I see.
It is speculated that for some of the cave paintings the artists filled their mouths with the pigment and sprayed it out much in the same fashion as a modern air-brush.
What was the shadowy face to the left on the bottom pic, the infamous basilisk with it's big eyes and resplendent with it's spiky hair?
[strangely the first four letters of the word verification i need to type in for this comment are "keel" yikes spooky, must have something to do with that basilisk !!]
cal: I like your thinking. :)
T3 was amazed at your insight. But he told me the basilisk has a head made of rock with grass on it, NOT hair!
I have heard of that method of pigment painting--there was some documentary where one guy actually demonstrated. Pretty cool.
I very much enjoyed this Nina.
I think cave men and the beginnings of Egyptian art were based on emotion. Technicalities like perspective, lighting and coloring were not important - probably never even thought of. They lived in the moment and painted it so. Much of their time was spent in just surviving and finding food. As an artist I too have often wondered did shadows mean anything to early man. I wonder if their thinking was that advanced. Great post Nina. Loved the photos.
janice: Thank you, I'm glad you saw this. Your insight is just what I am wondering about. I think the focus on survival did take a lot of their energy.
I wonder who it was that did the cave paintings, the men? the women? both? Some of the early civilisations did show complex ideas, i.e. design and construction of their cities. Perhaps the art focused more on symbolic imagery rather than realistic representations? And, if that were the case, would that indicate more advanced thinking than we give credit to the peoples of ancient times?
Thanks for sparking my imagination! :)
This was fun to see and read about. A different yet very interesting aspect.
katie: Thanks for reading, Katie. :) I like to think about what all the information we have gathered about our predecessors really tells about their personal lives. I suppose if I was talking about someone living today, it would be me being nosey. :)
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