The Evolution of Art

The Science Times has an interesting article on some recent theories of the origins of art, as a human phenomenon (which reminds me, go check out my story, Venus Envy, now available online for the low low price of FREE at Fringe Magazine!)...

From an evolutionary perspective, what is the "use" of art? Why do we have it? How does it benefit us?

But while some researchers have suggested that our artiness arose accidentally, as a byproduct of large brains that evolved to solve problems and were easily bored, Ms. Dissanayake argues that the creative drive has all the earmarks of being an adaptation on its own. The making of art consumes enormous amounts of time and resources, she observed, an extravagance you wouldn’t expect of an evolutionary afterthought [sic]. Art also gives us pleasure, she said, and activities that feel good tend to be those that evolution deems [sic] too important to leave to chance.
Like far too many stories in the Science Times, this one too personifies evolution (saying it "deems" something, for example, implies it is an active force with intelligence, which is fun to think, but not true; evolution is simply the inevitable effect of dead animals not reproducing, while live ones can, and can pass on some of their traits, too).

So is art adaptive? Does possessing artistic qualities contribute to the survival of the species?


This is an interpretation that appeals to my way of thinking: I've never liked the image of the artist as an ego in need of expression. I've always preferred the image of the artist as conduit for the needs thoughts and feelings of a time and place. But wait, there's more:
As David Sloan Wilson, an evolutionary theorist at Binghamton University, said, the only social elixir of comparable strength is religion, another impulse that spans cultures and time.
Talk about strolling through Amy's theoretical garden! I am of course entirely non-religious, but I absolutely love religion because it is the ultimate art form. Participatory, ritualistic, immersive, REAL. I don't think people would be ignorant of the wrongness of murder without commandments against it, but I do think that societies could not form without this kind of connective tissue. Some friendships are entirely based on a similar taste in music or films. More are based on similar tastes in God. Art can hold a society together. Religion is a closed system of art that take that on as its purpose.

So this leaves a final question: where does it come from? What defines its form?

Perhaps the most radical element of Ms. Dissanayake’s evolutionary framework is her idea about how art got its start. She suggests that many of the basic phonemes of art, the stylistic conventions and tonal patterns, the mental clay, staples and pauses with which even the loftiest creative works are constructed, can be traced back to the most primal of collusions — the intimate interplay between mother and child.



To which I can only say, GOO GOO GA JOOB.

And go read "Venus Envy"! It's evoluta-riffic!

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