In my extensive research of art, mainly watching the Discovery Channel, I’ve learned that humans discovered dogs and art at the same time, about 20,000 years ago. I see the connection. Dogs and art represent an awareness of something outside the human psyche. Accounts vary but dogs and humans got together for mutual benefit. What a tremendous leap, awareness that we could co-exist with another species.
Art was also a higher order of thinking. A primitive
hunter’s spear became more than a weapon. It was a mystical tie with prey.
It represented death for one and life for another. This mysticism was
explained through ornamentation. Ornamentation grew into art, a
projection of the human spirit into, onto, something beyond. It represented
aspirations beyond surviving.
I have a loving relation with dogs and art, so this
resonates in me. I do art in the most modern way, on a computer, but I have
this 20,000 year old relationship laying at my feet or nudging my elbow.
If you love dogs and art or not, remember this. The relationship is 20,000 years old. The oldest city is about 8,000 years old.