“First we build the tools, then they build us” – Marshall Mcluchan

I would like to share a little bit about how social media has taken over the lives of most of civilization.
Modern technology arrived into our lives not that long ago – a few decades. Mobile phones, for example, were invented to help people communicate with each other in an easier way. Sadly, through time, it ended up doing exactly the opposite, as did the computer, the internet and all social media websites created since. Society’s idea of “communication” changed.

It is amazing how many things addiction to social media doesn’t let people realize. Sherry Turkle, professor from MIT, has made some very true points about society’s relationships nowadays in this TED Talks presentation video.

The ironic fact is that, actually, with all of these “communication” devices, we’ve never been so connected, yet we’ve never been so alienated from each other. The sources of communication – phones, computers, internet, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc., are thought to be helping people to socialize, which is true on the one hand. But on the other hand, with it becoming more and more popular, gives the people, who mainly use this type instead of face-to-face,  the idea that this kind of communication is now completely natural and, because of that, they don’t feel the need for live interaction.

“The Innovation of Loneliness” – Very well said.

I thought this was a relevant to the theme video with a very good illustration of the flaws of social media. A motion graphics video I stumbled upon a while ago that made an impact on me and I think It would speak to people. It gives a powerful message, presenting information about the consequences of social media addiction and, as a bonus, combined with beautifully and creatively developed illustrations and graphics.

Symbolic Language: Prehistoric Cave Art

It is fascinating to know how, for millions of years, human civilization has lived without any oral communication whatsoever and how they have managed to communicate with each other through body language – gestures, noises, etc. Also, it is amazing how different types of languages have developed over the years – sign languages, spoken languages, etc., due to human evolution. Today there are nearly 5000 spoken languages all over the world.

 Prehistoric Cave Paintings

Before spoken languages started evolving amongst human civilization, one of the ways of communication that I find very interesting was art, and, to be more exact, cave art, and the ability to understand what people tried to say through cave paintings and learning about their ways of communicating with one another. Prehistoric cave art shows us how our ancestors described their way of life, the way the saw the world and how they have been expressing themselves and their beliefs.

This may be the world’s oldest cave art according to studies.

El Castillo cave, Spain.
Photograph by Pedro Saura

El Castillo cave, Spain.
Photograph by Pedro Saura

I would like to focus more on the Lascaux cave.
It was interesting for me to find out how the Lascaux cave had accidentally been discovered in a day, that has started out like any other day. It was 12 September 1940 when four boys (Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas) and a dog went on a trip in the Vezere Valley in the woods above Montignac because of a legend stating that there is a tunnel under the Vezere River linking to another tunnel with hidden treasure deep in the woods of Montignac. The dog started running towards an area with a deep hole in the ground covered with overgrowth. The boys followed the dog and when they saw the hole they thought that it might lead them to the legendary tunnel. They discovered the Lascaux cave.
They decided they wanted to keep the cave to themselves and not tell anyone else about it but they couldn’t keep the secret any longer than 3 days, so they told a few people and the news spread very fast after that. The boys wanted to find out how old the pictures in the cave were and the asked their teacher, Leon Laval, for help, who confirmed that the paintings were from a prehistoric time. The discovery by the four boys made a huge impact on the history of art.

Two of the cave’s discoverers with the dog

The boys and their teacher at the entrance of the cave.

There are more than 1,500 drawings and about 600 realistic paintings  of animals like bison, ox, etc.

“The Great Hall of the Bulls”, Lascaux Cave

Megaloceros with a line of dots, Lascaux Cave

Lascaux Cave, Photograph by Sisse Brimberg for National Geographic

Lascaux Cave, Photograph by Holly Hayes

The prehistoric paintings in the caves have remained in excellent condition due to the atmospheric condition inside, which, unfortunately wasn’t fit for the human organism and many visitors in the caves passed out.

It would be a great experience to see the Lascaux Cave live, but I stumbled upon this great video of a virtual trip through the Cave, which is definitely worth a look.

While researching information about prehistoric cave art, I could not help but wonder what kind of techniques and materials were used in a yet for the time to evolve period  of Homo-habilis to Homo-erectus evolution.
Cave artists painted, engraved and sculpted, depending on the time and the geographical region.
A great deal of lithic and stone tools with scratches on them have been found and assumed to have been used for engraving. Engraved lines were and essential part for the creation of the paintings for details.
The main pigments used for the cave paintings were limited to black and warm colors like brown, red, ochre, etc. because they were naturally extracted from the earth. Iron oxides have been used for ochre, red, brown and yellow paint, and manganese dioxide or charcoal for black.
The Lascaux artists have used raw crayons for some the areas in the cave on surfaces that would allow it. Some of the pigments were mixed with animal fat and plant juices. The improvised paintbrushes were probably made from moss or fur. The interesting effect of spray painting could have been achieved by blowing paint through tubes from hollow bones or directly from the mouth.
It has been researched how the paint remained on the walls for such a long time and it has been examined and discovered that the paint has been created by mixing the pigments with a mineral extender and binder, which prevented the paint from cracking, fading or disappearing over the years.

Lawson, A. J., Cave Art, SHIRE PUBLICATIONS LTD., Buckingamshire, 1991

Skira, A., The Great Centuries of Painting, Lascaux, Switzerland

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120614-neanderthal-cave-paintings-spain-science-pike/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_n1p_intl_ot_w#

 http://www.savelascaux.org/Legacy_Finding.php

 http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/lascaux-caves