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In Search of Truth
by Giancarlo Biagi
Humankind evolved, making tools to kill animals for food and defense. During that period the cranial capacity reached a whopping 2,000 cc (today the volume has decreased by an average of 300 cc). Twenty-five thousand years ago, in veneration, humans began depicting animals in full color, form, and beauty, and timidly portraying themselves.
The animal kingdom was perceived to have mysterious, magical attributes. Wealth was understood in terms of fertility and procreation, and voluptuous women as an ideal of beauty came into style.
Dominance, hierarchy, harvests—thus cycles, including death—began etching humanity’s imagination. Rulers identified themselves and their lineage with deities that were half-human, half-animal.
In time, the rendering of strong, athletic men and fertile, robust women epitomized the image of god as man, goddess as woman.
Expansion during the Roman Empire affected how rulers were portrayed: leaders were now colossal, and the persecuted carved symbols of humble beliefs. This simple iconography evolved through various doctrines to where, during the Renaissance, the concept of beauty conferred immortality upon the subject.
But since then, we have reached even further to grasp “our truth.” Today we may be lesser gods, but we are still questioning, picking up bits and pieces from our ancient past, from worshiping the animal kingdom to feeling like Apollonian gods; from experiencing the simplicity of daily life to questioning life itself as a form of art.
One thing is certain: we are expressive and we quest relentlessly for new ways to communicate our thoughts, feelings, behavior, and our beliefs about ourselves, in my point of view.
Giancarlo Biagi
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