The Arts (Art)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Friday, August 22, 2008, 12:11 (5936 days ago) @ dhw

dhw asks: "I'm trying to understand the provenance and impact of something that seems to defy explanation in terms of the physical, natural, evolutionary world. Art has no practical function of its own, so why is it important to us?" - I see no problem here. Art and sport enrich our life. I can easily imagine a small tribe gathered together round a fire on a dull winter's night and relieving the boredom with drumming and dancing and chanting and shadowplay and story-telling. Obviously this is a function of our having large and active brains that need to keep active. A stone-age Mozart would no doubt have been valued for his rhythm on the drums, and stone-age Picassos have left their impressions in still surviving cave-art.