sunday: may 31st
art: inevitable?
lascaux is a complex setting of caves in France, it was discovered in the September of 1940, when an 18 year old lost his dog and he and two of his friends stumbled upon the caves. after inspecting further, he found paintings inside the cave. it was eventually established that the artworks were approximately 17,000 years old. those three boys, camped outside the cave for an entire year to protect the artwork inside until eventually the French Government took over. later, when they realised that the cave being open to the public and the excessive human visitation was degrading the art, they made a fake replica of the cave and opened that to the public. what's peculiar is that these caves were filled with what are called negative hand stencils, just imagine a circle filled in with paint except in the centre where you'd have your hand print. similar paintings can be found all over the world. in the words of the John Green, 'they (also) remind us that the humans of the past were as human as we are. their hands indistinguishable from ours.'
the point i'm trying to get at, is the prospect of art never having been an option for humanity, it was never optional. art is inevitable.
what's hopeful is that those three teenage boys dedicating a year to protecting the art they found in the cave, what's hopeful is that when we realised that simply looking at the paintings was destroying them, we agreed to stop going.
art is beautiful. the ones among us who don't appreciate art, and I mean all forms of art, from paintings to pieces of literature to more modern forms of the same, they haven't found the depth of their existence yet. living in a constant denial of their true emotions and likenesses to: appear cool? seem manly? I wouldn't know.
cinematic masterpieces deserve equal credit. reminds me of the line from 'Dead Poets Society':
"Medicine, Law, Engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
the fact that out of the infinite ways humanity could've developed, the fact that we did involve ourselves in art, is so beautiful. and I love the certainty that I wouldn't have it any other way. to see so many people around me that accept the depth and beauty of art and themselves is something I'm incredibly grateful for. it is insanely important to spend time to understand oneself and dedicate time and effort into learning, instead of simply denying any possibility of the existence of anything more to you than the self you portray.
this email was largely inspired by John Green's ongoing podcast 'The Anthropocene Reviewed' which you can listen to (for free) too.
hello,
it's officially the start of the 6th month of the year, half of 2020, damn. with this mail I would like to invite more suggestions (by replying to this email) on what you'd like to read in the upcoming weeks.
