The Art in Culture

1. a. The picture below shows a bison (which I read, it was the most powerful animal during the paleolithic times) and a man who is lying on the floor. To me, it seems as though the man lost the fight against the bison, and he is dead. Perhaps, the people were trying to show their daily struggles and adversities through paintings.

b. The Lascaux caves were covered with bison, ox, horses, cattle,deer, bears, and wolves paintings.. Depicted animals showed of deer and cattle which were hunted and eaten, and animals such as bears and wolves were feared of. During the Paleolithic times, survival depended on meat through hunting, and the fur for warmth. I believe the paintings were mainly about animals, because animals were very important for the people's lives.

c. The paintings can also give us an insight on their diet, tools they acquired, and their habitat. The paintings show cattle and other livestock which can indicate what kind of animals were being hunted at that time. In the first image I provided, it shows a man using a broken spear against that bison. So perhaps, their tools were spears and sharp objects, and the most obvious is that the Paleolithic people were cavedwellers, and the caves were their habitats.

d. The early humans had the difficulties of darkness of the caves, because back then, they did not have the bright lights, but they did have gas lamps as their source of light, so they did manage to get some sort of light, but it was probably so dim.

e.One of the possible functions of this art is it could have served as entertainment. I did further reading on the caves of Luscaux, and one archaeologist stated that some paintings were some what positions like that of a comic book, so it could have been of form of storytelling. Another function of this art could have been like sign of caution. Paintings that included bears and wolves could have informed other people that these animals mean harm and are predators. And, lastly, it could have been just a form of education. Maybe teaching children how to draw was a way for this culture to develop creativity.

2. The function we see in the art in the Luscaux caves and in today's art is that art can be one's expression, and it can be seen as a form of entertainment.

My favorite form of art is Ballet. 

3. a. Ballet dancing has a few functions. Ballet can aide in improving posture and balance. In some cases, it helps maintain weight. By practicing ballet, an individual can improve their stretching techniques, and it can can strengthen the abdominal muscles. In ballet, they are interpreting music through elegant like movements.

b. There is a whole culture surrounding this form of art. It is performed in The United States, France, Italy, and Russia. Ballet even has its own set of vocabulary (French) of movements. The girls and women who practice ballet always wear a tutu, leotard, legging  tights, and a bun,etc.

c. Ballet has its detrimental affects.Ballet dancing is particularly hard on the female.Women must be very thin, and they have to appear girlish in figure, which provokes an epidemic of anorexia and bulimia among the female dancers. Girls who pursue ballet advance to pointe and use pointe showes. The way the pointe shoes are structured and repitition of certain dance moves can cause foot problems such as blisters,cuts, and bunions.