Modern Eyes / Prehistoric Art

Humans have always loved to fashion intentional recognizable some-things out of something else.
In prehistoric times a piece of cast off, unusually shaped bone is deliberately saved for later and chipped and fashioned by idle hands to make it in to a figure. Maybe to the primitive artist the bone looks a bit like a fish so he chips here and there at it to make the image more recognizable. Does he think it becomes a real fish? No. Art is purely representational. It is never meant to replace or displace the actual elemental subject.

Art is subjective. That means we each see what ever we want to see regardless of what the actual Artist intended. Artists are supremely BRAVE to send their creations off into the world to be poked and prodded by inquisitive, judging eyes.  While not exactly fair to the original Artist’s intentions it is this very ambiguous nature of Art that makes it accessible to everyone. Art becomes whatever an individual sees in the creation. And don’t get me started on Art Critics who tell you what you should see. I have never met one who had any clue!