THE OLDEST ART AND THE NEWEST

The Oldest Art

We visited a place called Grotte Chavet 2. It was a replica of a famous cave called the Chavau Cave. Inside the cave there lots of cave drawings dating back 36,000 years ago. The route that you walked through was 250 meters long and there were over 1000 paintings identical to in the real cave. Inside the replica it was dimly light and gave you a feel of strange comfort. In the cave there were even replicas of cave bear bones.

After we visited the cave we went to Aurignacian Gallery which was a Discovery Centre where we could learn about life during the time the paintings were drawn. 

I got to practice doing some cave drawing.

I also learnt the different techniques people used to make the cave paintings.

Dabbing

Dabbing was when the painter put red ocre made from clay on their palm or a plant and dabbed it on the wall to make red dots.

Soft Wall Engraving

The artist would use their finger, a stick or flint to engrave the soft wall of the cave.

Charcoal

The artist would burn wood to make charcoal and use it to draw on the soft wall.

Stencilling

This is when the artist put red ocre in a hollow stick, put their hand on the wall and blew the ocre at the wall leaving a red outline of a hand.

The Newest Art

We visited a small village called Turenne which was built up on a hillside with a chateau (castle) at the top.  

Inside the chateau there was an exhibition called "Irruption' which is French for 'Burst'.

First we saw some amazing black and white photos.  The children in the photos eyes seemed to bear right through you.  

Then we went into a room that had a TV screen and it was playing video of the artist who made the photos talking.

Apparently, the photos weren't real people.  They were created by AI intelligence.  He would ask the AI to create something and it would process the request.  After a lot of time and effort it would produce the photos.  He said about 80% of the work was done by the AI and he would give the finishing touches with Photoshop.  I was astounded that AI could create something so realistic with backstory as well.  They could even animate the people to make them look like a video of a real person talking.  

Now I've seen the oldest art  form in the world and the newest art form in the world.  Now all I need to do is see everything in between.  I hope you enjoyed seeing this old and new art.  :-)