Art, Prehistoric; Folk literature -- History and criticism
The further development of movement accompanying the song leads to true
pantomimic and ultimately to dramatic performances.
CONCLUSION
We have now completed our review of the forms of primitive art and we
shall try to sum up the results of our inquiry.
We have seen that art arises from two sources, from technical pursuits
and from the expression of emotions and thought, as soon as these take
fixed forms. The more energetic the control of form over uncoordinated
movement, the more esthetic the result. Artistic enjoyment is,
therefore, based essentially upon the reaction of our minds to form.
The same kind of enjoyment may be released by impressions received from
forms that are not the handiwork of man, but they may not be considered
as art, although the esthetic reaction is not different from the one we
receive from the contemplation or the hearing of a work of art. When
speaking of artistic production they must be excluded. When considering
only esthetic reactions they must be included.
The esthetic effect of artistic work developing from the control of
technique alone is based on the joy engendered by the mastery of
technique and also by the pleasure produced by the perfection of form.
The enjoyment of form may have an elevating effect upon the mind, but
this is not its primary effect. Its source is in part the pleasure
of the virtuoso who overcomes technical difficulties that baffle his
cleverness. As long as no deeper meaning is felt in the significance of
form, its effect is for most individuals, pleasurable, not elevating.
We have seen that in the various arts definite formal principles
manifest themselves, the origin of which we did not try to explain,
but which we accepted as present in the art of man the world over,
and which for this reason we considered as the most ancient, the most
fundamental characteristics of all art. In the graphic and plastic
arts these elements are symmetry, rhythm and emphasis of form. We
found symmetry to be very generally right and left and suggested that
this may be due to the symmetry of manual movements as well as to the
observation of right and left symmetry in animals and in man. We also
observed that rhythmic repetition runs ordinarily in horizontal bands
and pointed out the general experience that natural objects of the
same or similar kind are arranged in horizontal strata, such as woods,
mountains, and clouds; legs, body and limbs. Rhythmic form seems to
be closely related to technical processes, although other causes of
rhythmic repetition are revealed in poetry. The simplest technical
processes produce a simple repetition of the same motives, while with
increasing virtuosity more complex orders become the rule. The more
virtuosity is developed, the more complex are the rhythms that are
liable to make their appearance. The ability of primitive artists to
appreciate rhythm seems to be much greater than our own.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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