Zef lamp by Erik Hodemakers
When cave sense was common
Cave dwellers from long ago did not have much time to waste sitting around, they had a belly to fill. A built-in survival instinct, useful. And let’s not forget the cave babies who only exacerbated the problem of empty bellies. So most of their day they were on the look-out for something to eat. Food acquiring implements took precedence for the cave folk. How did the spear with a flint on the end get invented when hunters already had sharp sticks? It might have taken generations or happened in an instant, or perhaps it was all by accident. Even though they lived relatively short lives, they made time for other endeavours too. Perhaps we should take heed.
Art came after applied art
With all these practical matters to deal with cavemen still had time for art. They were bold artists, working before the rule book had been written, so they didn’t need to discard it. The works of art went straight onto the walls of the cave. Outlines of hands first, followed by depictions of their lives. Recorded in case they forgot? To send a message into the future? Or have men always exaggerated the size of the catch? And so the first gallery was created even before the first temple. Perhaps it was just a way to mark their property and we are reading too much into it all.
This is the time of another arrival, when necessity gave birth to invention. Good times.