Week 5: Expanding the Definition of Being Human With Significant Objects and Artistic Expressions

For this Discussion, you will pick an object that is significant to you. Your object could be a painting, a song, a dance, a photograph, or a piece of art or craft made by a human. In academia, these significant objects are also referred to as artifacts—items we can investigate, describe, and analyze. Artifacts can be any objects that humans conceived of as art and deliberately crafted for practical or aesthetic purposes, or both. The only requirements are that your object have meaning for you as a student and that you are comfortable sharing it with the class.

• Review the Lascaux resource. Scroll down the webpage to read about how the paintings were “found.” Scroll back to the top and take the guided tour of the cave paintings. At any point, you can click on the lower left corner of the tour for more information about each of the walls and the images on them. Within each information panel, there is additional information for the images.
• Pick an image that interests you. The Shaft or the Left Wall Unicorn panel have some intriguing images.
• Read the information for your chosen Lascaux image.
• Select a significant object and find a way to share it digitally. This can be a URL/web address to a site where you can view it or listen to it if it’s a song, or you can take a picture of it and upload it to the Discussion.

Post a two-part response:

Part 1

In the first paragraph, write 100–150 words on the following:

• Describe the image you selected from the Lascaux caves. Include the title, where in the caves the image can be found, and the approximate age.
• If you were the artist, what message would you hope future viewers would get from your painting? Why would you have created the image?
• Describe your impression of the world the image portrays.

Part 2

In a new paragraph, write 100–150 words on the following:

• Describe your chosen significant object, including the artist or maker (if they are known to you), where the object can be found, and when it was made. If it is a painting or a photograph, describe the use of color, line, shadow, and style of the image. If it is a song, describe the melody, musical genre, and performance.
• Include an image or link to the object or medium.
• Explain how this object represents a part of your academic journey or connects to your professional goals for the future. Also explain what message it would convey about you as a Walden student to future viewers.

Tutorial for Expanding the Definition of Being Human With Significant Objects and Artistic Expressions