This five-part series "How Art Made the World" is very intriguing, to me, it is like taking an fascinating journey with an excellent guide. It amazingly offers a glimpse into the epic story of how mankind was driven to create images, help me comprehend mankind's unique capacity tounderstand and explain the world through artistic symbols, and reveals some crucial points in understanding how art and mankind helped to shape each other. Each episode seeks to answer one key question through examinations of some exquisite artifacts.
Why did the unrealistic images of human body dominate the art? - More Human than Human
- Normadic People exaggerated style can be explained by "peak shift" theory: In essence mankind's brain is hard-wired to focus upon parts of objects with pleasing associations, same as seagull's instinct.
- The rigid style of Egyptian images were driven by their obsession with order and precision. Egyptian oppressed the hard-wired tendency to match their grim system.
- The perfection but anatomically impossible style of Greek statue reveal that we human don't like the reality because the reality is boring. Our biologically instinct prefer the exaggerated images, and what we exaggerate changes over time.
The answer is:The culture is king. The society we live in, the value we create for our society, these are the cornerstone how we depict human body.
Why did people invent images of the world around them? - The Day Pictures Were Born
The following 2 explainations failed to answer this question:
- To create representations of things in the world around them
- To increae the chances of a successful hunting
The real answer lies in hallucinations in trance state: Sensory deprivation resulted in powerful hallucinations, which lead to prehistoric artists felt compelled to paint them on the walls. They were simply nailing down their visions.
How did the power of image come to be used as a political tool? - The Art of Persuasion
- Personal adornment enhanced the leader's status
- Political logo helped to spread kingly messages across the empire with many disparate conquered people to rule
- Art is used as a tool of political promotion, sometimes, even an instrument of mass deception.
Where did the ingredients of visual storytelling come from? - Once Upon A Time
- A hero: the tale of Gilgamesh
- A storyline: An ambitious King in Assyria
- Emotion: Greek
- Music: Australian Aborigines
Why do human surround themselves with death images? - To Death and Back
When facing the inevitability of death, the images of death try:- To provide reassurance to us
- To terrify us
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