What We Leave Behind
Researchers recently discovered a 67,800 year-old piece of cave art in Indonesia which predates humans' migration to the European continent. My first reaction upon learning of this was of awe. Imagining early humans trekking across the globe, the vast unknown before them, is incredible. This discovery provides us with greater insight into human history, and how we came to occupy every corner of the planet.
The piece of this discovery that intrigued me the most was the cave painting itself. This piece of art, left behind by our ancestors thousands of years ago, is all that's left of their presence on the island. The art they created was a marker to the world of their existence.
The reason this aspect of the story resonated so much with me is because of our current relationship with art and the value we put on it. In our increasingly culturally-corrosive, late-stage capitalist society, the value of art is measured in “likes” and online virality. What we're losing when we don't bring our art into the real world is the impact it has on creating community. The collective, communal experience of art is something that I worry we will lose sight of in our online, isolating society.
What we leave behind, what marks our passage through time, is the art we physically create and share in the real world. I believe it's important to continue to create art and share it out in the real world. Zines, graffiti, CDs, paintings, are all physical pieces of art that can be shared in community and mark our presence in the real world.
Strive to create modern-day cave paintings, because they may be all that remains to mark our time on Earth.