Theory of Knowledge

How Art Made the World

Hey people!

     For the past few classes in TOK, we've been watching a documentary titled "How Art Made the World". In case y'all wanted to look into watching it, here's the link:

http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/

     I sincerely suggest it! Even though it happens to be three hours long, it's worth every minute of it. Firstly, we learned why modern art looks the way it does. The answer (spoiler alert): the human brain it wired to exaggerate parts of the human body and utterly ignore others. For example, take the 4-inch tall Venus of Willendorf made in 28,000 BCE: 

The Venus of Willendorf

      She has a nonexistent face and arms while having a large midsection. Even in more recent years, this trend is recognized. Impressionists exaggerated colors while surrealists exaggerated shapes. In the present era, caricatures are warped into inhuman forms and models are covered in makeup and inventive clothing. 

      On the other hand, the documentary also explains how a culture can override the brain's natural tendency to do this. For example, have you ever noticed how even and systematic the Egyptian art style is? As it turns out, each human/god drawn has the exact same proportions as the next. The Greeks also had a fixation on creating a the most lifelike representations of humans as statues. However, once they had accomplished this feat, they weren't satisfied with the results. Instead, they began to over-exaggerate the muscles and curves of the men they carved. All in all, the Greeks found themselves doing what their ancestors had done when sculpting the Venus of Willendorf figurine: literally stretching the truth.

- Giselle D.