BuddhistRoadPaper 5.6 "Light on ‘Art in the Dark’: On Buddhist Practice and Worship in the Mogao Caves"

This piece has partly been written in response to a series of claims put forward by Robert Sharf almost a decade ago in his article Art in the Dark in which he argues that the Buddhist caves in Dunhuang (and elsewhere in China and Central Asia) were not for worship, but were created as a sort of ancestral memorials, or decorated mausoleums meant to be left in the dark. Given that the implications of such reading of Buddhist cave-art in the Sinitic cultural-sphere would surely have a profound impact on our overall understanding of Buddhist ritual practices and cave-art, should Sharf’s readings turn out to be correct, the evidence and speculations he uses as underpinnings for his line of argument in particular merit closer scrutiny. Moreover, as he touches upon a range of other related issues, all of which concern Buddhist ritual practices one way or another, it seems worthwhile to devote a lengthier essay to a more detailed discussion.

Czego oczy nie widzą, tego archeologom żal – nowe metody dokumentacji sztuki naskalnej (RTI, DSTRETCH)

This article presents the cognitive possibilities of the methods of documentation of rock art. It focuses on the latest and relatively recent documentation methods, such as RTI and DStretch. These techniques have been described in terms of the effectiveness of their application to various types of monuments, with particular emphasis on their application to the Franco-Cantabrian rock art. It was also emphasized that these techniques significantly affect the quality of the collected data and the analytical and interpretative level of cave art.

The Temporality of Contemporaneity and Contemporary Art: Kant, Kentridge and Cave Art as Elective Contemporaries

This article contributes to understanding of Contemporary Art and of the temporality of contemporaneity, along with the philosophy of time more generally. I propose a diachronic contemporaneity over time gaps – elective contemporaneity – through examination of Kant’s Transcendental Aesthetic, the Third Analogy and the concept of ‘following’ among artistic geniuses; diachronic recognition and disjunctive synchronicity discoverable in William Kentridge’s multimedia artworks; as well as non-chronological temporal implications of superimpositions in late Palaeolithic cave art suggesting ‘graphic respect’. Elective contemporaneity shows up complexity in relations to past and present, putting in question definitions of ‘Contemporary Art’ restricted to either chronology or supposedly definitive paradigms.

Cave Art and the Evolution of the Human Mind

<p>The discovery of cave paintings made by our Upper Paleolithic ancestors in Western Europe was an astonishing find – so astonishing, that they were originally believed to have been fakes. However, as more sites were uncovered, their authenticity was confirmed. But how could these people, who at the time of the discovery were believed to be merely dumb brutes, create such beautiful and naturalistic representations? And an even more difficult question to answer was, why? In this thesis I examine the phenomenon of Paleolithic cave art and what it might be able to tell us about the minds of the Cro-Magnon artists who produced it. I survey the paintings that have so far been discovered, as well as the processes involved in creating them. I also discuss and critique a selection of the many theories that have attempted to explain the motivation behind this radically different type of human behaviour. But due to the lack of hard evidence, none of these theories are ever likely to be fully substantiated. So a more promising line of investigation I take is to appraise the cognitive abilities Cro-Magnons would have needed to produce the paintings – and this then allows me to consider whether cave art was indicating any new cognitive development. I therefore highlight one of the effects that creating cave paintings had: it allowed information from the brain to be stored in the environment. But the manner in which this form of epistemic engineering might enhance human cognition is a hotly debated subject. I examine two theories: the extended mind hypothesis, and the theory of niche construction. In concluding this thesis, I argue that cave art seems more like an example of epistemic niche construction than a constituent of an extended mind.</p>

Cave Art and the Evolution of the Human Mind

<p>The discovery of cave paintings made by our Upper Paleolithic ancestors in Western Europe was an astonishing find – so astonishing, that they were originally believed to have been fakes. However, as more sites were uncovered, their authenticity was confirmed. But how could these people, who at the time of the discovery were believed to be merely dumb brutes, create such beautiful and naturalistic representations? And an even more difficult question to answer was, why? In this thesis I examine the phenomenon of Paleolithic cave art and what it might be able to tell us about the minds of the Cro-Magnon artists who produced it. I survey the paintings that have so far been discovered, as well as the processes involved in creating them. I also discuss and critique a selection of the many theories that have attempted to explain the motivation behind this radically different type of human behaviour. But due to the lack of hard evidence, none of these theories are ever likely to be fully substantiated. So a more promising line of investigation I take is to appraise the cognitive abilities Cro-Magnons would have needed to produce the paintings – and this then allows me to consider whether cave art was indicating any new cognitive development. I therefore highlight one of the effects that creating cave paintings had: it allowed information from the brain to be stored in the environment. But the manner in which this form of epistemic engineering might enhance human cognition is a hotly debated subject. I examine two theories: the extended mind hypothesis, and the theory of niche construction. In concluding this thesis, I argue that cave art seems more like an example of epistemic niche construction than a constituent of an extended mind.</p>

Prehistoric Cave Art: From Image to Graphic Narration

This article examines cave art in France, arguing that the images created at many sites, but particularly Chauvet, can be analysed in terms of animation, storytelling, lighting and sound. Through superimposition and juxtaposition, and using the contours of the rock face, Palaeolithic artists invented a form of narration based on images, often then animated by the flickering light of lamps and torches. Drawing on semiological work by Philippe Sohet and his terms ‘narrative image’ and ‘iconic narration’, the article sees panels of cave art as constituting scenes and actions that can be discussed in relation to both bande dessinée and cinema. Finally, evidence suggests that the spectacles produced in these spaces, whatever their elusive meaning, also depended on sound and acoustics.

Leroi-Gourhan and the Evolution of Forms

The prehistorian André Leroi-Gourhan envisages technological behaviour along a continuum of manual activity extending to artistic production. His work on Palaeolithic cave art, which dominates the final phase of his career, builds on parameters set out in the 1950s and 1960s, and indeed early works on figuration ( Bestiaire du bronze chinois (1936) and Documents pour l'art comparé (1943)) already use the methodology which characterizes his Préhistoire de l'art occidental (1965). Nevertheless, there is a qualitative shift in Leroi-Gourhan's post-war work in response to structuralism and in dialogue with his work on human evolution. Le Geste et la Parole (1964–5) represents an important point of mediation, describing the physiological foundations of aesthetic experience and the stages of development which precede figuration. Leroi-Gourhan argues for the normality of Palaeolithic art as an artistic tradition while insisting on its absolute otherness. The mind in the cave is capable of the most abstract and esoteric variations of form and content, but also represents an alternative world to our own.

The Superior Visual Perception Hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of Cave Art

Cave Art in the Upper Paleolithic presents a boost of creativity and visual thinking. What can explain these savant-like paintings? The normal brain function in modern man rarely supports the creation of highly detailed paintings, particularly the convincing representation of animal movement, without extensive training and access to modern technology. Differences in neuro-signaling and brain anatomy between modern and archaic Homo sapiens could also cause differences in perception. The brain of archaic Homo sapiens could perceive raw detailed information without using pre-established top-down concepts, as opposed to the common understanding of the normal modern non-savant brain driven by top-down control. Some ancient genes preserved in modern humans may be expressed in rare disorders. Researchers have compared Cave Art with art made by people with autism spectrum disorder. We propose that archaic primary consciousness, as opposed to modern secondary consciousness, included a savant-like perception with a superior richness of details compared to modern man. Modern people with high frequencies of Neanderthal genes, have notable anatomical features such as increased skull width in the occipital and parietal visual areas. We hypothesize that the anatomical differences are functional and may allow a different path to visual perception.